A New Start
Pastor Robin Schara / Global Missions and Women’s Ministry
“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 19:34
God put a desire on my heart a few years ago to start a new ministry, but the timing was just not right until now. Global Missions, along with some exceptional volunteer leaders, ventured into a new ministry this year where we are partnering with Journey’s End Resettlement Agency to assist a refugee who is resettling in Buffalo.
You may have heard about the Home Again Ministry already. You may have even participated in offering donations for equipping an apartment or even donated your time setting up the apartment or mentoring our Somalian family who arrived in May. I am overwhelmed by the support of our church family’s care for these foreigners living among us. We want to welcome this family with a new place to call home.
Global Missions's new start is minor compared to this family’s new start. They are from Somalia, but have been refugees living in Kenya out of persecution and safety for their lives. Eight years ago, they decided to apply for refugee status in the USA. After years of waiting, background checks from five governmental agencies, interviews and physical examinations, they were finally given clearance to live in Buffalo. So, within a month’s time this family of six said goodbye to their family and friends in Kenya, packed up one suitcase for each of them and started the arduous journey from a developing nation to a first-world culture. Talk about new start! Definitely not an easy one. I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like for them.
I can tell you, that for me, when I met them at the airport with a team from EHWC I didn’t know what to expect. Would we be able to speak to them? Would they know any English? Would we be fearful after all we hear in the news? Would we enjoy helping them? What would they be like? Would they accept our assistance? What is their faith? What is their culture like? So many unknowns for them and for us.
This is what I can tell you happened when we met them at the gate. I was overwhelmed with love for them. Complete strangers, yet I experienced an immediate love so strong bubbling up in me that it could only be from God. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19) I am looking forward to interacting with them more, getting to know them and hearing their story. What I am mostly looking forward to is loving them as much as Christ loves us.
If you are interested in being a mentor, contact me at rschara@ehwc.org and I can share with you how to participate in our new Home Again Ministry.