Boise as a Refuge

"We all have a past, and the future is a gift."

Boise is honored to have been selected as a refugee resettlement city.  As a result, Shawna and I have met many extraordinary new African friends, and we get to share this special time in their lives with them.  Just last night a family called to say eleven more of their family members would be arriving in Boise this month!  What a Christmas present!  Sounds like Shawna and I will need to find eleven more Boise State football sweatshirts.

Now comes the challenge of helping these arriving families find appropriate housing, warm clothes and integrating into our community while experiencing their first snow flurries and cold.  Just image trying to efficiently transport eleven people to grocery stores, doctor appointments, schools and church functions!  To be fair, refugees are brought to the USA by agencies that skillfully manage their care and integration, but our little Boise church helps fill in the gaps and needs - and there are many.

There have been times in my life when I felt like a hamster in a cage (before the time of free range), running around the spinning exercise wheel.  Accomplishing nothing important, seemingly going nowhere fast, not making any meaningful difference in the world and underappreciated.  I have found that jumping in and helping people with bigger challenges than my own is the real balm to those feelings!

With these new families, our church will have over 50 refugees attending, mostly from Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.  Their numbers have grown to where they now have their own Kinyarwanda language church service each week immediately following our English language service.  If your church suffers from depressing dark and drab colors in the sanctuary, there is an easy solution - invite some African families with their beautiful bright colors!

The need for transportation has suddenly become a high priority. The days of driving to church with empty seats in our car is a thing of the past.  In fact we recently purchased a used minivan and now drive two vehicles most weekends.  We will need to get serious about locating and funding a bus soon.  Do you have a spare?

Our relationships with our African friends, puts faces on the data about suffering we had previously only read about in books and newspapers.  It's no longer just a historical or abstract event.  These days we are privileged with the opportunity to look into the eyes of the people that experienced it.

The other night our African friends were telling us all about their immediate and extended families. Several times during the conversation, they would hesitate a moment while reminiscing and quietly say, "People came and killed them."  These words reminded us that refugees seek refuge for a reason.  If that refuge has the name Boise on it, we who live here need look no further for a purpose and a mission.