Several years ago, Pete Seiferth’s church was feeling a bit down about declining attendance, declining giving, and all kinds of other declining. So they prayed. They prayed that God would send people to them.
And God answered their prayer. Except that the people God sent were not the people they were expecting. Rather than sending more middle-class white people, God sent African refugees and asylum seekers.
In this episode of Spiritual Life and Leadership, Pete Seiferth tells the story of how God brought these new people to their church and how their church learned to be open to a whole new ministry—one that no one was expecting.
THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
- Pete Seiferth is the Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Multicultural Ministry at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ.
- Pete Seiferth describes the moment his church started getting involved in multicultural ministry. A Congolese man named Bienvenue asked if he and his congregation could use space in Pete’s church to worship.
- Pete’s church started Refugee & Immigrant Ministry (RIM). They learned the unique needs of refugees and asylum seekers.
- Asylum seekers come to the U.S. on various kinds of visas. While here, as things destabilized in their country, they applied for asylum in the United States. Asylum seekers are ineligible to work in the U.S. for the first six months. This puts them in a position of great need.
- Pete’s church, Northminster Presbyterian Church, rents an apartment that they use to shelter homeless or near homeless asylum seekers while they wait for their work permit. They are also trained and prepared for seeking work and living independently.
- Pete Seiferth shares that the church leadership prayed that God will send people to their church. And God did! However, the people God sent weren’t who they were expecting. But Pete’s church definitely believes that their new brothers and sisters were sent by God.
- Northminster Presbyterian Church in Tucson is a multicultural church, but they are still learning to be an intercultural church.
RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:
- Northminster Presbyterian Church, Tucson, AZ
- Multiethnic Church Resources
- Books by Mark DeYmaz, author, pastor, and champion of Multiethnic Church Movement
- Books by Soong-Chan Rah
- Refugee Highway Partnership, North America
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