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Changing Ministry, Changing a Neighborhood

aheckman — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 14:12:50 +0000

Changing Ministry, Changing a Neighborhood aheckman Thu, 02/20/2025 - 14:12

Changing Ministry, Changing a Neighborhood

FEBRUARY 20, 2025 ~ AMY HECKMAN

It was nearing the end of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the staff and members of Clearwater First Church of the Nazarene (CFN) decided they had to do something to reintroduce themselves to the neighborhood. Months of careful gathering required the congregation to focus primarily on the needs of those closely connected to the church. Now, they wanted to look beyond the church walls to the community. Health and safety measures required that whatever they planned had to be outside—but what would resonate?

Pat Glenn, lead pastor, explains that they settled on a simple Christmas block party.

“We decided ... we would just invite our neighbors and just put up a sign and put it out there on social media.”

That sign and a few posts did the trick. Close to 350 people arrived for a free meal and activities, most of whom had never visited the church before. The staff was also surprised to notice that at least two-thirds of these guests spoke English as a second language.

“Our community looks nothing like what we thought it did,” Pastor Glenn recalled realizing. “It doesn’t look like anything that all our reports say.”

The response to this free event and the demographic questions it raised fueled a radical change in the church's ministry direction.

Today, that single block party has evolved into an ongoing ministry called Hope in the Park, a monthly food distribution and community meal that reaches around 500 people. Between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of food are distributed at each event. The annual Christmas block party now sees nearly 2,000 people in attendance.

After a year of Hope in the Park, CFN staff was ready to expand their community support. They knew from the beginning that their neighborhood had a high immigrant population and that English classes were consistently requested.

Elizabeth Lauer grew up at CFN and stayed connected to the congregation as she earned her degrees in English language education and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Elizabeth was preparing to move overseas to teach English and share her faith until the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause in her plans. She started volunteering with Hope in the Park, encountered the diverse participants, and soon came to Sandi Herrington, church administrator, with a revelation.

“‘I don’t think I need to go overseas,’” Sandi recalls Elizabeth saying. “‘I think God is bringing the world right here. Can I start English classes?’”

From there, the church’s connection to its community deepened in ways the congregation couldn’t have imagined at first. The staff made sure the English classes were easy to attend. From free tuition and no documentation requirement to childcare and snacks, they knew that a foundation of treating students with dignity would send a clear message of love and care.

“Now, we have beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes and three childcare groups,” Sandi said. “It’s a wonderfully crazy place here on Friday nights!”

Sandi, Pastor Pat, and ESL class sign

Elizabeth has joined the church staff as director of Compassionate Ministries. She’s also begun training with the U.S. Department of Justice so that the church can open an official immigration legal services center.

When the legal services center opens, Elizabeth and others will be able to offer official guidance and legal representation for people undergoing immigration proceedings and status changes, such as applying for green cards or pursuing citizenship.

The demographic inside the church is slowly starting to match that of the local community. That slow change has been mirrored in the congregation's feelings. Church-wide prayer, fasting, and devotionals on immigration have helped shape the congregation’s hearts.

Nasima lives just down the street and is an English student at CFN. Her story of transformation started at the church, where her family also received help with meeting some of their basic needs.

It was a long journey paved with lots of heartache for Nasima, her husband, and three daughters to find their way to Clearwater. They came from Afghanistan, where decades of war took their toll on the entire population. Her husband, formally educated as a school teacher, worked for the U.S. military for several years, earning him, his wife, and his children the right to apply for refugee status.

Nasima remembered what it was like to live under authoritarian rule as a girl, prohibited from attending school or traveling freely. When she was a young teen, she spent several years forced to learn at home. Her father did his best to continue her education. Then, once the leadership of Afghanistan shifted, Nasima entered school again, eventually graduated college, and became a professor of Pashto literature.

While leaving as refugees provided an escape, it meant leaving behind many loved ones with little hope of seeing them again.

