Maryland Churches Support Local Refugee Families During GC Session

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

Members of Potomac Conference’s Sligo church in Takoma Park, Md., frequently distribute food to refugees who have been relocated within the church's local community.

Realizing he was attending the General Conference Session, Anees Abdelnour, a General Conference employee and Sligo member who leads the church’s refugee ministry, expressed his desire to expand that ministry in St. Louis. He “wanted to bless refugees in St. Louis to share the love of God on behalf of the Adventist Church,” says Rick Johns, pastor of Community Outreach at Sligo.

This week, Sligo church and Abdelnour teamed up with Potomac Conference’s Hyattsville (Md.) church to support the Central States Conference’s Agape church in University City, Missouri. Together, they distributed groceries and hygiene and cleaning supplies to eight Haitian refugee families who now live in St. Louis.

“Being in transition—given today's climate—a lot of [these families] are afraid to go out and be able to get things. And so, this is where God allowed us to open the door,” says Lionel Bailey, an elder at Agape, who adds that the eight families contacted the church asking for assistance.

Johns says, “Of course we are going to support that effort, as our church feels we must be doing everything we can to show Jesus’ love and compassion amid the divisive climate that afflicts our nation at this time.”

Bailey adds, “We don't know them. But Jesus said [that] if you have done this unto the least of one of these, you have done it unto Me. And so, we are called by God. … His name is who we represent.”