SHF Mission Trip to DC 2016: Day 3: Tuesday is all about Refugees

Dear Friends,

After a long hot day on the farm Monday, we were all looking forward to a more laid back job on Tuesday. We headed over the Potomac River into Falls Church, Virginia to visit Lutheran Social Services. We learned that their office in Falls Church housed a handful of staff who processed more than 550 refugees a year, 2-3 families every single week. They provide help finding jobs, learning English, registering for school, finding a doctor, setting up an apartment and more. Most of the refugees resettling in the DC area are Afghani or Iraqi, and have connections to the U.S. military or U.S. foreign aid operations in those countries. Our group split into teams which organized a storage container full of donated kitchen items, sorted clothing, toys and linens, and some students even got to help set up apartments with furniture and meet the refugee families who were moving in.

In the afternoon, we left VA and went back to the Washington Seminar Center, where we took it easy, laid low and played games together. We had a special First Church guest join us for dinner and our programming time (Shout out to Amy Grove!), and then we went for an evening walk of the Mall.

Tomorrow is Scatterday! Teams are breaking up and heading out to 3 different work sites - back to Clagett Farm, to DC Central Kitchen and to CASA. The CASA folks have to be up at 6 AM, so some people are heading to bed early. Blessings on your day and think of us tomorrow!