Helping and Serving Refugees (Focus, Dec 2016)
Houston has the distinction of resettling more refugees than any other part of the United States. These families, which come from devastated parts of the world, have the opportunity to heal and start their lives again in our country. In a bit of God-sized irony, God is helping us fill the Great Commission by bringing people to us from countries that we would likely never visit!
This fall, people from UBC engaged in two different activities related to refugees. Eight people picked up new refugee families from the airport and took them to their new apartments. Approximately thirty people purchased, assembled and delivered “welcome baskets” of staple food items to refugee families already living in southwest Houston. DVDs about the story of Jesus were also offered to families, many of whom chose to accept that additional gift.
The following are two testimonials from each of the engagement events:
“Sandra and I both came away feeling so blessed to have been able to be a part of helping to reunite a family that had been apart for who knows how long. One of the local family members who met them at the airport told me that he had been in Houston for sixteen years. We would love to do it again.” – Jerry Hayley (Airport testimonial, late August)
“We had a great time delivering our baskets. We had two families from the Congo and one family from Syria. The family from Syria invited us in. My husband, Jake, and the dad of the Syrian family used
