Home Furnishings!

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When refugees and immigrants arrive in St. Louis, they are starting life all over again. In addition to acquiring a new language and culture, arranging for adequate living space is another priority. Not having much money for furnishings, they normally seek out friends and family for help with this basic necessity. 

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In an attempt to reach out and help out, CFNA has, for many years, served as a source of these items for New Americans. In the process, it has developed an impactful home furnishings ministry. In an attempt to intensify and expand this effort, CFNA has entered into a partnership with Extreme Faith Ministry of South St. Louis (St. Trinity Lutheran Church). 

This helpful arrangement released CFNA to concentrate on other significant ministries like ESL, Driver’s Ed, Life Skills Classes (example: sewing classes), After School Tutoring, and much more. Equally important, it has enabled Extreme Faith to engage a growing number of volunteers to help move beds, tables, chairs, microwaves, washing machines, dryers, and more provided by generous donors for the benefit of New American families. During the past 12 months, Extreme Faith has picked up over 200 household items from more than 40 donors and has delivered them to over 25 recently arrived refugee families. 

To be sure, the delivery of large items to city apartments with narrow staircases and door frames has been a challenging experience. No small part of the reward received for these efforts, are the expressions of joy and thanks, like this one from Mayan, the mother of a Somali family with several children: “Thank you so much for the beds for three of my children. This is much appreciated and very helpful.” 

Kevin Mennel, the Director of Extreme Faith Ministry, expressed, “Thank you (CFNA) for giving us the opportunity to serve these new families from other nations.  The most exciting part is when, after delivering items, our volunteers get to meet new people, hear their stories, and engage with them over snacks and tea.” 

You can become part of this vital ministry by remembering this mission opportunity in your prayers.  If you have useable home furnishing to donate, you can do so by contacting us at mail@cfna-stl.org.

 By Rev. Stanish Stanley
Executive Director, CFNA