And I was a stranger, and you...

April 28, 2012 … Roar for Refugees

     

Come and support Refugee Life Ministries with a night of laughter!

    

April 28, 2012 at  7 p.m.

     Grace Church of Roseville
     1310 West County Road B2, Roseville, MN 55113

    

     Tickets are $10 and can be ordered through the secure link below
Order tickets here

Find out more about Refugee Life Ministires

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World Relief Minnesota Expands Program Outreach

We are happy to welcome two new Directors to the World Relief Minnesota Team as we respond to the growing opportunities to serve the burgeoning refugee population in Minnesota and empower churches to reach out and welcome them in the name of Jesus.

Laura Svoboda, Director of Arrival Services.  Laura will oversee our Reception and  Placement (R&P) and Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) programs and staff — the largest component of World Relief Minnesota’s ministry to refugees. Laura will work closely with our Refugee Life Ministry program through which congregations adopt a refugee family and surround them with help and support during their first year in America.

Laura joins World Relief from a background in both Occupational Therapy and Social Work.  She has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Minnesota; was a Resettlement Case Manager MSW Intern at World Relief in 2008-2009; has volunteered in areas as diverse as food shelf administration and distribution to advocating for children in child protection services as a Guardian ad Litem; and comes to us from CommonBond Communities as a Service Coordinator to three senior affordable housing communities.  Laura and her family attend the Upper Room congregation in St. Louis Park.  Laura will be training in with Sarah Hesch, our current Director of Arrival Services, who will transitioning out of World Relief in advance of a cross-country move.

Mark Hinton, Director of Community Programs.  Mark will oversee our Community and Church-based programs and staff, including our friendship ESL Somali Adult Literacy Training (SALT)program; our church-based Somali RAJO Hope Ministries outreach program; our Refugee Life Ministry program where churches “adopted” new refugee families during their initial entry into Minnesota; and our Refugee Community Gardening program which matches refugee farmers with churches, community groups and community gardening plots.

Mark joins the World Relief team following decades of faithful missionary and cross-cultural service in Kenya and Sudan.  Among his 30 years of ministry experience, he was formerly Field Director for World Relief-South Sudan; Deputy Country Director for Samaritan’s Purse in North Sudan; Executive Director of SOMSERV which ministered to the immigrant Somali Community in Minnesota; and developed and launched a B.A. program at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya.  Mark and his wife attend Central Mission Church, in St. Paul.

Please join us in welcoming Laura Svoboda and Mark Hinton to the to the leadership team at World Relief Minnesota.

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Merry Christmas from World Relief Minnesota!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you for blessing the ministry of World Relief Minnesota and for helping us to bless the lives of refugees this Christmas and throughout the year.  In this season of all seasons, where we celebrate God’s best gift, Jesus Christ, we are keenly reminded that part of the Christmas narrative is the story of Jesus and his parents fleeing to Egypt as refugees.

Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Matthew 2:13

Like our Savior, today’s refugees have been persecuted. They have witnessed horrific tragedies. They have lived through unimaginable upheaval, turmoil and loss. Yet, God has brought them “out of Egypt” to now be our neighbors, colleagues, friends and recipients with us of all of God’s promises.

This December we are resettling another two dozen new refugee arrivals. Throughout the year, some 2,000 refugees annually come to Minnesota looking to you and me for hope. They come pursuing safety. They come escaping hurt, war and persecution. They are the ones whose lives and futures are being transformed because you have joined hands with us to make a difference. Thank you!

Your gifts are helping us this Christmas to:

• purchase, collect and distribute hundreds of items of warm winter clothing and boots
• run ESL and citizenship classes in eight metro locations
• provide training and coordination to 17 area churches as they serve newly arrived families
• organize several hundred volunteers who tutor, run sewing projects, befriend and encourage our refugee neighbors

Finally, please rejoice with us as we have received 85 mattresses, box springs and bed frames from Slumberland as a Christmas blessing to new arrivals. So, whether it is donations from individuals, churches or businesses; whether it is thousands of volunteer hours; whether is our partner churches setting up community-based programs…these are all acts of worship to Jesus, the one who
we worship, adore and serve this Christmas.

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The Great Minnesota Give Together: Support World Relief on Give to the Max Day

The vision of World Relief Minnesota is to see the lives of refugees and the church holistically transformed through loving service to one another.  In pursuit of this vision, WRM manages programs and ministries which provide a path for the church to live out our God’s call to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, and share the Gospel through loving relationship.  We also partner with local refugee communities to ensure we humbly welcome individuals and families at our doorstep with dignity and respect. To be effective in these efforts, we need your support.

World Relief Minnesota will be participating in “Give to the Max Day”—a statewide Minnesota “give” together. On November 16, participants get 24 hours to donate to specific non-profits, with the goal of raising millions of dollars to ‘change our world’. The whole event is online, and totals will be displayed in real-time throughout the day.

