God is good! CFNA’s health and wellness ministry has been blessed in the past three years with the capacity to provide for some of the dental needs of refugees arriving from Afghanistan. This has been a constant reminder of God’s sovereignty and love, providing for our refugee friends in ways that we never could have done on our own.

Almost all the refugees we work with have access to some dental care through health insurance as an extension of their refugee status. However, many refugees have needs that are extensive and beyond those dental issues routinely covered by insurance. Even as I write this article, I was contacted by an Afghan refugee seeking help for tooth pain that she does not have the resources to address. What is more, financial constraints experienced by refugees often mean that needs requiring treatment not covered by insurance are simply not treated. Accordingly, many experience significant daily tooth pain, sometimes even making it difficult to eat.

This is where God has shown up in tremendous ways over the past three years. Hugely generous support from church congregations and individuals in 2021 provided a one-time fund to help cover the needs of Afghan refugees in St. Louis, MO. These donations have in part been used over the past three years to facilitate over one hundred dental appointments made to address the dental needs of Afghan refugees not otherwise met through insurance.

CFNA is grateful for the ways God has made this ministry possible. He provided a Christian dentist who partnered with this work by offering his expertise at a reduced cost. This has greatly expanded how far donated dollars can go towards dental services. God has also provided incredible volunteers to drive our friends to appointments and share Jesus’ love despite challenges like language barriers and ensuring tricky car seats are racy of appointments.

People who could not eat regularly due to daily pain can eat again! Their gratitude for this service is heartfelt. As one such recipient, who wishes to remain anonymous, put it, “Thank you so much for your help. My dental work is done. My father’s dental work is done. Thank you.”

In Matthew 6, Jesus provides an illustration declaring that God is sensitive to our physical needs and is lavish in His love for us: “But if God so clothes the grass of the field … will He not much more clothe you?”. At CFNA, we have been blessed to witness this truth in the love He has poured out to meet the critical dental needs of our neighbors from Afghanistan. I’ll say it again: God is good!

By Paige Bernau, RN
Health and Wellness Coordinator
Christian Friends of New Americans
(314) 828-5413

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