| HOME |
| ABOUT WPC |
| VISITORS |
| EVENTS |
| MINISTRIES |
| MISSIONS |
| SERMONS |
| CONTACT |
Clarkston Ministry Team Report:
REFUGEE: A person outside of his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Since the early 1990’s, international agencies have resettled nearly 50,000 refugees in Clarkston, Georgia. Only eight miles from Westminster Church, the city of Clarkston is now home to one of the most diverse populations in the entire country. The high school enrolls students from over 50 countries. Fifteen ethnic congregations meet at Clarkston International Bible Church. Visitors drive by the local mosque, Hindu temple, and international food markets. Some of the world’s most vulnerable people come to our own backyard. Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Burundi, Congo, Sudan, Vietnam, Nigeria… families fleeing war-torn countries and years lived in crowded refugee camps.
The story is one covered on the pages of the New York Times and Sports Illustrated. Outcasts United has become required reading for Georgia Tech incoming freshman, and Universal Studios won a bidding war for the movie rights of the local refugee soccer team. It’s a national story playing out in the smallest of Atlanta towns.
Westminster’s interest in a Clarkton project began with Ginny and Kristine, two church members working full-time with refugee families. We’d sponsored Christmas parties, donated food, and prayed for work opportunities. A “missions trip” this summer would be our first real attempt at immersing ourselves in loving and welcoming our world neighbors.
Over a period of several months, Kim Crawford and our Missions Committee worked to develop partnerships with seven other churches and organizations, recruit over 70 volunteers, and make arrangements to bus 120 children out to Camp Westminster. We held a church-wide yard sale to raise funds, our Women’s Ministry put together boxes of home goods and toiletries, and volunteers filled new backpacks with needed school supplies. Finally, on Sunday, July 26, alongside friends from Grace Presbyterian Church in Chelsea, Alabama, we moved to Clarkston for a week that promised to be interesting.
Each day, volunteers worked at teaching English, building resumes, and finding jobs. Most significantly, with the incredible help of Camp Westminster staff, we bused 115 children and youth out to Conyers each morning for a week of fun and character education. We were able to come alongside Friends of Refugees, a nonprofit organization offering eight weeks of camp each summer, and provide children in grades 1-8 an opportunity to ride horses, climb walls, catch fish, and learn to swim. Each evening, our new refugee friends would invite us into their homes, provide dinners, and welcome us into their worlds.
The hope for our team from Westminster Church was that we’d be challenged to continue to show real hospitality to our new Refugee friends, even as the week ended. Since August, many of our team members have continued to volunteer and serve in the Clarkston area. And while the physical needs are many, our greatest hope is for our new world friends to meet and know Jesus.
Around the world in 8 miles
The world a few miles from your doorstep.
Our family had immediate interest in the Clarkston mission's trip when it was introduced: serving as a family, interfacing with people who have both spiritual and practical needs, having exposure to different people groups and cultures all appealed to us. The bonus was a no extra shots or airfare, and the opportunity to continually be involved with the people here at home.
Clarkston is now a largely refugee community and is the most diverse community in all the United States with 160 people groups represented within a couple of miles. It is almost exactly 8 miles from the church, but once you land in Clarkston you get the sense that you could be any number of places in the world. Chances to minister are abundant, and a large number of the people are muslim. Consequently, there is a huge need and opportunity for the gospel. The church has an amazing opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ: grace in action.
So what did we do? Our team (Westminster) and a team from Grace Church in Chelsea, AL (where Jason Stephenson's brother, Davy, is pastor) spent a week in Clarkston serving alongside Friends of Refugees by taking the campers for their 8th and final week of summer camp to Camp Wesminster. We were also able to learn about the life of refugees and minister through the great work World Relief is doing for refugees from around the world. In particular, Kristine Van Noord and Ginny Strom got us up close and personal with the families they so tirelessly serve.
Each day at 7:00 AM we loaded 120 kids or so on 5 buses and spent the day with them at Camp. The kids were able to participate in ropes, horses, sports, arts and crafts, fishing, canoeing and swimming in the pool. They loved it! Around 4 each day would then load up the busses and return to Clarkston (exhausted, definitely stretched, but smiling). We stayed in Clarkston and enjoyed a variety of ethnic foods each night.
While the camp activities were happening, some members of the team spent time serving with Kristine Van Noord at World Relief and Ginny Strom in her work with Somali Bantu families in Clarkston.
Although the summer camp ended on Friday, several families came out to Camp Westminster on Saturday for lunch and a day together. Some were even there instead of going to mosque that day. It was wonderful being together as families, and watching the kids show their parents the horses, rock wall and fishing (a real favorite).
One of the most impactful aspects of the trip was coordinated by our own Kristine Van Noord. Each member of the team from Westminster was able to have dinner in the home of an Iraqi family one evening. We were able to experience personal connections in an amazing way. This was definitely a highlight for all of us!
As newer members, we loved getting to know and love the other team members from Westminster:
Tim, Rosalie, Nathan and Emily Townsend, Leslie Crawford, Stephen and Sara Gentry, Kim Crawford and Jason Stephenson.
The prayers and support from Westminster Church body were felt and appreciated, and God's provision in great leadership (Jason and Kim), mentors (Christine and Ginny), facilities (Camp Westminster), support (the many volunteer counselors who stayed the extra week to serve and run the activities at camp) made this mission trip successful, meaningful and very doable.
Unfortunately a brief trip summary like this doesn't fully capture what we were able to experience. So if any of this peaks your curiosity, you have questions, or would like to hear some really great sayings and stories, let someone from the team know and we can introduce you to a world of opportunity just a few miles from your doorstep.
- Jeff, Dianne, Claire, Ella Grace,
Ethan and Noble Chinery