Reaching Out
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LCMS Mission Advancement Team
Every year during the Christmas and/or Advent Season, the people serving the Synod in LCMS Mission Advancement at the International Center in St. Louis choose a team service project. Mission Advancement intentionally chooses a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the LCMS to support. In 2019, the team wanted to support Christian Friends of New Americans (CFNA) in St. Louis.
“Our team was inspired after learning how Christian Friends of New Americans assists immigrant and refugee families make the transition to becoming a valued part of their new metropolitan community, helps them through the process of gaining citizenship, and coordinates skills and job training, and health care. But most important, we wanted to support CFNA because it deliberately and openly shares the Good News of Jesus in both word and deed. CFNA connects people to area Lutheran congregations, like my own. Thus, called by the Holy Spirit into a saving faith, these new Americans are given the opportunity to become disciples of Jesus for life, which many did not or could not have received in their birth country” said Mark Hofman, executive director of Mission Advancement.
One member of the Mission Advancement team who coordinated the collection and delivery of donated resources to CFNA said, “When people go about selecting items to give to a (humanitarian aid) nonprofit, most immediately think about food/pantry items. Rarely do people think about the household items that serve to make “a house a home” for families. CFNA shared that reality with us, and it gave us the opportunity to help fill some of that gap. It was nice to be given alternative donation suggestions that are so important: blankets, towels, cleaning supplies, etc.! We were pleased to have had the opportunity to partner with CFNA in this way for mission outreach among New Americans.”
By Mark Hofman Executive Director, LCMS Mission Advancement Member, Ascension Lutheran Church
Editor’s Note: The numerous household items received from the LCMS Mission Advancement Team will be combined with yet other donations for our next community-wide Give Away. These Give Aways enable CFNA to reach ever more deeply into the numerous ethnic refugee communities located in urban St. Louis.
