Lutherans have a long history of welcoming strangers among us as we have been called to do (Matthew 25:31-40). Our hearts break as we watch the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan. It’s anticipated that up to 1,000 Afghan refugees may be resettled in St. Louis. As St. Louis seeks to resettle refugees from Afghanistan and other parts of the globe, we hope to support our faith community’s response with its gifts and talents.
Christian Friends of New Americans (CFNA) is an outreach ministry to immigrants and refugees in the St. Louis area. Their mission is to be involved in relationships with New Americans who they can share the Gospel through caring words and actions. With your help, CFNA wants to welcome refugees to our community by pairing them with local St. Louis families, providing basic needs (e.g., welcome baskets, rental and utility assistance, etc.), and offering driver education and other needed supports. To learn about CFNA, please visit https://www.cfna-stl.org/.
Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis’ Board of Directors seeks to recognize the efforts of Lutheran congregations in rapidly responding to this need in our community with the establishment of a special one-time matching fund to increase the impact of your efforts.
This fund will be administered as follows:
· Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis will match dollar-for-dollar financial donations raised by St. Louis Area Lutheran congregations in support of CFNA’s Refugee Outreach and Response efforts.
· Match period: September 1, 2021 through October 31, 2021. In additional to matching funds, there are two other incentives available:
For the congregation who raises the most funds, an additional $10,000 donation to CFNA will be made in their name.
Each congregation that participates will be entered into a drawing and the church randomly picked will have $10,000 contributed to CFNA in their name.
We hope you will join with Lutheran Foundation in showing Christian unity in responding to the foreign-born in our community.
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Timothy Lutheran Church