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If you, your congregation or another group can offer a home to people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, you can download a free resource from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (www.lirs.org).
The Guide for Sponsoring Displaced Americans includes help for welcoming people, ways to access aid from disaster relief agencies, a checklist of suggested household supplies and a budget worksheet to help congregations prepare to sponsor families.
Acknowledging that there are “stresses and blessings for both the sponsoring group and the family being resettled, Denise Peterson, LIRS director for congregation and community outreach, adds: “The most important element of sponsorship is building a relationship that allows the resettled family to live in dignity and move quickly toward independence.
Leading up to the doors of St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Urbana, Ill.,
are six bright red signs stuck in the lawn. Each bears one of these
words: What Can I Do With God?
Apparently, quite a bit.
Two families—one from New Orleans and one from Biloxi, Miss., found respite from Hurricane Katrina thanks to this congregation.
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© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
