My name is Amelia Oesch, and I will be stepping in here at CFNA as the Friend-a-Family program coordinator! I graduated from Concordia University Irvine in 2021, and am here in St. Louis with my husband now for the next year as he studies at Concordia Seminary. Ministry is a passion of mine, and I am blessed to be able to serve in multiple facets for this season of life!

I earnestly prayed that God would lead me to an opportunity to serve people in a different way. After friends introduced me to CFNA. It wasn’t long before I realized how crucial this ministry is in providing assistance to our new friends who have fled to the U.S. from all parts of the world!

The Lutheran Jr. Honor Association of St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Des Peres recently had the opportunity to fulfill its mission of service and witness by volunteering at the Christian Friends of New Americans storage facility in south St. Louis City. They spent two Saturday mornings sorting donations and assisting refugee families as they selected badly needed household items, shoes, and coats.

Our Friend a Family Support Groups remain busy assisting recently arrived Afghan refugee families who are from remote rural areas as well as the busy urban centers of Afghanistan. Some speak little or no English while other are college educated and speak English well. Regardless, all are challenged by the transition to life in this country.

Offered once a month, CFNA’s health and wellness screenings serve recently arrived refugees who are making St. Louis their home. As these new Americans try to understand and navigate the healthcare system, CFNA’s health screenings seek to support them by providing an option for the identification and treatment of their health issues, especially relating to blood pressure, blood sugar, hearing and eyesight. Additionally, transportation to medical appointments has also been provided.

UPDATE: The Friend a Family Community Support Groups are getting trained and meeting their newly arrived Afghan families. We are finding they have basic needs like clothing, jobs, transportation, medical care, furniture, assistance navigating government programs such as WIC, etc. They all have experienced the heartache of leaving family behind and worry for the health and safety of all who remain in Afghanistan.

When the refugees arrive, the support of local congregations becomes invaluable to these families. CFNA is diligently working to assign each family with an LCMS congregation to form Support Groups who can help their refugee family assimilate to life in the St. Louis area, including helping them with their English skills, showing them local grocery and clothing stores, teaching them how to write a resume and practice for job interviews, and introducing them to CFNA programs.

Looking for a way to get involved with CFNA? One current need is for volunteer drivers. Opportunities exist to take people to medical and other appointments as well as to places like the grocery store, and also to various events at the Peace Center. Some of these opportunities are scheduled, some are more last minute. All involve being a friend to a new American!

One of the highlights of the recent resettlement of refugees in St. Louis has been the service partnerships formed with the International Institute of St. Louis – the main refugee resettling agency in St. Louis. Pushed hard to meet the needs of a very large and unexpected stream of Afghan refugees, the International Institute has reached out to organizations like CFNA, Oasis International, Welcome Neighbor and more, to help provide the needed assistance.

During the past year approximately 300 CFNA volunteers and associates were blessed to play a role in extending a warm welcome to almost 300 New Americans. In other words, throughout the ongoing pandemic, Christ has continued to shower us with His gracious love and mercy through these ministry opportunities.

Over 50 people from six Lutheran congregations will be assigned to support seven new Afghan families in the next couple of weeks. CFNA’s partner at the International Institute reacted to this turnout by saying, “Wow! That’s amazing.” We thank God for the volunteers in this first cohort of Support Groups for the new CFNA Friend a Family program.

New “Friend a Family” Program: Are you interested in “friending” a new refugee family to help them navigate their new life in America? Christian Friends of New Americans (CFNA) is working with local Lutheran congregations through a partnership with the International Institute of St. Louis to form Support Groups of 5-10 people who will be paired with a new refugee family, starting with Afghan families. Interested in participating in this new initiative?

New Americans from eight birth nations participated in this year’s Christmas Give Away. Organized over three days, Dec. 15-17, the Give Away saw a total of 100 families pick up their Christmas gifts of paper products, hygiene products, creams, soaps, detergents, jackets, shoes and more.

On Tuesday, December 14, 50 children and 27 volunteers gathered to celebrate the joy of Jesus’ coming. Dedicated volunteers shuttled sibling and family groups to Epiphany so they could enjoy the evening, which started with crafts, conversations, and creative kids. While the students enjoyed making candy cane ornaments, fleece hats and scarves, and other crafts, a bouncy ball and some creative young volunteer and refugee teens probably topped the fun during that gathering time.

Prompted by a request from the International Institute, CFNA put out an appeal to approximately 35 congregations and partner organizations. Within less than 10 days more than 200 coats and jackets together with 400 pairs of shoes had been received and were available for distribution; this due to the quick action of approximately 20 CFNA volunteers. Comments like “We appreciate your gifts” and “We are surprised by your generosity” made by recipients demonstrated that more than shoes and clothing were being exchanged here.

One young lady who arrived from Afghanistan just recently described this CFNA gathering her best experience since leaving the Kabul airport three months earlier. One of her biggest surprises since her arrival was to see all the Christmas lights decorating so many houses and businesses in the area. Among her greatest needs are learning how to drive as well as learning English. Her goal is to become employed so that she might find a job and be able to support her sister who still lives in Kabul.

On Monday, November 15, CFNA organized a “Thanksgiving Give Away” of house-use items for the benefit of recent refugee arrivals. Distributed to 24 recently arrived refugee families, 20 of them from Afghanistan, were a large quantity of the more than 4,000 in-kind donations received from various Lutheran congregations during the past several weeks.

After Afghan refugees discovered the special Turkey Blessing event through Homa Zafer, the CFNA Coordinator for work among Afghans, they decided to take a chance and come. They weren’t looking for turkeys, however, they were looking for friends. Fortunately, while helping to assemble the cartons containing all of the dinner ingredients, they found several.

Sunday, October 31st, was another joyful day at Messiah Lutheran Church! Sam Rai; his wife, Sara Puri; and their daughters, Samiya and Samira, were baptized!

Mission work began among the Kono speaking people in Sierra Leone. However, after civil war broke out, it was the local leaders who the Lord helped to grow from only about a dozen to over 150 congregations and preaching stations throughout Sierra Leone!