Dear Grace,
I can’t believe that Advent is almost done and Christmas is just about here! I’m grateful for the way this Advent season has been unfolding. While there is a lot to prepare for (I’m working on sermons for 12/21, 24, 28, and 1/4!), I haven’t felt overwhelmed, stressed out, or overly anxious. God has been giving me such grace and provision in the use of time. I’ve been able to attend to sermon writing, reading, as well as end-of-year church operations and functions. Pray that I’d continue to put myself in the way of His grace as those sermons get delivered.
A couple of other prayer points. Sarah and I were remarking how December is filled with so many anniversaries of people’s passing: Erin, Evan, Glenn, Connor, Larry, Kim…just to name a few. As we prayed last night for those who are grieving, I was reminded of the Advent devotional I read. The message was that joy and sorrow are held together in the Christmas story (and even in the entire Bible for that matter). While the world tells us that we’re supposed to be happy and glad, God tells us that joy in the midst of sorrow, light and darkness, pain and hope, exist together. And it is, in fact, sorrow/grief that is the fertile ground for joy to spring forth. Wherever you find yourself today, I pray that you would experience the mysterious tension of holding both.
We’ve had a miraculous turn of events happen over the last two weeks. Since last February, about 16 Gracers have been studying, praying, and training to serve as a Good Neighbor Team in partnership with World Relief. Good Neighbor Teams serve by welcoming and helping to resettle vulnerable refugees/asylees to the U.S. With the latest policy changes, the longstanding pipeline that existed to help resettle U.S. allies (suffering peoples who cannot remain in their homelands for fear of death) dried up.
In response to God’s call, we went through the process to be a potential host for a family that falls under the Special Immigrant Visa status. This means families who arrived as Lawful Permanent Residents because of special protections the government had promised. Unfortunately, the promises changed in that they had to figure out how to arrive here by their own means.
To make a long story short, just when the team was about to shut down because of no prospective arrivals, we were notified around Thanksgiving that a family who had arrived to D.C. just a week prior was in need. It’s a family of 6: dad (truck driver for the U.S. Military), mom (HS math teacher), and four girls aged 4-14.
Our team was prepared to respond, and has already moved them from sleeping on the floor of a friend’s apartment to an Air BnB to ultimately an apartment in Laurel (early January). They have greeted the family, provided for some basic needs, but much help is needed to help furnish the apartment. You can find a list of needs here.
Pray for this family to know the love of Jesus through the generous and passionate hospitality of our church! Pray for the endurance of the team as it takes every one of the 16 people to provide care and support for this family. Pray for gainful employment. The father and mother are SO eager to find a job.
I’m praying that like the several other refugee families we’ve supported before, that they would come to our Christmas celebration…most likely the first time they’ve ever set foot in a church!
If you are planning to join us for our Christmas Eve gatherings (11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm), let me encourage you to RSVP at our website. Here’s the inside scoop: if you go to RSVP, when you select a gathering time, you’ll see the number of seats available. It’s an easy way to gauge how crowded that particular gathering will be. Depending on if you’re seeking a larger crowd or something less, you’ll be able to plan accordingly.
Especially if you’re a member, I hope you’ll consider serving at one and attending one with your family. As you continue to pray for your seven, consider inviting them to come and experience the power of the Gospel as God’s people come together to worship Jesus!
I know the next week or so is going to be full of activity and gatherings. May you experience the coming of Christ in the midst of it all, paying attention to the ways in which His love comes to you and through you to others. See you Sunday!