Community Engagement

During the past several months a stream of refugees has arrived in St. Louis from countries where there are few if any Christians. Many of these people, who know little about Christ’s love for them, are living in the shadows of the steeples of our own churches. Christian Friends of New Americans seeks to bridge this gap through a ministry of Community Engagement.

Amy Zeigler

My name is Amy Zeigler and CFNA has held a special place in the development of the Zeigler family. For the past several years we have dedicated our Thursday nights to providing leadership required for their After School Tutoring program. Recently, when the new Community Engagement ministry was launched, I was selected to fill this position. 

Community Engagement seeks to connect New American families with Lutheran congregations through the development of relationships. Here are a few recent ministry moments.

A teacher from King of Kings Lutheran Church wishes to share time with others so we went to visit some refugee families CFNA is already serving and were blessed with a very enjoyable conversation over tea in the home of an Afghan refugee family.

A group of moms and daughters from Epiphany Lutheran, together with a similar sized group of New Americans, experienced Build a Bear and soft pretzels in a nearby shopping mall. This was a first for these New Americans.

A youth group from Messiah Lutheran in Tower Grove accompanied incoming refugee high school students for a “Back to School” shopping event at Target followed up with some Ted Drews. One response was always the same for all of these events, “When are we going to do this again?”

What’s next? 

A large companion group of 30 New American children accompanied by the youth group from Emmanuel Lutheran, Wentzville for an afternoon this fall at the Pumpkin Patch.

Or a large group of New Americans with members of New Beginning Lutheran Church in Pacific enjoying lunch and a day of hiking through the Shaw Nature Reserve.

If you have a desire to get involved in a personal way with a New American community through CFNA you may reach me at azeigler@cfna-stl.org.  Sharing Jesus’ love with your community and others has endless opportunities.

By Amy Zeigler
CFNA Community Engagement Facilitator