Blog

The summer months have been eventful and rewarding for More Than Welcome. After a stressful start, due to the sudden closing of Refugee Services of Texas, we find ourselves entering Fall very grateful for the wonderful partners we have in serving the refugee, asylum-seeker, and immigrant community. We were able to partner with many area churches and individuals to bridge the needs of more than 50 different families.

We were able to pay rent over 20 times for families and individuals, helping these new neighbors avoid eviction.  We delivered food to 50 families at a crucial time.  We assisted 15 families with enrollment in medical and food stamp benefits. We helped many individuals find needed employment, enroll children in schools, and assisted with transportation to medical appointments, immunization clinics, and job interviews.  Alliance accompanied 15 teenage refugee students to camp at Highland Lakes Camp. We supported a group of dedicated teachers who taught ESL classes at an apartment complex with multiple refugee families. We helped distribute and deliver backpacks to approximately 300 students in preparation for the school year.  Your support, prayers, and generous giving has greatly impacted so many neighbors and we cannot express how grateful we are!

Of course, finding ways to feed our souls is so important, and the Lord blessed us with opportunities to connect with Him and our loved ones over the summer.  Alliance was able to return to Africa (Rwanda) to see his family for the first time in almost 10 years.  It was a sweet time of reunion and a chance to get reenergized to serve others who have walked the same path that he has walked.

There is much to celebrate and lots of blessings to look forward to this Fall.  World Relief has been approved to be a resettlement agency and they will begin accepting clients soon.  We have already met with them, and look forward to partnering with them to assist refugees successfully integrating into the Austin community.

We also have had a HUGE blessing from a generous donor…an office space for More Than Welcome and an apartment to be used for a refugee/asylum seeker family as they transition out of a shelter and into independent living. We are so excited to have a space to meet with families and individuals, to be able to offer classes, distribute donations, and to gather with those that we serve.  We are busy setting up our new space now.  We also have just moved our first family into the apartment.  This dear family from Angola is so excited to have a place of their own while they work toward being able to live independently in the Austin area.  Their joy is contagious to all who meet them.

Our ongoing goal is to be able to build a team that includes members who can be a constant resource to this community so that they will feel seen and welcomed. This would include a case manager (priority need), contracted interpreters, and a donation/volunteer coordinator. We need your help to build our team.  A one-time gift is always appreciated, but if you would consider giving a recurring donation, we could achieve our goal of hiring staff to build our ministry and better meet refugee, asylum-seeker, and immigrant needs. If 100 people would commit to donating $100/month, we could achieve this goal! If you would like to support our greater vision, please consider donating here: More Than Welcome Donation.  If you or someone you know has a heart for these dear neighbors, feel free to forward this to them or put them in contact with us.  We love talking about what God is doing through More Than Welcome and the invitation He is giving all of us to participate in the Great Commission right here in our city.  

How can you help?

• PRAY for anyone that doesn’t follow Christ to come to know His love for them as the Lord and Savior of their lives.
• PRAY for God to provide for the needs of the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in our area. May he calm their hearts, reassure them that they are seen by Him, loved by Him, and that He can meet their needs.
• PRAY for strength and endurance for those assisting these neighbors and their families.  That they would know they are the hands and feet of GOD who is the sustainer of all things.
• PRAY for hearts to be opened to many so that they will see the beautiful souls of our refugee, asylum-seeker, and immigrant neighbors and be moved to help them.
• PRAY for financial provision so that we may be able to hire a case manager to consistently address the needs of our dear neighbors.
• VOLUNTEER to help. If you would like to assist in any way, please fill out the volunteer form

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness

Lamentations 3:22-23

This past month has been a very eventful month for the refugee and asylum seeking community. There continues to be many refugee and asylum seeking families moving to the Austin area.  We continue to meet new families from Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, and Venezuela.  The need for assistance is great.

As you know, More Than Welcome officially launched on May 2nd. Within the first two weeks of launching, Refugee Services of Texas (RST), the resettlement agency in the Austin area, suddenly and unexpectedly announced that they were closing.  This has left many families in a desperate state. Many received eviction notices due to unpaid rent.  Many do not have their needed identification and work permits processed, and many have not been enrolled in Medicaid or SNAP food benefits.  They do not know where to turn for help.

More Than Welcome has reached out to many churches in the Austin area and other supporters are stepping forward to offer financial assistance and to volunteer their time to help our neighbors.  We were able to assist with paying rent for many families to help them avoid eviction. We were able to organize a team of volunteers to help enroll families for food and medical benefits, and apply for emergency cash assistance.  The Austin Stone Church organized a food donation drive and we were able to help distribute food to more than 40 families. We are attempting to organize some summer classes for refugee children and are assisting to find  employment as we are able. It has been a busy but beautiful time to engage with the refugee and asylum seekers community.

You can see a news article that was featured on KXAN depicting the acute needs of the refugees and how the church is stepping in to help here: KXAN story

Our ongoing goal is to be able to build a team that includes members who can be a constant resource to this community so that they will feel seen, assisted, and welcomed. This would include a case manager, interpreter, donations coordinator, and volunteer coordinator as well as a consistent link between the Austin area churches and contributors. We would love your help to help build our team. If you would like to support our greater vision, please consider donating here: More Than Welcome Donation

How can you help?

• PRAY for God to provide for the needs of the refugees and asylum seekers in our area. May he calm their hearts, reassure them that they are seen by Him, Loved by Him, and that He can meet their needs. May they know HIM more through this difficult time.
• PRAY for strength and endurance for those assisting the refugees and asylum seekers and their families.  That they would know they are the hands and feet of GOD who is the sustainer of all things.
• PRAY for hearts to be opened to many so that they will see the beautiful souls of our refugee neighbors and be moved to help them.
• VOLUNTEER to help. If you would like to assist in any way, please fill out the volunteer form
• DONATE. The financial needs are many right now…rent, food, medicine, laundry, bus passes are all essential needs that you can impact in a great way by donating, If you feel moved to donate, you can do that here: RST Stopgap Support

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:1-2