Contrastación con los Referentes Bibliográficos

This next section will introduce the specific churches that serve as the subjects of this research. Each church sponsored an African refugee family between September 1998 and September 2001. As Refugee Ministry Organizer, I was invited to each of these congregations initially to speak with them regarding sponsorship and later to

assist them in preparing for the task. While the names of the congregations and interviewees have been changed, the denominational affiliations of the churches remain accurate. Three interviews were conducted with each congregation, including the pastor most closely involved with the sponsorship, the head of the Refugee

Resettlement Committee and a member of that committee.

Faith United Methodist Church (UMC)

Faith UMC is a suburban church with a congregation of approximately 1200 people. The church acted as sponsors for the Raselemane family. Faith is a

predominantly white, middle to upper class congregation composed of a large number of white collar professionals and academics. Founded in the 1950s in the newly- developing suburbs of the Twin Cities, Faith represents the merging of two smaller congregations. In the tradition of the UMC, Faith is governed by a council which in turn is informed by a series of committees and ministry teams. The congregation has approximately a dozen committees and teams as well as a charitable foundation, a board of trustees that manages the church’s properties and a board of directors that presides over the church’s preschool. The church supports two pastors and a number of individuals who direct various programs. Faith formed a subcommittee of their extant Missions Committee in order to facilitate the resettlement of the Raselemane family.

Faith UMC had originally contacted Refugee Services in response to an informational mailing regarding church sponsorship of refugees. I was invited to speak with the congregation’s Women’s Group on the subject and was received warmly. The group was interested in being involved with some sort of refugee ministry and possibly sponsoring a family. Joann, who eventually became the chair

of the Refugee Resettlement Committee, and Lisa, the chair of the Missions

Committee, proposed the idea of sponsorship to the church council. At that time the council rejected the idea since there seemed to be a lack of volunteers able to commit to the project.

Shortly after this time, Hanna approached the Associate Pastor, Lynn, telling her that fourteen of her family members would be arriving in Minnesota as refugees. She asked Lynn for help specifically with housing her family, particularly since the Twin Cities was experiencing a housing crisis at the time. Lynn had recently joined the staff at Faith UMC. She brought Hanna’s concerns to the Missions Committee, which agreed to assist. It was at this point Refugee Services was contacted and the

Raselemane case was transferred to CWS and Refugee Services. Because the UMC is a constituent of CWS, transferring the case to CWS allowed Refugee Services and Faith to access denominational support for the family’s resettlement.

Of those that assisted the Raselemane family, I chose to interview Lynn, Joann and Lisa. Lynn was actively involved in the family’s resettlement. During the time of sponsorship, she had been a UMC minister for approximately ten years, spending three of those years at Faith. The resettlement of the Raselemane family occurred during those three years, from the initial contact with Refugee Services through the time when the family was largely settled and self-sufficient. Both Joann and Lisa were instrumental in forming and facilitating the work of the Refugee Resettlement Committee. Lisa served as the chair of the Missions Committee and had expressed an interest in having a hands on project for the committee. Joann was a stay-at-home mother with her two children. Joann became Chair of the Resettlement Committee organizing a large group of people to assist this large family.

In many ways, the resettlement of the Raselemane family appeared to proceed smoothly and effortlessly, an ideal example of sponsorship. But this impression does not accurately reflect the staggering amount of work and coordination required to assist the family. The members of Faith UMC put in hundreds of volunteer hours preparing for and spending time with the family. And just as the family members each experienced their particular difficulties in adjusting to life in Minnesota, different members of the committee experienced their own difficulties at different times of their sponsorship.

Hope United Church of Christ (UCC)

Hope UCC is a small urban church with a socially diverse congregation. While predominately white and working to middle class, Hope UCC has a strong

commitment to inclusivity, particularly toward the marginalized. Hope UCC expresses this commitment by designating itself as an Open and Affirming, Anti- Racist and a Just Peace congregation. Each church in the UCC and Disciples of Christ denominations have the choice to declare themselves Open and Affirming.377 For a congregation to be Open and Affirming means that they support the full

inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in the life of the church. Similarly, the commitments of Hope to being Anti-Racist and Just Peace signify the determination of the congregation to publicly declare themselves as actively working to counter systematic racism and advance non-violence in personal and social

relationships. In many ways Hope UCC’s identity is bound up with its commitment to being open and welcoming.

