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Wesley UMC: Welcoming Refugees is "Part of Our DNA"
Rwandan refugee Victoria Umulisa and her family were cosponsored by Wesley United Methodist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. Here, she and her children socialize with congregants Viola Clements and Rev. Cynthia Talley.
Photo: Doris Berry
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Listen to Pastor Edgar S. Goins of Wesley United Methodist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, describe how his 585-member congregation manages to cosponsor four refugee families every year, and you can't help but be reminded of the biblical story of the loaves and fishes.
Over and over again, the congregation has collected what it perceived -- at first -- to be scarce resources and given family after family an abundant new start.
Goins first got involved with refugee resettlement while pastor at Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church in Louisville, which had partnered with Kentucky Refugee Ministries to welcome several families from Africa and Eastern Europe.
"When I came to Wesley in 1994, they'd not sponsored anyone, and I encouraged them to get involved," he said. "I told the congregation that if people volunteered to give, they could, but it would not cost the church at all. We showed them they had enough excess linens, towels, and kitchen stuff to be able to furnish an apartment.
"One member said, ';My brother is in the moving business and people abandon their furniture all the time.' He became a source of furniture for apartments. Another person said, 'I have four TVs and don't need but two.' People began to see the possibility of sharing the abundance of stuff they had."
Goins reflected, "As an African American church, we tend to look at ourselves as being in need and not really blessed in comparison with others in our society. But we can make a difference in people's lives through very little sacrifice on our part."
Since April 2005, Wesley has worked with Kentucky Refugee Ministries to cosponsor families from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. "They've done amazing things," said Barbara Kleine, Director of Kentucky Refugee Ministries' Lexington site. "They've really been generous with time and in-kind donations. And they've done a really good job on follow-up."
One or two church families "mentor" each refugee family. "They form relationships that are very personable, and they receive as much or more than they give as they begin to relate to them, not overpowering them but being responsive," Goins said. Mentors are encouraged to consider, "from a human and a Christian point of view, 'Were I or my family to be in this situation, how would I want to be treated?'"
Most challenging, Goins commented, "is to know how to give without creating dependency. Also challenging is to help these newcomers understand this big transition in their lives, and to be patient. They want to live the American dream. Sometimes they want to do it too quickly. We want them to avoid financial pitfalls and getting overextended."
A Somali who immigrated to the United States 10 years ago came to Wesley to talk with several newly arrived families, and told them, "You can make it in America but it is hard work. At first, I had four jobs. I went to school, got my degree, and now I am a teaching associate, and I am still working two more jobs."
The night before Welcome interviewed Pastor Goins, Wesley's Ministry Committee met and reaffirmed its commitment to cosponsor another refugee family every quarter.
"We talked about the difference between families that have church cosponsors and those that don't," he said. "A church can provide so much personal assistance. I'd just hope more churches would extend themselves and get involved in this kind of ministry. To extend hospitality to refugees is part of the DNA of who we are. It's a wonderful opportunity to invest in people."
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