Covenant News

Assisting Refugees a Result of Congregation's New Priority

CHICAGO, IL (July 24, 2001) - Last November, Grace Covenant Church leadership decided they want ministries of compassion to become a priority in the life of the congregation.

God has honored that commitment in a big way, sending 12 Sudanese refugees to the congregation by way of World Relief connections and a relationship with a suburban Chicago congregation.

Parishioner Pam Hubbard organized a team of leaders for this ministry and helped them with many details during their stay in the United States, according to pastor Deb Gustafson. Two of the refugees have attended the church since November and others began attending worship this summer after finding local housing.

The United States has opened its arms to Sudanese refugees, including some 10,000 children and young adults uprooted during Sudan's 1987 civil war. The U.S. State Department plans to resettle another 3,000 Sudanese by September. A total of 28 states are helping with the transition process, including Illinois. World Relief is a key part of the process - Grace Covenant began considering helping the Sudanese after being contacted by World Relief's Chicago branch. Although the refugees are known internationally as The Lost Boys, Grace Covenant's first contacts are women.

It was during a council retreat that Grace Covenant Church selected ministries of compassion as the primary focus for the coming year. Almost immediately, the congregation found someone to help. Cecily Minziti and her daughter, Idea, fled Khartoum, Sudan, after being persecuted by Muslims. The two had lived in a Cairo, Egypt, refugee camp for a year before being sent to Chicago November 25. Cecily's husband and two other daughters have not yet made it to the United States.

World Relief asked Grace to sponsor Cecily and Idea during the transition. Eunice and Paul Macharia, a Grace Covenant couple who previously lived in Kenya, volunteered to host the pair. Within a short time, Grace Covenant helped the newcomers find housing, a quality school for Idea and childcare.

For both the church and the newcomers, it seemed like a perfect match. Cecily had hoped for a Christian host family. Grace Covenant had hoped for refugees willing to integrate into the congregation. "We had been praying that it work out that we could have a long-term relationship once they were settled, and that's exactly what happened with Cecily," said Hubbard.

"The hand of God has really moved on this one," said Gustafson, noting that Cecily has secured an administrative assistant position with nearby Northeastern Illinois University.

God's hand has moved powerfully in other Sudanese connections with Grace Covenant. In May, Gustafson received a call from John and Melissa Raymer, friends from Mundelein Vineyard Christian Fellowship, asking for help for five Sudanese males who were being relocated to Chicago from Mundelein. Grace Covenant helped the five during the transition process, while Mundelein Vineyard Christian Fellowship took care of housing expenses.

A month later, five others arrived in Chicago and Grace Covenant decided to sponsor them as well. The church had considered sponsoring three Sudanese refugees this fall, raising more than $4,000 for that purpose, so they were ready to pay for housing on short notice.

"We literally took them from the airport to the apartment, which was three doors down from the guys we had helped," Hubbard said. "They knew each other from the refugee camps. In a week, we quickly had to pull the (refugee orienting) team together and decide if we wanted to offer to World Relief to sponsor these other five - and everybody said, 'Of course we do.'"

Gustafson and Hubbard realize that the job of helping the Sudanese is only beginning. First, there is the obvious cultural adjustment of living in the U.S. Second, there is the emotional trauma of losing relatives to war and having to walk for days at a time to escape persecution. According to Hubbard, some refugees had to flee an Ethiopian refugee camp and walk 12 consecutive days before arriving at a Kenya refugee camp.

Fortunately, the Sudanese young men (most are between the ages of 19 and 24) received some formal education during their stay in the Kenyan refugee camp. They all speak English and soon will begin taking classes in pursuit of General Education Degrees.

"It has felt like it is God's agenda for Grace," said Gustafson. "It got on our hearts in November and God has just moved us beyond what we could have ever thought to do. We just keep saying yes. It's been wonderful to see people all across the church just give. And the guys are really, really wonderful men, easy to be with and hungry to learn."

"I'm just having a ball," said Hubbard. "I feel like I'm close to the heartbeat of God. It's just delightful. First of all, putting the team together was enjoyable. And all kinds of people . . . keep calling and asking, 'What can I do?' It's coming from people you wouldn't expect or people you hadn't asked.

"I interpret that as the Holy Spirit just working from inside of people in the whole congregation," she continued. "There's just an upsurge of generosity - time, money and talent. And the guys are polite, they're thoughtful, and they have such a strong sense of God having protected them up to this point. They're a gift."

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