To say I was shocked the first Sunday several Haitian refugees came to Greenhill Baptist would be an understatement. It was a unique development in my ministry at Greenhill, where I have pastored for the last twenty-four years in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It turns out several Haitian families moved into a housing complex about a quarter mile from our location, and we were the nearest Baptist church, which I found out later was their church background. They came here following the instability and violence in Haiti, most of them leaving professional careers – one was a teacher, another a nurse, for example – to escape the situation in their home country.
The first Sunday, there were four; the next, a few more; and now we generally have about eight to twelve Haitian believers who regularly attend our Sunday morning services. Learning how to minister to them and also help meet their needs has been a learning curve. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we strongly felt the call to come alongside them to help with their adjustment to our community. We had no idea how little assistance they actually receive in accessing services or dealing with all the paperwork they face. Fortunately, we were able to reach out to some friends at Lutheran Services of Iowa and Catholic Social Services, who have people trained to help refugees access services, complete their immigration paperwork, and find employment.
One thing we discovered was that our local community college is in charge of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in our area, and the waiting list at least six months long. God knew this ahead of time, because one of our members used to teach ESL to Yemeni women in the Dearborn, Michigan, area years ago. She stepped in, and now we teach conversational English on Wednesday nights, along with our other midweek activities.
What probably has been the best part for me as a pastor is watching our congregation open up to and love these warm, friendly faces each Sunday. We seek to help them fully integrate into our church family, and also to learn from these committed brothers and sisters in Christ. Embracing the beautiful people God is sending to our area is a huge avenue for joy and growth. As God brings the nations to us, we are welcoming the opportunity to love his children however they arrive at our doorstep.
Orville Erickson is the pastor of Greenhill Baptist Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa.