CFNA Children at VBS

CFNA Children at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church VBS

Having fun

Titi Dabi, one of the refugee kids who attends the After School tutoring program at Christian Friends of New Americans (CFNA) phones in with the request- “Can we pick up Sembetu Bibi and bring her to the VBS.” Her request has to be politely declined because both the registration time and first day of VBS are over; and even though she is disappointed for her friend, she is at least happy that she can come.

The occasion that caught Titi’s interest was the Vacation Bible School at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church from June 15-18. The congregation’s children, volunteer teaching staff and pastoral staff made it comfortable for Titi and her other CFNA friends to learn and enjoy time in God’s Word. In between all the Bible learning activity, action songs and teamwork building games, the theme, “Thailand Trek”, taught the participants about God’s presence being not only real, but also worldwide. Clearly, this cross-cultural theme worked well for CFNA’s 12 New American kids here as refugees from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Liberia. For them it was not only an opportunity to engage with Americans of similar ages, but also an opportunity to see Christ’s love and acceptance in action through the generosity and sharing of the children and Christ Memorial members.

absorbed in the moment

The last day of VBS concluded with a lunch for family and friends in which the CFNA kids participated as welcome guests. This was truly a special moment for the 12 New American children who could be seen singing, dancing, mingling and hugging their new friends. In short, through the facilitation of this cross-cultural VBS, Christ Memorial Lutheran Church responded with Christian love in heeding Christ’s call -“And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Matt 18:5).

For this sharing and Christian leadership, CFNA thanks Christ Memorial Lutheran Church led by Senior Pastor Rev. Jeff Cloeter, and others including its Director for Christian Education, Mr. Daniel Meyer. Special thanks also to Timothy Lutheran Church for providing their van for transportation, and also to Mr. Hank Saeger and Mr. Tim Schraeder for serving as drivers.

By Rev. Stanish Stanley