Salem UCC, along with other UCC churches, has always been involved in World-Wide Missions of one kind or another. Missions offer a glimpse into the plights and needs of our neighbors around the globe. In helping others we help ourselves in gaining understanding.
The joy of those we assist becomes our joy and the delight of their successes becomes our delight. Two of our most recent larger scale missions, in cooperation with Grace Immanuel UCC, involved two very troubled areas of the world ... Kosovo and Sudan. We were able to rescue and bring to our country young people and families from both areas.
Read about these two very different triumphs over extreme persecution, hardship and disaster. Just click on either button below to read the article and see some pictures. |
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"Louisville churches welcome Kosovars ..."Those were the headlines when Fexhrije Gashi and here two daughters, Florentina, 5, and Venera, 3, exited from the jetway at Louisville International Airport on Friday night, May 21, 1999. Pastors and others from Salem and Grace Immanuel were among the 50 people gathered to greet them and their six relatives. A local imam, an Islamic holy man, and members of the Louisville mosque, were also present to assist. It all came together in less than two weeks, and within five days of their arrival the Kosovars were enrolled in English classes and learning to ride the bus. A COOPERATIVE EFFORTSalem UC and Grace Immanuel UC combined their efforts to host the Gashi family when both sought information from Kentucky Refugee Ministries, and affiliate of Church World Service. A Presbyterian and a Methodist church are hosting the other six family members. Both churches put out a call during Sunday worship for furnishings and household supplies. By the time the Gashi family arrived, an apartment had been rented, and furnished with three beds made, places to sit and a stocked refrigerator. The day after their arrival the family met with the relatives resettled with other Louisville churches. On the following Sunday they visited both sponsoring churches. Both churches were very careful to express hospitality without any religious pressure. FAMILY SEPARATEDThe Gashi family lived in Preispina, Kosovo. They became refugees when Serb soldiers came to their door and told them they could take whatever they wanted as long as they were out of their home in five minutes. They walked for miles, then caught a bus to Macedonia. Along the way the husband became separated from his wife and daughters. At the time of their arrival here in Louisville they could only hope that he had been taken to a refugee camp in Hungary. We later learned that to be the case and he too was located, rescued and brought to Louisville. SPONSORS STILL NEEDED
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THE WAITING ... |
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FINALLY ARRIVING ... |
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Four of Sudan's "Lost Boys" are free ...Salem United Church of Christ, in cooperation with Grace-Immannuel United Church of Christ, has welcomed a second group of refugees. In August 2001, Abraham, David, Gabriel and Jacob arrived in Louisville from refugee camps in Kenya. Part of the so-called "Lost Boys of Sudan", they were brought into the 21st Century overnight, carrying only government paperwork. Before the camps they had wandered throughout Sudan, Ethopia and Kenya for years as children, living off of their wits alone! Sudan has been involved in civil war for decades. Thousands of people have been killed and displaced including the families of these boys. They roamed around the forests getting by ... living off the land and hiding from the military for 10 to 12 years. They saw friends and comrades die. They survived illness and hardship. Their childhood was non-existent and unlike any to be imagined. We obtained for them safe comfortable housing with complete furnishings. We got them clothing and food. We taught them how to use a modern western kitchen, of which they had never dreamed, much less seen. We taught them how to cook, how to shop for their food, how to use a washer and dryer and how to use public transportation. They have been enrolled in school learning language skills and the nuances of a totally new environment and culture. We obtained medical help for them and tried to keep them calm and comfortable in their new and unfamiliar surroundings. By January 2002, they had earned GED's and Abraham is now enrolled in engineering school. All are working and paying their own way! We are pleased as a congregation to offer hospitality to all who come to us. We do it because we believe it is the right thing to do. In the end it blesses us all! |
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Copyright © 2000, Salem United Church of Christ Louisville, Kentucky URL: www.salemucc.com |
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that 60,871 refugees have been evacuated to 27 countries. The United States has received 3,851 of the 20,000 it has committed to. There were some 761,000 Kosovo refugees at the time this family was brought to Louisville. To learn more about sponsoring refugees, contact the refugee resettlement office of the United Church Board for World Ministries at 212-870-3047 or email grossm@ucc.org. For updated information on the Kosovo crisis, visit the UCC website at www.ucc.org/global/disaster.