Tag: refugees

Harvest Festival for Refugees

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This FREE event is Saturday, October 27th, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm at Cornerstone Farms in St. Jacob, IL

  • Pony rides for children
  • Hay rides
  • Face painting
  • Carnival snack food
  • Fishing
  • Soccer, basketball, frisbee
  • Outdoor games
  • Live music
  • Chicken races
  • And more…

Drivers will be picking up at 11:45 in the parking lot at Oasis International in South City,  St. Louis. Bring a blanket and plan a picnic!

If you have a desire to help support this free event through the gift of your time or resources,  please contact David at 618-980-8300 or Cortland at 980-8303 or cstonefarms@gmail.com for more information.

Oasis for Refugees

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If you’re ready to roll your up your shirt-sleeves and get busy serving refugees, look no further than South St. Louis. Over 400 Syrians have been relocated in our city since October, 2015 alone, and we are personally seeing what appears to be an equal number of Iraqi refugees in our work here. Numerous other nationalities are represented as well. St. Louis is home to the largest Bosnian community in the world outside of Bosnia!

Refugees are frequently closed off from the physical community that surrounds around them by the struggle of learning a complex language, adapting to a new culture, and now a polarized political landscape that has caused many to voice outrage over their presence here. Arriving here already traumatized and cut off from family and friends, they live isolated by their circumstances and in poverty.  Nonetheless, we consistently find them some of the most hospitable, hard working and hopeful people to spend time with.

The opportunity to meet felt needs is seemingly endless, but here is where we have begun:

Prayer – At Cornerstone, Tuesdays, 8:30 amimg_0264

Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) or Driver’s Education (car required); assisting in childcare during ESL classes; and sorting & organizing donations. At Oasis International, Tuesdays, 10:00 – 12:30

Moving and delivering furniture & home visits – Various times, contact us

Serving as a volunteer for events or horse therapy for refugees with PTSD here at Cornerstone – coming in the Spring

We partner with Oasis International for many of these things. Please contact them directly if you have cars, clothing, furniture, household goods of fine quality, or time you would consider donating.

Following God into Refugee Ministry

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September 3, 2016

Cornerstone Farms, St. Jacob – We kicked off our partnership with Oasis International Ministries with a visioneering trip to the Farm. Oasis’ founders, Mark & Joanie, urban missionaries Matt & Kim, and their extended families spent the afternoon with us and a number of our students blue sky dreaming about how God might use what He is doing, and inviting all of us into, to minister to refugees here in St. Louis.

The great gift of the day was the refugee family who came. Eman and her 3 daughters are from Jordan, and Eman’s husband is from Baghdad. While he was unable to join us, Eman immediately recognized the paintings of a mosque she and her husband knew well from his home town. After a few minutes of walking through our home, she said, “I feel as though I am back at home in Jordan, in my family’s home.” It was a beautiful moment.

Iraqi/Jordanian and American students sitting on a rug from Cairo, Egypt, playing spoons on a table that was made by a Palestinian carpenter in Amman, Jordan. More of this God, please! We want so much more of this.

Iraqi/Jordanian and American students sitting on a rug from Cairo, Egypt, playing spoons on a table that was made by a Palestinian carpenter in Amman, Jordan. More of this God, please! We want so much more of this.

Julie Tucker provided an amazing lunch spread and when Eman saw it she exclaimed, “Ah! Arab food!!” Well done, Julie! It was such a blessing, and no small accomplishment to succeed in showing proper Arab hospitality. We finished the visit with Arabic coffee from Amman.

Eman is a new follower of Jesus, and life is not easy. Let’s remember to pray for her and her family.  The Hendrick family are excited about joining her and her family at their home in a couple of weeks for dinner.

We are looking forward with great anticipation to our next Fall event – a Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 22nd. We want to be in a position to provide transportation for as many refugee families as possible. There will be pony rides, pumpkin carving, hay rides, face painting, live music, chicken races and more. It will be a wonderful opportunity to share the love of Jesus with a great many people who may have never stepped foot outside of a city setting before. Imagine! Please save the date and think of who else might be interested in volunteering time and resources to this exciting opportunity.

Meeting our City

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Saturday, August 27

Tower Grove Park, St.Louis – Rene & Cortland had the joy of escorting students to the International Institute’s 2016 Festival of Nations to gain a better understanding of all the different people groups who have been re-homed here in the city of St. Louis.

Food booths, artisans, music, dance and sports demonstrations were just a few of the things offered by refugees from over 75 countries who now call St. Louis home. This was a wonderful opportunity for our church to see the global community that is literally in our backyard.  It was a significant first step in beginning the process of better discerning how we may serve refugees.  The more that our eyes are open to what surrounds us, the easier it will be to fully open our hearts as well.

intlfestivalgroup