Dear Friends,
For 25 years, Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), the refugee resettlement program of the Episcopal Church, has lived the Church’s commitment to aid the stranger in our midst.
Twenty five years is a long time -- yet it takes only one minute for a family to be torn apart by war, a child to be separated from her parents, or a lifetime of work to be destroyed. Also in just one minute, Episcopal parishes and volunteers can make all the difference in the world.
Like Jeanne Avery.
Jeanne didn’t choose a life in refugee ministry so much as it chose her. Jeanne was working with youth in her Syracuse, NY parish when they chose to engage in service with the city’s international population.
Avery and her youth group put on a summer camp for refugee children living near their church, and the ministry quickly grew. But even after Avery retired, she found herself continually drawn into deeper involvement and relationships with the refugee community.
Today, she volunteers with refugee students in Syracuse schools, assists new arrivals with transportation and orientation to the community, and sits on the advisory board for the refugee program at Interfaith Works of Central New York, the local EMM affiliate.
“I’m in awe of the refugees -- they’re the bravest people in the world,” Avery said. “I could not do what they have done, and until I became involved I didn’t even think about them.”
The Episcopal Church has served immigrants new to the U.S. since the 1800s, when the Church ministered to sojourners. Since 1988, EMM and its affiliate partners -- in conjunction with dioceses, churches, community institutions, and volunteers -- have resettled more than 50,000 refugees and helped them build new lives in security and peace in 31 communities across the United States and 28 Episcopal dioceses.
Locally, churches and parishioners can welcome and support refugees by volunteering, donating money or goods, or through advocacy. It’s a life-changing experience available to Episcopalians everywhere. With World Refugee Day being observed June 20, now is a great time to volunteer in your own community.
It takes just one minute to learn more by visiting www.episcopalchurch.org/emm.
Jean Avery did. And it changed her life.
Peace,
Deborah Stein
Director
Episcopal Migration Ministries
