Refugee Ministry

Our desire is to follow the biblical exhortation to love the Sojourner.  We desire to be Jesus' hands and feet in loving those in the refugee/immigrant community, showing God's love and the gospel.  This ministry contributes to Waterbrooke's mission to be a gospel-centered, multi-ethnic family that is captivated by Jesus, compelled to love others and called to make disciples to the glory of God.

We have been blessed to work with Arrive Ministries for training in working with refugees and placement with refugee families needing assistance in acclimating to their new lives in the United States.

Assisting a refugee family may involve things like: teaching them to drive, helping them apply for county benefit programs, accessing food shelves, setting up a bank account, learning how to pay bills, finding a job, learning how to use public transportation and more.

Currently, each member of the Refugee Ministry team commits to visiting the assigned family once a month.  They typically visit in teams of 2.  Schedules are staggered so that the family is visited by someone once a week.  Also the ministry team meets once a month to discuss family needs, brainstorm how to help them, pray for them and share efforts to have gospel discussions with them.  The ministry team may plan occasional fund raisers to help with family needs.

The first family assigned was a family of 6 from Afghanistan.  We have committed to helping each family for a year, but we hope to develop friendships that will last a life time!

As the congregation expresses interest, we may form new teams so we can help additional families.

Ministry Leader:  Steve Kowalke
Elder Liason:  Bruce Eaton