After months of vetting and waiting for approval to travel, Nasima and her family arrived in Florida and, like all refugees, immediately began to work on setting up a life and finding work. But during that process, her children still needed to eat. Nasima walked to Hope in the Park, received some food, and returned to their new apartment. The isolation was hard—she didn’t understand the language, and each task felt overwhelming. She was struggling.

“I am always in [my] house. Three months, always in [my] house. I was a teacher in Afghanistan, but [I had depression]. I’m always shy. I’m not [wanting to] speak to other people,” she shared.

Nasima’s daughters needed more food, and her husband urged her to return to the church. She walked into CFN, terrified to try to communicate. The church staff quickly gathered food and invited her to English class. She came the next day.

Elizabeth has taught Nasima for almost two years, and they consider themselves as close as family now. Nasima’s face brightens when she talks about learning from Elizabeth.

Elizabeth in a classroom at the church; Nasima (l) and Elizabeth (r) holding hands

“She is a good teacher, always a good teacher!” she exclaimed.

Elizabeth has equally warm words about Nasima.

“Nasima is the best student,” she said, beaming. “She is always very eager to learn. She challenges herself. Her ability to read and write is very proficient. She just inspires a lot of people.”

Nasima says that CFN is her church and school now. She expresses that through her friendship with Elizabeth, she knows that God sees her and cares for her.

“God is loving me, even as I do [a] very hard journey,” Nasima said. “I come here. I still love it here. I see Elizabeth, and she helped me. Now I’m speaking. This is a big change.”

Pastor Pat easily explains what he hopes his church will be known as in the community.

“A place of hope!” he said. “But we want to also make sure we explain that hope has a name. We want to make sure that [the community participants] understand the foundation of hope is Jesus Christ. We’re going to bless our community with the intention of leading them to Jesus.”

Hope in the Park volunteers

This story adapted from the latest NCM Magazine. Read the entire story here.

From the Magazine

Compassion

United States

Refugee and Immigrant Support

Food Security

Food Waste to Food Security: Sharing Meals and Christ’s Love in Vancouver

aheckman — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 21:29:11 +0000

Food Waste to Food Security: Sharing Meals and Christ’s Love in Vancouver aheckman Thu, 06/13/2024 - 21:29

Food Waste to Food Security: Sharing Meals and Christ’s Love in Vancouver

JUNE 13, 2024 - AMY HECKMAN

In Vancouver, Washington, four tiny house villages—called Safe Stay communities—provide a safe place for people experiencing homelessness to find shelter and transitional housing. When Pastor Kevin Campbell-White and his wife Jeni drove by one of these villages several months ago, they had the passing idea to try to connect their church (Hillcrest Church of the Nazarene) with the city to support Safe Stay residents.

Just a few days later, the church received a call from a local Chipotle restaurant about to open in their neighborhood. The caller explained the store was training staff that week, leaving hundreds of pounds of fresh salads, tacos, burritos, and more they couldn’t sell. Unless the managers could find a partner to distribute the food where it could be used, it was destined for the dumpster.

Pastor Kevin was certain this wasn’t a coincidence, and he knew exactly where the meals should go—the tiny house communities.

Hillcrest Church leadership agreed to help. First, pastors held training sessions for members to learn how to care sensitively for these residents. Then, over the course of five days, Hillcrest Church volunteers distributed more than 1500 pounds of fresh Chipotle meals to vulnerable people in Vancouver and nearby Portland, Oregon. Often, volunteers spent time with recipients and prayed with those who desired spiritual care.

“It was kind of exciting as we got to be the hands and feet of Jesus and distribute all of this food,” shared Pastor Kevin. “We [then] continued the relationship with Chipotle for over a month as they dialed in their processes.”

