It might seem easier to sit on the sidelines and hang back, but to do so would be a missed opportunity. When our church members saw the collapse of Afghanistan, we realized that by aiding a family to escape war-torn Kabul and welcoming strangers, we could more deeply embody our faith.
When I emailed the picture of the Afghan women getting onto the school bus to our community, they rallied. Now, more than 160 people, many unrelated to our church before, have come together to support and welcome eight more refugee families from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti, and Guatemala to New Hampshire over the last two years.
I can’t tell who benefits more from this kind of activity. Obviously, the families in their new homes benefit a great deal. But welcoming these refugees has helped our community write a more positive chapter and we’re looking forward, together, to a more positive future, still. I’m certain that other communities around America are poised and ready to write more positive chapters for their futures, too.
