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American Baptist Churches USA: A long-time partner in resettlement

Florence Mukabahizi with her daughters, Giselle, Josiana, and Joseline (left to right), and her brother, Filbert Nyaminani, from Rwanda.

Photo: Calvary Baptist Church of Denver

March 8, 2006

Story by Carol Fouke-Mpoyo

Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) in Columbus, Ohio, needed to line up cosponsors for several refugee families scheduled to arrive mid-2006.

So CRIS, a Church World Service local resettlement affiliate, called Diane Giova at American Baptist Churches USA National Ministries in Valley Forge, Pa., for help.

Giova reached for her red binder of contact information for all American Baptist congregations in the United States, flipped it open to Columbus, Ohio, and started calling down the list.

"May I speak with Rev. Snyder?" she began. "I'm calling from National Ministries in Valley Forge. We have a number of refugees coming to the Columbus area. They have family sponsors, but they need some additional support, and we are looking for churches to help. Sure, I can send some information. What's your fax number?"

Twenty calls later, Giova had several expressions of interest, which she said she would share with CRIS for follow-up.

This story illustrates just one of the ways that the ABCUSA -- one of seven denominations that participate in the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program (CWS/IRP) -- supports the resettlement of refugees to the United States.

The ABCUSA, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Reformed Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church contribute financially to IRP, educate their nearly 15.5 million combined membership about refugees, and advocate for U.S. policies that welcome and help refugees -- for example, support for higher refugee admissions.

Each of the refugees and Cuban and Haitian entrants that CWS resettles each year is assigned to one of the seven denominations, which help find congregational cosponsors and provide an important safety net by rallying extra resources when one of their "cases" has an emergency.

And, at many of CWS's 40 local refugee resettlement affiliate agencies, denominational representatives serve on advisory groups, providing an additional important link to local congregations.

Nearly 94,000 refugees resettled

Through its National Ministries, the ABCUSA -- among CWS/IRP's original partners -- has sponsored nearly 94,000 refugees since 1948. Matthew R. Giuffrida directed the work from 1959 until he retired in 1993. After he died in 2003, the denomination set up a memorial fund in his honor. Contributions provide direct aid and assistance to asylum seekers, undocumented persons, and those with visa problems.

Ken George was named to succeed Giuffrida, and he and Diane Giova continue to staff the ABCUSA's refugee ministries.

"As people of God," George said, "we are mandated by the Scriptures to welcome the stranger into our homes, to love the alien as ourselves, and to help the refugee. That gets implemented at the local level by local churches.

"The church can provide refugees with extra support, both materially and spiritually," he said. "Congregations contribute time, commitment and resources, which helps affiliates. The church is a caring family for resettling refugees seven days a week."

Enlisting local church involvement

As the ABCUSA's refugee sponsorship developer, Giova works hand-in-hand with local CWS affiliates to enlist American Baptists' involvement in refugee resettlement. Either the denomination or the affiliate can make the first contact.

Patricia Vorwerk, executive director of Ecumenical Refugee Services (ERS) in Denver, Colo., said Giova and George "are very supportive. If we can find a church and get a foot in the door, they follow up." Donna Buckles, sponsorship developer for Lutheran Social Ministry of the Southwest in Phoenix, Ariz., and an American Baptist pastor, said, "It's always helpful if the denomination does a little bit of legwork, contacting their churches to encourage them to consider refugee resettlement. Then I can follow up."

In general, Buckles said, "I think churches look at it a little more closely when they understand that their denomination is involved in refugee resettlement. I get a good response when I say, 'We work with CWS and with your denomination.'"

After years of recruiting cosponsors, Giova said she can sense quickly a congregation's willingness to help. "Most are at least willing to listen," she said. "Invariably, when I mention 'Valley Forge' and 'National Ministries,' the person on the other end of the line says, 'Um hum, um hum.' But then sometimes when I mention the word 'refugee,' there is silence. That's a sign of trouble!"

Rarely does she encounter outright hostility. Giova did recall one pastor who rebuffed her appeal, saying, "More refugees? Aren't there enough in our community already?"

Notwithstanding that pastor's response, she said, "We don't really encounter too much anti-immigrant backlash, maybe because our congregations are so committed to the Christian ideal of reaching out and caring for the stranger."

Case-by-case emergency aid

The same day that Giova was phoning Ohio pastors, she had several other requests on her desk.

One was from Sally Steele at Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), asking Giova for help getting donations from American Baptist churches in Georgia for household goods for refugees.

"In such cases, we might phone congregations or talk with a regional minister, who'll publish the request in the conference newsletter," she said.

Also on her desk: an affiliate's emergency request for rent money for an ABCUSA-sponsored family.

If an emergency arises in the course of a resettlement, the ABCUSA can provide help on a case-by-case basis, George said.

"Sometimes the request is for help with a security deposit or rent," he said. "Perhaps a family is too big for one apartment and they need a second apartment."

ABCUSA also has helped with doctors' bills and medicines, and with living expenses for recently resettled refugees incapacitated by illness, such as cancer. The denomination paid for DNA tests for a resettled refugee father needing to prove paternity in order to bring his children to the United States, and for legal costs of filing guardianship papers for a minor.

"Over the years, I've been able to call Diane if we had somebody in financial need," said Betty Collins, sponsorship developer for the InterReligious Council of Central New York, Syracuse, N.Y. "She's always been a big help."

Correspondence with refugees

Giova gets five to 10 letters a month ("It used to be five to 10 a day," she said) from refugees who are still in camps in other countries and who hope to be accepted for U.S. resettlement. During her 25 years with the ABCUSA, Giova estimates that she has received -- and answered -- more than 2,000 such letters.

"Diane feels strongly that they deserve the courtesy of an answer," George said. Giova makes clear that only the U.S. government can declare them eligible, but that if eligible, the ABCUSA can sponsor them.

One refugee with whom Giova corresponded was Florence Mukabahizi, from Rwanda. In August 2003, she, her three daughters and her 19-year-old brother resettled in Denver, Colo., under the auspices of Ecumenical Refugee Services and were co-sponsored by Calvary Baptist Church of Denver.

Soon after arriving, Mukabahizi sent Giova a thank you letter, enclosing a photo of the family in front of their Denver apartment.

Jacki Loftis, a member of Calvary Baptist Church of Denver, recalled that Giova had been in touch with the congregation about co-sponsoring the family.

"We determined we had enough volunteer power to do this, and said yes," Loftis said. "Valley Forge gave us their ages and their date of arrival." Loftis chaired the resettlement committee -- a "first" for her, though over the years the congregation has aided several refugee and immigrant families, and helped found Ecumenical Refugee Services 27 years ago.

As it happened, Mukabahizi was the 90,000th refugee resettled by the ABCUSA.

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