To Take Refuge [ADVENTure Eleven]

My day didn't start out so great. In intense pain, it was nearly impossible to convince my body to move at all. Shortly after kissing my husband and wishing him a good day at work, the sound of a car trying - and failing - to start permeated my consciousness. Throwing some clothes on, I hobbled outside to find my husband's car non-functional. After a brief conversation, we agreed that it would be best for him to stay home, make some guitar picks and ornaments for "Arts on Main" in Stafford Springs, CT, tomorrow, and so I could run much-needed errands. Due to my pain levels and mobility issues, my errands took hours longer than I thought they would. My planned day of rest and Christmas movies quickly turned into perhaps an evening of rest and Christmas movies...and wood burning ornaments ... and cleaning the house. 

Exhausted, I started to have an oh-woe-is-me moment. And then I remembered the Advent tag my children had pulled out of the jar earlier. "Identify a refugee or immigrant family in your community and find out how you can help." My mind wandered to two years ago, when New Start Ministry, a refugee resettlement ministry in which I volunteer, received word that a young Syrian refugee family was on their way from Istanbul to Connecticut and into our care in just a few weeks. 

They came with a couple bags containing all of their worldly possessions. I was able to go shopping for food, clothing, and other necessities today. Their biggest problem was not knowing anything about what life had in store for them in a country they had never been to with a language they did not speak. Car problems and my day not going as planned are stressful things, but not anything to cause me such great frustration.

Two years ago, a nineteen year old mother and twenty-two year old father and their not-quite-two year old child made the pilgrimage from violence and insecurity to relative peace and safety. 

Two thousand plus years ago a young mother and father and their small child made a journey from their home to Egypt to seek safety. 

Jesus was a refugee. 

“When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God."  

Leviticus 19:33-34 MSG

And so our work continues. New Start Ministry is currently preparing to welcome a second refugee family. The good news is that anyone can help! You can pray for refugees and refugee resettlement ministries. You can donate your time, talents, money, and an array of household items to refugee resettlement efforts. You can make friends with some of the many people who have taken refuge from war and violence and hear their stories. You can love them like one of your own.

To help New Start Ministry: Financial donations can be sent to New Start Ministry c/o St. Paul's Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 5002, 294 Main Street South, Woodbury, CT 06798. Please make checks out to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, with New Start Ministry on the memo line.