A Heartwarming Experience During a Cold Winter Break

/
with the nepali furniture recipients

with the nepali furniture recipients

During our Winter Break (Feb 18-23) at Eastern Michigan University, I and three students took five days to do ministry, first at Chicago Hope Academy and Church with Pastor Jason Pankau in West Downtown Chicago.

Then, on Monday, we went to St. Louis and had the privilege of serving with Christian Friends of New Americans at their Peace Center. We spent Tuesday getting acquainted with the exciting and important outreach to refugees, and learned from Dr. Stanish Stanley about the ministry, its history and purpose. We then shared an amazing evening with 45 children of all ages and from several birth nations tutoring math, playing chess, sharing the Bible, playing games and just enjoying the experience of servants caring for these children and their families! I watched as Pastor Mike Tanney shared the amazing truth of Holy Baptism with two teenage Muslim girls and two other students in Bible Study, and then in the chapel with the other 41 students! It was an exciting time. Thank you to Jennifer Janssen and her amazing children Addie and Ben plus the other awesome volunteers that make this night so special each week!

helping with after school tutoring

helping with after school tutoring

We had an extraordinary time on Wednesday as we spent the morning cleaning the Peace Center. We cleaned, vacuumed and took out the garbage. Dr. Stanley treated us to an Ethiopian lunch and heard our waitress share with us how the Peace Center offers her driving lessons on Saturdays. We then picked up a dining table and chairs from a Lutheran widower who was downsizing, and delivered them to a family of refugees from Nepal. I am going to be visiting India and Nepal in October so this was an awesome opportunity to hear their story!

We are so thankful to CFNA Peace Center for hosting us as we spent these few days in St. Louis. We have POBLO here in Michigan so we know about this need, but it was so amazing to experience this wonderful ministry up close! May God truly continue to bless this ministry now and in the future!

Pastor Bryan Schindel Cross & Resurrection Church and The Chapel Eastern Michigan University