In this continuing series, we hear from deacons in the diocese about ways in which congregations, through community engagement ministries, are gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to live as the beloved of God.
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience… Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:12, 14
Paul’s teaching is a reminder that as God draws us into community to share our gifts as well as our vulnerabilities, we discover a common bond of divine belovedness that transcends difference. This bond is ours through the promise of Emmanuel, God is with us. The God who has come in Jesus enters relationship with us as a companion fully present in our midst. When ministry involves being with and not simply service to, for, or about vulnerable neighbors, we can all recognize and celebrate our belovedness in God.
This bond is hard to quantify—we can’t measure it by the number of neighbors to whom hospitality is offered, the number of hours spent doing ministry, or the value of resources brought to those in need. We see and feel our shared belovedness as we experience life’s celebrations and setbacks together.
Among the ministries that reveal this shared belovedness is our service with migrants and refugees. Over the past eight years, St. Columba’s Refugee Response Ministry has reached out to ten families and individuals who have fled their countries in times of crisis in order to make a new start here in the DMV area. A team of volunteers welcomes them as they adapt to life in a culture very different from the one they left—helping these new neighbors set up homes to move into and assisting in their search for employment, medical care, English acquisition and other tools to navigate life in unfamiliar surroundings.
This would be a worthwhile activity even if all its rewards flowed in one direction—from people with resources toward people seeking help. But what has been most gratifying to observe is that the blessings flow both ways: parishioners approach the resettlement of newcomers not as projects to be undertaken but as relationships to be entered into. Volunteers accompany arriving neighbors not merely by doing for them but by being with them as they adapt to life in a new country and community.
Recently I invited team members to reflect on this ministry, not by reporting on the tasks accomplished and progress made by refugee families, but by expressing how it has felt to be engaged in these relationships. How do volunteers describe the experience of “being with” the new neighbors we welcome?
Team member Ann recalls that as we get to know the sponsored families, “we put faces on people who can be just numbers in the news. They become Yqlema, or Baktash, or Ahmed, or Collines. We feel happy that Afghan girls can go to school just like our girls can. When we pray for refugees we pray for Mohammed and Mari and Zainab. We feel connected to the world… The refugees are not alone. They have left so much behind but they know that they have found us here and that they can call on us for physical help or emotional support.”
As parishioner Christina shares, “When one of our Afghan families arrived in 2022, the wife was pregnant. Taking her to all her prenatal appointments and then attending the birth of her son was a true highlight of my life. Holding the infant moments after his birth connected me not only with him, but also with his mother, with whom I have formed a deep bond of friendship and motherly love. This has been the most amazing gift for me.”
As Sharon relates, “A five year old girl named Omra drew me into this ministry. She wears bilateral hearing aids and needed attention after being in a refugee camp.” Having worked in the field of speech pathology and audiology, Sharon was drawn to helping her. “It has been two years of pure joy! I am part of the ‘Omra team,’ going with the mom or dad to ENT appointments and meeting with teachers at her school. Omra calls me ‘Gramamma Sharon’ and I beam! It has given me immense pleasure to help this little girl, now seven, as she navigates her new country with new hearing aids and pink glitter ear molds. I am blessed to have Omra and her family in my life!”
Sharon also remembers being with newcomer Eqlima on the day she learned of her mother’s death in Afghanistan: “I was driving her to an appointment and she told me when she got in the car. How awful for her to be so far away. So very brave. We cried together.”
Alice remembers a newcomer’s gift of warm bread when she was under the weather: “I was with Mawladad at my apartment working on a job application and I couldn’t hide my weakness recovering from a trip and the flu. After he left, I went straight to bed and at about 7:00 p.m. Mawladad showed up with warm home-baked Afghan bread wrapped in foil. The bread tasted so good because it was made with care and love.”
About another family, she shares, “I have been through lots of ups and downs with them—many years of memories. We are truly good friends now and talk regularly… sharing information about our families and spending time together. Fridoon says I am his American mother—I think what he means is, we are family… I love them all and feel tremendous heartbreak when something does not go the way they expect—and I feel so proud and happy for them when they are happy.”
As these and countless other experiences of parish ministry demonstrate, awareness of our belovedness in God comes as we recognize belovedness in all. To the question “will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”, we respond “I will, with God’s help.” Being with neighbors, in ministry undertaken with hearts attuned to the presence of Christ, draws us closer to the state of “perfect harmony” that Paul suggests is God’s fervent wish for the world.
The Rev. David Griswold, Deacon, St. Columba’s DC
