Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service

Here’s a story from our dear friends at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Kissimmee, Florida:

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

 “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference for that one.”

That is exactly what Trinity’s Starfish Ministry does as they strive to light the way for refugees in their community, making a difference one person…and now one family…at a time.

Starfish Ministry formed in the fall of 2008 after the Rev. Eli Hernandez shared with the congregation the story of how Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Lutheran Services Florida carry out our shared ministry to welcome refugees to the United States.

The group got started by recruiting interested members of the congregation to organize a refugee resettlement committee. They divided the work of welcome, creating teams to focus on different areas that would help a refugee get settled in to a new country and a new community—finance, health, housing, employment, citizenship, transportation and cultural integration. They organized and held planning meetings. They learned more about the plight of refugees. They clocked countless volunteer hours at Lutheran Family Services. They collected donations. They waited, they prayed, and then they waited some more.

When they got word that the family finally was scheduled to arrive in early 2009, all of the preparations made by the Starfish team were set in motion. There were greeters who met the family at the airport, a team who prepared the apartment and folks who made dinner. And there were volunteers standing by, ready to accompany the family to appointments and to help register the children for school.

All told, the Starfish Ministry team worked over 300 hours going to meetings, planning, accounting, reporting and tutoring. The team reported driving over 1,700 miles to assist the family in getting to appointments and job interviews, shopping and tutoring sessions.

What started as an effort to make a difference in the life of just one has truly made a difference in the lives of many. With a community of welcoming arms and loving support, this resettled refugee family is doing remarkably well. The father has found meaningful work and has saved enough money to buy a car for his family. The mother is fulfilled in knowing that her family is safe and that her daughters will have many more opportunities in life here. Their three little girls are making new friends and doing great in school. But the interesting thing is that it wasn’t just the lives of the family that were changed.

The entire Trinity community has grown and each person touched by this effort has grown because of the experience. They learned patience. They learned hospitality. They learned graciousness and humility. They truly learned to “love their neighbor.”

The Starfish Ministry team and Trinity Lutheran Church extended a warm welcome to newcomers and could never have imagined what blessings would abound as a result!