Sue, the pastor of Hope, had been hired eight years before the congregation’s sponsorship specifically to assist in what was considered a dying, urban congregation. During the early years of her ministry there, the congregation had partnered with another congregation to help resettle a Bosnian refugee family. The congregation had found this to be a positive experience and after a few years wanted to assist with another family, specifically from Africa. I was invited by Sue to speak with a group of people who were interested in helping sponsor a family, many of whom had previous experience helping resettle the Bosnian family or with a Vietnamese family they assisted in the 1970s. They agreed that they would like to sponsor again and requested that it be an African family. This is significant in that many congregations that I dealt with were hesitant about working with an African family. Some claimed that it wouldn’t be fair to the family to be hosted by an all-white congregation or to place them in the predominantly-white suburbs. Some expressed a greater interest in working with East-Asian, Russian, Kosovar or Bosnian families. So, at the time, to have a congregation specifically interested in sponsoring an African family was a rarity.

Originally we had matched Hope UCC with a different African family. They were excited about the family’s arrival and I worked with them to prepare for sponsorship. Unfortunately, one of the members of the family had a medical condition that put the family on an indefinite medical hold and kept them from travelling. Meanwhile, and understandably, the Resettlement Committee was

becoming dispirited in their delayed hopes for the family’s arrival. The Resettlement Committee was chaired by Janet, a former engineer, a teacher and a mother who had been active in assisting with the previous resettlement. Janet’s father Bill, a retired

377 _{The UCC’s Open and Affirming program is similar to other denominational programs concerned}

doctor, had not originally been active in the preparation for sponsorship but quickly became one of the crucial members of the committee. While waiting for the family’s arrival, Janet, Sue and myself did our best to maintain the excitement level of the committee.

It was during this time that Refugee Services was allocated the Ndleda case. It was clear from the beginning that it would be a difficult case to resettle. The father was ill and the single parent of two young daughters and they were accompanied by another single man. This made for an unusual family group with specific needs. We also knew that it was a P-1 case and there was some urgency concerning the

resettlement. I met with Hope UCC and described potential difficulties that might be associated with sponsoring this family, particularly regarding the situation of an ill father responsible for two young girls. I explained that they needed a sponsor urgently and asked, since we did not know when the original family they were matched with would arrive, if would they consider sponsoring the Ndleda family instead. I pointed out that not only were they experienced in sponsorship, but as a congregation particularly committed to and experienced in welcoming a diversity of people, they would most likely excel at providing a personal and nurturing

environment for this family, who would most likely need extra care. Hope UCC agreed to sponsor the family.

From Hope UCC I chose to interview Sue, Janet and Bill. While Sue was very supportive of the family and the Resettlement Committee, she maintained a certain distance from the particulars of resettlement in order to fulfill her primary role of being a pastor to both. This is a position that I advocate since oftentimes the

congregation needs pastoral care, particularly when sponsorship is challenging. The

resettlement of the Ndleda family proved to be exceptionally difficult in ways that could not have been anticipated. Sponsorship of the Ndleda family would have been extremely difficult for any congregation to undertake. The members of Hope UCC handled several demanding situations with compassion and delicacy as well as

strength. The particular skills and experiences of the congregation’s members proved invaluable in attending to the family’s unique problems.

