The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, highlights ways to help Afghan refugees through Episcopal Migration Ministries. Source for this information, también incluye el mensaje en español.
Message from the Presiding Bishop
As Episcopalians, as followers of Jesus, as people of faith, we mourn the recent loss of life in Afghanistan, the ongoing chaos and instability, and the risk that many Afghans face, in particular women and girls.
The situation in Afghanistan is changing quickly with many lives lost and thousands more at risk. The current crisis leaves over 5 million displaced Afghans in the country, in bordering nations and many more around the world who have been evacuated, who are trying to find long-term safe solutions.
As Afghans arrive to the U.S. with the hope of safety, The Episcopal Church, through the work of Episcopal Migration Ministries, is assisting our new neighbors through the Afghan Parolee Support Program.
This new U.S. program, dependent on private resources and community-led welcome and support, will provide security and foundation necessary for arriving Afghans to begin life in the U.S.
The ministry of offering welcome to those fleeing violence is nothing less than God’s work—one that calls us to walk the way of love as Jesus of Nazareth taught us, through compassion, through practical care, showing to our newest neighbors that we are neighbors.
Episcopal Migration Ministries has launched a special appeal—Neighbors Welcome: Afghan Allies Fund—to meet the financial and in-kind needs necessary to provide adequate housing, basic services, and long-term support.
The needs are great and will require our communities and congregations to come together to contribute financially, offering housing, volunteer, and pray.
You can also stay involved in the work of advocacy in ensuring that the government of the United States honors its commitments to our Afghan allies.
Included with this video, there are links and information sources that can assist you in participating in any way that you can.
As Episcopalians in the late 1930s rose up to respond to allies, primarily Jewish allies fleeing tyranny in Europe, at the advent of the Second World War, as Episcopalians have continued to rise up wherever and whenever there has been human need, joining hands with other peoples of faith and people of goodwill, so now I invite you to rise up again for our Afghan friends, to stand with them in their time of need.
Thank you for all that you do.
Thank you for this work.
Thank you for anything that you can do.
God love you.
God bless you.
And may God bless the people of Afghanistan wherever they may be. Amen.
How you can help
Find out how to stay involved in the work of advocacy in ensuring the U.S. government honors its commitments to our Afghan allies at Office of Government Relations
To contribute financially to provide for housing, medical and financial support, and expanded community sponsorship to serve our Afghan allies, do one of the following:
- Visit Support Our Afghan Allies to make a secure donation online on the website of Episcopal Migration Ministries.
- Text “EMMALLIES” to 41444.
For opportunities to volunteer, provide housing, or sponsor, visit Volunteer & Community Sponsorship Interest Form on the Episcopal Migration Ministries website.
Also, watch Resettling Afghan Refugees: A Webinar from the Diocese of Olympia for information about Seattle-area efforts.
Episcopal Migration Ministries
The Episcopal Church has served immigrants new to the United States since the late 1800s, when the Church opened port chaplaincies to minister to sojourners on both coasts. In the 1930s, local parishes collected donations to provide steamship passage for those fleeing Nazi Europe. Out of this effort, the Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief was born, the forerunner organization to Episcopal Relief & Development and Episcopal Migration Ministries.
Through the mid- and late 20th century, Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) partnered with other faith organizations to resettle those oppressed by the Iron Curtain and the genocides of Southeast Asia. In the 1980s, EMM was formally established. In partnership with a network of affiliate agencies, dioceses, churches, and volunteers, EMM is today one of only nine national agencies through which all refugees enter the United States.
Church of the Redeemer
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Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.
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