This past May, another Chipotle opened in downtown Vancouver, and Hillcrest Church, along with another group, was invited to partner with the restaurant to distribute more training meals. This time, meals reached other ministries in the city including a women and children’s shelter and food banks. The volunteers are preparing to do the same thing when two more restaurants open in Portland, Oregon, this July. Joining the Hillcrest team will be members from Portland Central Church of the Nazarene, a congregation that already offers a homeless shelter and recovery program on their campus.

Through all of the joy of this newfound compassionate ministry, church members are focused on sharing the good news of God’s love with each meal they share.

“Our goal is to do things where we get to tell the story of what God’s doing rather than what we’re doing,” explained Pastor Kevin.

Currently, Hillcrest Church leaders are exploring the idea of starting a related non-profit organization to create long-term sustainable relationships with grocery stores and restaurants willing to donate food regularly.

“God has put this together in such a way where all we have to do is show up, and we get to be a blessing,” said Pastor Kevin. “As God opens doors, we continue to walk through them, and we’ll see where it takes us. We get to be the participants in a really cool story.”

Ministry in Maui: Hope After the Fires

aheckman — Fri, 31 May 2024 19:31:22 +0000

Ministry in Maui: Hope After the Fires aheckman Fri, 05/31/2024 - 19:31

Ministry in Maui: Hope After the Fires

MAY 31, 2024

When wildfires devastated parts of the island of Maui, Hawaii, Nazarene churches were there to provide hope and healing. Now that the initial relief work is done, the focus of these congregations is shifting to providing long-term, sustainable compassionate ministry in their community. Learn more in the video below.

Breaking Down Barriers

aheckman — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 20:42:08 +0000

Breaking Down Barriers aheckman Thu, 02/09/2023 - 20:42

Breaking Down Barriers

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 · BY DENISE AND PHIL ANDERSON, CACTUS NAZARENE MINISTRY CENTER

Cactus, Texas, is a small town of about 3,100 people, a large number of whom are living as refugees or immigrants. The town is truly multicultural, with people from North and Central African countries, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

In fact, it is this population of Cactus that encouraged the West Texas District Church of the Nazarene to start a compassionate ministry here. With so many different ethnicities in one small town, the socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic, and religious barriers have caused significant segregation, especially among those who are new to the area. It is this diversity and this segregation that inspired us to come together to build a community that is culturally diverse, trusting, loving, and mindful of one another. Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center (CNMC) was born.

One way we have found to foster community is through offering English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, which have been part of CNMC’s ministry since the beginning. Students from the community join a class based on their language level, and conversation practice in the advanced classes helps pique the students’ interest to learn more about one another. From the very first class, each student is encouraged to find a partner who can speak English with them.

Some of the staff have been recruited to sit and have one-on-one conversations, which often include asking about the student’s culture, language, family, and current life situations. The cultural diversity of our staff and the diversity of our students make this one-on-one time incredibly rich. Elsowar, a student from Sudan, explains that the very act of conversing helps build confidence and relationships.

“You can understand what they are talking about,” he explains. “Just being able to communicate with other people can help you develop relationships.”

Through the ministry, the desire is that each of us would grow to understand others better—that those in the classes would not simply learn a new language but come to realize the things we share. While learning English is part of job training and access, many students have also come to realize the benefits of simply being in class—learning a common language and getting to know one another. It also helps parents support their children academically, since the children’s homework is in English.

“We are now friends because we come to class together,” one student said. “I also am able to find more people to get to know from other countries at work, or at shops, and we can communicate in English if both people can speak it well.”

Teaching English is one of the holistic ministries we focus on as we serve the many cultures of Cactus. In the coming months, Cactus International Church, a church plant that will create another safe and inviting environment that promotes oneness, will open its doors. The new church will invite the many cultures of Cactus to be, live, and worship together.

“I am able to share about my culture with others, including the food and how I live,” another student shared. “If you have a common language, then there is good listening, good talking, good meeting with other people."

This story taken from the latest issue of NCM Magazine.

United States

From the Magazine

Compassion

Refugee and Immigrant Support