Groups from 3 faiths join to welcome Syrian family
Phoenix-area followers of Christianity, Islam and Judaism worked together for two months to prepare for the arrival of a young Syrian refugee family.
They raised money, found an apartment, furnished it and stocked a refrigerator with goods to make the family, fresh from refugee-settlement camps, feel at home.
Then leaders and volunteers from Ascension Lutheran Church of Paradise Valley, the Islamic Center of the East Valley and Temple Solel gathered at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Wednesday with flowers, snacks and signs.
They welcomed a family of four with two babies, a 2-month-old and a 10month-old.
Earlier in the day, Kristy Shabbah, a member of the Islamic Center, paced through the isles of Haji-Baba, a Tempe Middle-Eastern grocery. She carefully chose traditional ingredients to include in the home-cooked meal that would be ready when the family arrived at its new Mesa home.
“I just want them to feel at home,” Shabbah said, adding that the faith groups needed to make sure the family has enough food for the next few weeks, until they begin to receive government assistance.
The faith groups have raised about $5,000 to get the family a fully furnished apartment along with toiletries, a full refrigerator, car seats, SIM cards and more.
They worked with Refugee Focus, a division of Lutheran Social Service of the Southwest. The organization
“It touches your heart to see the commitment and the compassion to make this family feel welcome in this scary environment.” THE REV. JAYNE BAKER ASCENSION LUTHERAN CHURCH
has provided resources for foreign refugees in Phoenix and Tempe for more than 30 years.
A caseworker from Refugee Focus was at the airport to welcome the family, along with a translator to speak Arabic.
The communities first developed the idea to collaborate after a photo of the Rev. Jayne Baker of Ascension Lutheran was featured in The Arizona Republic showing her embracing a Syrian refugee.
Baker said her church community was so inspired by the message of the photo that they wanted to have a direct impact on the Syrian refugee crisis. They immediately decided to involve members of other faiths in the project.
In late April, leaders from all three centers of worship began hosting planning dinners and discussed plans to welcome the family to Arizona.
“It touches your heart to see the commitment and the compassion to make this family feel welcome in this scary environment,” Baker said.
Baker said both of the family’s babies were born in refugee camps after their parents were forced to flee the country of their birth.
“It is an interesting time,” said Rabbi John Linder of Temple Solel. “This is a time where the message from the faith community needs to have a voice that represents care and compassion, rather than fear and hatred.”
He reflected on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arriving on the same evening at the same airport in Phoenix before making a highly anticipated speech on immigration.
The work of the three congregations means that this family can finally go to sleep in a home they can call their own, and have a diverse support system to ensure that doesn’t change.
But Baker said the work of the faith groups is far from done.
“Our goal is to not only welcome the family, but to help them integrate, which may be more of a difficult task.”