February Newsletter
Hey College Heights,
Two simple words can change your life.
“I do.”
“You’re hired.”
“Me too.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Just to clarify, we are not pregnant. But I will never forget Monica, my wife, saying those two words to me. They changed my life forever.
There are another two words in the book of Romans that has changed our lives as Christ followers:
Romans 12.13
“Practice hospitality.”
On the surface, these two words are nice and domesticated. To obey these two words is to put in a half hour of rehearsing dinner etiquette. Where do the knives go, the salad forks and dessert spoons.
But this not what Paul is getting at when he says “Practice Hospitality.” First, the word “Practice” is from the Greek word dioko, and it is also translated as “persecute.” It means “to pursue with intensity.” When you take that into account, we are to “intensely pursue hospitality.” This does not mean we become obsessed with dinner parties and place settings. The word hospitality comes from the Greek word philo-xenia, which means “love foreigner.”
Now put these two words together: “Intensely pursue the love of foreigners.”
Used to, these two words intimidated me. But as I look at these two words, I am proud to say that I have seen our church family and the broader church in the Joplin community live these two words out over the last few months.
In the Fall of 2021, the Lord provided us with an opportunity we had to seize as a church family. After the United States Military pulled out of Afghanistan, tens of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan found themselves living thousands of miles from their home, in a foreign land, in tents on military bases, many having barely escaped with their lives. This resulted in a local partner organization called “Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education (RAISE)” being contacted to be a resettlement agency for a portion of these families in the Joplin community. We brought this opportunity for us to intensely pursue the love of the stranger, or foreigner, to you, our church family, and you stepped up to the call.
Today, there has been a total of twenty-one families resettled in the broader Joplin region. This equates to around one hundred and fifty people. Our church was one of several churches across denominational lines to step in and help serve as welcome teams to welcome the families to our community.
College Heights officially has three welcome teams working with four families, driving them to English as Second Language classes, getting them settled in homes, helping them learn how to navigate Wal-Mart, getting their kids enrolled in school, and much much more.
I am so very proud of you, our church family, taking these two words seriously and allowing them to guide what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
If you are not on a welcome team, but would want to help pursue hospitality to these families, check out the opportunity below:
"As of today, the greatest need these families have as they try to assimilate into our community is the need for vehicles. They are working on English, and some are even getting their driving licenses. But, the majority of these families have not generated the income needed to buy a vehicle that would allow them to drive themselves back and forth to English classes, to work a job, etc. If you have a used van, a car, or would like to give to help these families acquire a vehicle, you can contact me, Mike Newman, the Executive Director of RAISE, at the contact information below. Any donation you make to RAISE can be tax deductible; simply request my help with that specific documentation.
Thanks again for intensely pursuing the love of the foreigner the way Jesus calls us to."
Mike Newman
Mike@raisecommunity.org
813-774-2973