Peace Presbyterian Church (PC)

Peace Presbyterian Church is located in the suburbs of the Twin Cities metro area. Also a middle to upper class, predominately white congregation, it is located in an area with the same socioeconomic distribution. Founded over 140 years ago as a mission church on the prairies, Peace Presbyterian has grown to become home to a congregation of approximately 1000 people. The church is financially robustwith funds distributed through various long- and short-term investment accounts. It is able to support a large staff, including two full time ministers. The congregation

contributes to and participates in a variety of mission projects locally and abroad. Peace Presbyterian acted as sponsors for the Kukame family. As with Faith UMC, Peace Presbyterian Church assisted in the resettlement of a large family whose anchor relative, Amana, could not meet the demands of sponsorship on her own. One of the most interesting aspects of this case was that the family were practicing

Muslims of a tradition that had customarily been particularly hesitant toward sponsorship by Christian congregations. When questioned regarding her and her family’s willingness to have a Christian church act as a co-sponsor, Amana expressed no reservations and assured that her family would only be grateful for any help they received.

Peace Presbyterian came into contact with Refugee Services through Julie and Beth, who attended an event sponsored by the Refugee Services office entitled

Welcoming the Stranger. The day-long event was geared toward educating members of local congregations regarding the plight of refugees and options for their

congregations to participate in refugee ministry. Both Julie and Beth served on their congregation’s outreach committee and after attending the event, invited me to

address their committee. The outreach committee quickly agreed to sponsor a family, formed a Resettlement Committee and began the process of organizing for

sponsorship. Julie and Beth served as co-chairs of the Resettlement Committee.378 The congregation had sponsored a refugee family approximately ten years previously and several of the committee members had been a part of that effort.

Julie, Beth and the Resettlement Committee were enthusiastic about sponsorship. When the Kukame family’s case was allocated to Refugee Services and the case worker and I had met with Amana, I approached the congregation with the possibility of sponsoring this particular family during one of our meetings. I told the committee how much I, personally, enjoyed meeting Amana and assured them that I thought she would be extremely helpful in the resettlement process. They asked to meet her also. After the committee met with Amana, they agreed to assist in sponsoring her family. The committee was aware that finding a home or homes for a family of eleven would be difficult with the housing crisis and a lack of affordable housing in their particular suburb. They were also aware that there might be a certain amount of distance between the Kukame family and the church, more than with refugee families of other faith traditions.

378 _{I also encourage Refugee Resettlement Committees to have two chairs in order to share the position}

that often has the heaviest workload. In this instance, Julie ended up taking on more of the chair’s responsibilities while Beth concentrated on housing, the most difficult aspect of the resettlement.

For this case study, I chose to interview Julie, Beth and the senior pastor, Paul. Paul was not involved much in the actual resettlement but was supportive of the process. Julie, particularly, took the lead with the Resettlement Committee,

maintaining strong connections with the family and particularly with Amana. Julie was a teacher that worked with emotionally and behaviourally disordered children. Beth brought with her particular skills regarding refugees, as she worked with immigrant and refugee women in a job training program. She also had experience with African refugees and, more specifically, refugees from the same place as the Kukames.

Peace Presbyterian’s sponsorship of the Kukame family went well. The

congregation experienced a great deal of difficulty in trying to house the family. At one point during the sponsorship, the Director of Refugee Services enlisted the help of the Resettlement Committee to restore a house with the intention that the Kukame family could buy it. That plan did not work well, and the church raised a large amount of money to assist the family with the down payment, money that was not used. There was a certain amount of distance between the congregation and the family, but that was more likely due to the physical distance between the church and the location where the family could find housing rather than because of any religious or traditional distinctions.

CONCLUSIONS

The function of this chapter is to provide a context for the interviews conducted with the three sponsoring congregations. The history of conflict in Africa and the conditions suffered by millions of refugees on the continent have shaped the

turn contribute to the formation of the relationships established among the family members and congregations. Likewise the context of the churches, their particular histories, personalities and understanding of ministry/mission will also effect those relationships. Of the nine persons interviewed, three were clergy and the remaining six were key members of the Resettlement Committee for their respective

congregations.

The next chapter will examine the experiences of these nine persons from within a framework of resettlement based on the sponsorship manuals of both CWS and Refugee Services. I will use the interviews conducted with these individuals as texts with which to examine the various components of congregational sponsorship. The final chapter will draw on these experiences as it reflects back to the topic of

hospitality with special reference to the constitution of the church as the body of Christ.

CHAPTER 4