New Beginnings

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With Jesus in the Midst!

Refugee resettlement is centered around new beginnings. New foods, new schools, new languages, new driving rules, new neighborhoods, new doctors - it is all new, an environment with the constant barrage of learning new things to just survive. 

This month, New Beginnings Lutheran Church in Pacific, MO, hosted an event at the Shaw Nature Reserve, a place to walk and hike, and a good spot for relaxing and studying nature. New Beginnings church received refugees from the CFNA community at the nature reserve with hands ready to serve a lunch, feet ready to walk alongside on a prairie path, eyes ready to notice the beauty of the surrounding creation, and mouths ready to proclaim the goodness of Jesus. For people who have been bombarded with “new” and placed in a fast-paced city, this experience was a respite of beauty and love.

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While one day of restoration is worthy in itself, relationships began that extend beyond the event at Shaw Nature Reserve. New Beginnings’ members realized small but meaningful ways they could serve this refugee community. One of the Afghan women is pregnant and due soon, and congregants of New Beginnings are collecting diapers and baby items for her. A few men who moved recently from India live in proximity to New Beginnings, and congregants have been welcomed into their homes to share chai tea and samosas, reversing who is being hosted and learning something new. 

As Christians, we believe in the God who dwelt with man to show all how to use their hands, feet, eyes, and mouths in service to their neighbor and toward one another. How can you as an individual do this in a small but meaningful way? How can you connect with your community of faith to host neighbors or refugees with the love of Christ? Please seek answers to these questions….and if CFNA could be a part of those answers, we are eager to engage with you.  See my e-address below.

Amy Zeigler
Community Engagement Associate
azeigler@cfna-stl.org 

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”  Revelation 21:3-5