The Love of Christ in the St. Paul, MN Refugee Community

Today we had the awesome opportunity of spending time with a big part of the Karen refugee community here in St. Paul. There are normally about 200 of these refugees that attend First Baptist Church of St. Paul on a regular basis. Today, this community held a memorial/fundraiser service for the cyclone victims in Burma. Talking with these beautiful people really made the devastation of this cyclone a reality for me.

One girl was sharing her story of separation. Being only a junior in high school, she has just recently been reunited with her parents and siblings. After 7 long years of them being forced to stay in a refugee camp while she could not leave the school in Burma, she said that she was scared because she didn’t even remember what they looked like. She was so excited to be with her family again! The thought that she left me with was this…we cannot forget our people and those that we love who are suffering.

After this we had the opportunity to sit down with the pastor of the church who shared with us that he had lost his daughter about 2 months ago. She had been killed by a tragic fire in her college dorm. He shared that the refugee community had just surrounded him with love…these people who had literally come to America with only the clothes on their back had gathered over $5,000 to give in her memory.

Here, we see the love of Christ come full-circle. THIS is the church sharing in joy, sympathizing in sorrow, but always loving.