Working with the IRIS refugee resettlement project based locally in New Haven, CT, we will be assigned specific tasks for supporting these families in their first weeks in the U.S. This is not a permanent aid program: families are given decent basic housing, food, supplies, transportation, education opportunities and employment introductions, and then it is up to them to acclimate to their new community, hopefully with continuing encouragement from the community as a whole.
We are, as Luke's parable of the Good Samaritan suggests (Luke 10:25-37), the "innkeepers" choosing to serve God through helping these people for a period of time, trusting that their hopes will become our hopes and God's hopes realized.
For more information about participating in this program, please contact John Blossom, Seminarian Associate, at 203.293.8511, outreach@fumcmiddletownct.org, or join us at the next coalition meeting, Thursday, 7 April, 5.30 PM, at 41 Wyllys Street (on Wesleyan campus).