St. John's Episcopal Church-Austin, TX / La Iglesia Episcopal de St. John - Austin, TX
ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
  • Main Menu
    • The Bridge Newsletter >
      • 2022 Archive - The Bridge
      • 2021 Archive - The Bridge
      • 2020 Archive - The Bridge
    • services >
      • sunday worship
      • baptism
      • confirmation >
        • membership
      • first communion
      • presentations
      • quinceañeras
      • marriage
      • funerals
      • Pet Blessing
    • ministries >
      • community garden
      • pastoral care
      • daughters of the king
      • farmer's market
      • alcoholics anonymous
      • overeaters anonymous
      • worship ministries
      • ushers and greeters
      • choir
    • learn with us >
      • sunday morning
      • Wednesday Evening
      • Cornerstone Literary Circle
      • Thursday Bible Study
      • Becoming Beloved Community >
        • Vestry Statement Against Racism
        • Black History Month
        • The Way of Love
        • Celebrating Juneteenth >
          • Celebrating Juneteenth - June 2
          • Celebrating Juneteenth - June 9
          • Celebrating Juneteenth - June 23
      • yoga
      • Youth Formation
    • Online Calendar
    • resources
    • stewardship >
      • stewardship faq
      • Online Giving
      • Electronic Banking
    • Zoom information
  • Info for Visitors
  • About St. John's
    • the episcopal church
    • accessibility
    • clergy
    • vestry >
      • Vestry Minutes
    • staff
    • history
    • yearly planner
    • 2023 Annual Parish Meeting >
      • 2023 Candidate Biographies
  • Photos
  • Holy Week 2023
  • News and Announcements
  • contact us
    • Prayer Requests
    • Flower Dedications
    • Donate to St. John's
  • español
  • Main Menu
    • The Bridge Newsletter >
      • 2022 Archive - The Bridge
      • 2021 Archive - The Bridge
      • 2020 Archive - The Bridge
    • services >
      • sunday worship
      • baptism
      • confirmation >
        • membership
      • first communion
      • presentations
      • quinceañeras
      • marriage
      • funerals
      • Pet Blessing
    • ministries >
      • community garden
      • pastoral care
      • daughters of the king
      • farmer's market
      • alcoholics anonymous
      • overeaters anonymous
      • worship ministries
      • ushers and greeters
      • choir
    • learn with us >
      • sunday morning
      • Wednesday Evening
      • Cornerstone Literary Circle
      • Thursday Bible Study
      • Becoming Beloved Community >
        • Vestry Statement Against Racism
        • Black History Month
        • The Way of Love
        • Celebrating Juneteenth >
          • Celebrating Juneteenth - June 2
          • Celebrating Juneteenth - June 9
          • Celebrating Juneteenth - June 23
      • yoga
      • Youth Formation
    • Online Calendar
    • resources
    • stewardship >
      • stewardship faq
      • Online Giving
      • Electronic Banking
    • Zoom information
  • Info for Visitors
  • About St. John's
    • the episcopal church
    • accessibility
    • clergy
    • vestry >
      • Vestry Minutes
    • staff
    • history
    • yearly planner
    • 2023 Annual Parish Meeting >
      • 2023 Candidate Biographies
  • Photos
  • Holy Week 2023
  • News and Announcements
  • contact us
    • Prayer Requests
    • Flower Dedications
    • Donate to St. John's
  • español

Message from Bishop Curry

2/9/2020

0 Comments

 

Message to the Diocese of Texas from The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church.

0 Comments

Refugee Ministry Report - February, 2020

2/4/2020

1 Comment

 
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to send an update on recent activities.

With Emily's help we did find a donated sewing machine a few weeks ago. Since then, several other families have asked for sewing machines, so we're on the look out for anyone willing to donate sewing machines.

A few weeks ago a family I've known for a while had requested bunk bed mattresses; since we were not able to find bunk bed mattresses via donation, I went ahead and purchased some from Walmart. They fit the bunk bed frame perfectly and now these kids are not sleeping on the hard wooden bunk bed slates - I can only imagine how relieving that is.

We had some back and forth about helping an Afghani who is struggling financially and we agreed that instead of giving him money for rent we'd be more comfortable purchasing him a HEB gift card - I'm hoping we can do that for him this month and I'll follow up with guys about that later.

I was on the lookout for a bedroom dresser/vanity that an Afghani guy named Fahim was looking for. A colleague of mine had one to donate so I met up with Fahim on Saturday and we picked that up and delivered to his apartment, that was a cool donation because his wife requested that special item (she is due in April, so I'm going to stay close to them to make sure they have what they need for their baby when she arrives).

Saturday afternoon I met up with Ramin who has been my main liaison with the Afghani refugee community. He caught wind of a man who was donating a bunch of furniture from his apartment, so Ramin, my brother, and myself cleared out said apartment and took the furniture to the shed. The shed is now 100% full, and Ramin has assured me that he'll find Afghani's who can use the furniture and when he does we'll hook them up.

A lot of people have asked me what is happening since the current political environment has not been bringing new refugees to the country. My answer to this is: I'm aware that there are about 1,500 Afghani families in Austin that came within the last 5 years. Our ministry has helped approximately 25-35 of those families, which leaves plenty of refugees in Austin who, although they are not brand new to the country, are still struggling. Ramin (who I mentioned above) is a tremendous resources and uses his networks to identify families that are still living in apartments with no furniture - I assume there are probably between 500 and 1000 Afghani families in Austin that are still living with no beds, couches, and limited cooking utensils. We continue to identify and assist these families and the Trump refugee ban has not slowed us down in this regards.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support this work. Please let me know if I can provide any additional details about anything. I know at some point we'll want to regroup and create a clearer game plan for going forward, so please let me know if/when you'd all like to meetup and we can come up with plans for the next year or so of refugee ministry.

Warm regards,
​Chad Hall   

1 Comment

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

 St. John's Episcopal Church
​11201 Parkfield Drive, Austin, TX 78758  ​(the corner of Parkfield Drive and Braker Lane)

P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX   78708-1493
512-580-0200 ​
 © St. John's Episcopal Church-Austin, Texas     ​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2016-2023

​Contact Us
Donate to St. John's
Prayer Requests
Flower Dedications
​Braille Ministry
Picture
Learn about online giving.