What makes donating on Give to the Max Day any different than donating on any other day? Every hour a donator is randomly chosen to win the “Golden Ticket”: $1,000 to the non-profit of their choice. The last Golden Ticket given (11:59pm) will be $10,000! If supporters divide a single donation to give on every hour throughout the entire day, they have a chance to win up to $33,000 for World Relief Minnesota, for refugees and the church!  Additionally, organizations which receive the most participation from supporters are eligible for match grants of $1,000-15,000.

Together, we can achieve this vision of refugees and the church surviving and thriving in our local community. Spread the word to family, friends, and those who love the vulnerable whom our Father loves to support World Relief Minnesota on this day of solidarity in giving:

Follow the link below to give or get more information.

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newsletter content

World Relief Minnesota offers several different e-newsletters related to refugees and refugee ministry.

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volunteer content

Learn more about the variety of volunteer opportunities available at WRM.

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donate content

Giving to Minnesota Refugees can come in a variety of forms. Learn about ways you can give or help financially.

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Bob Oehrig Named Executive Director of World Relief Minnesota

World Relief Minnesota is excited to introduce our new Executive Director, Bob Oehrig, beginning October 1.

Bob is a well known missions pastor in the Twin Cities and currently serves as the Pastor of Missions and Outreach at Grace Church Roseville, where he has ministered for the past 10 years. During that time he has been actively involved in local refugee ministry through World Relief, leading his church’s engagement in the Refugee Life Ministry program in which congregations adopt a refugee family and surround them with help and support during their first year in America.

Prior to serving as a missions pastor, Bob and his wife Donna worked for Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya for 25 years. Initially they served as missionaries on the teaching faculty of Daystar, a theological training school for African church leaders, and for ten years directed Daystar US which supported Daystar University through recruiting visiting faculty and raising financial support.

World Relief Minnesota is excited that Bob brings a long history of involvement and familiarity with the ministry. He has been a member of the board of directors of World Relief Minnesota and one of his daughters previously worked for World Relief in Mozambique for two years. He also serves on the board of directors of Pioneers, a missions agency planting churches among unreached people groups.

Bob Oehrig succeeds Darrell Cox who had been the Executive Director previously and resigned from the position in June 2011. Please join us in welcoming Bob Oehrig to the leadership of this ministry. He begins this new role in October.

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Give new refugees a warm welcome this fall!

We cannot believe that the time has already come to prepare our new refugee friends for this winter.   Because our families come from very hot climates, they seem to feel the chill of cooling weather earlier in the fall – a time when we think the weather is the nicest!  We want to make sure all of our families’ winter weather clothing needs are taken care of before this point in time, so our Warm Welcome collection will take place over the months of August and September, with a collection deadline of Friday, September 16. 

World Relief’s Warm Welcome drive is a great opportunity for families, groups of friends, and congregations to join together to minister in a simple way to those God has brought to us from around the world.  The local church and community join together to provide the means for our newest neighbors to survive the tough Minnesota winter ahead. 

 For those of you wondering what items are needed for this effort, we are looking for the type of winter outerwear items a Minnesotan would wear while waiting for the bus in the middle of January.  Our collection will therefore be limited to the following items: Warm Coats, Hats, Mittens, Gloves, Scarves, Warm Socks, Snow Pants, and Snow Boots.  To ensure the quality of donated items reflects the dignity of those we serve, we can only accept clean, gently used or new outerwear items. 

 What is also exciting about this year’s event is that the families will be able to “shop” for their own outerwear items at the World Relief office.  They will experience the dignity of being able to pick out their own styles and colors.  Shopping hours will be held on:

Monday, September 19 and Wednesday, September 21 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm (hours can be extended if necessary)

Tuesday, September 20 and Thursday September 22 during regular office hours, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

For those of you who would like direct interaction with families, we invite you to transport a family and help them shop for their items at the WRM office during one of these times. 

 If you would like to participate, please send an email to mnvolunteers@wr.org  with the following information:

Name

Group members (if applicable)

Best way to reach you: Email or Phone (please list contact information)

Will you be collecting winter outerwear items for this event?

                If yes, what do you plan to collect and approximately how much do you plan to collect?

For a large scale drive (through a church, school, community center, etc.), would you like to arrange for WR to pick up your donations?

Would you like to transport a family to the WR office to shop for their items?

                If yes:

                How many people can you transport?

                Do you have a car seat you would be willing to use to transport a child? If so, how many

car seats and for what ages?

Which date/time frame would you be available to transport a family?

N.B.: Transportation/shopping volunteers will need to submit a background check consent form if WRM does not have one on file from the past 3 years. 

Please contact Linnea Stevens at 612-243-2965 or lstevens@wr.org if you have any questions or would like copies of our Warm Welcome flyer to help spread the word.

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Local Photographer highlights a WRM family

A Twin Cities photographer came along to document one of our summer home orientations for his Raising Hope project. Check out Ka Parh and his family, some of our new neighbors!

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