Over the past several decades, the local world of Boise has increasingly become a global community with more than 16,000 people who have come as refugees. These new neighbors have arrived from all over the world and bring with them a tremendous diversity of cultures, language and religions, while sharing the common journey of persecution, escape and survival all along the “refugee highway”.
Glocal Community Partners sees the church mobilized to form new and meaningful friendships with people who have come as refugees so that these new neighbors will experience the love of Jesus in tangible ways.
Glocal Community Partners mobilizes, trains and connects the Christian community to live out the love of Christ by welcoming and developing friendships of mutuality with people who have come to the Boise area as refugees.
Glocal accomplishes its mission through:
- Training and educational opportunities on the “refugee highway” and resettlement process.
- Connecting Christian community members to new families to build cultural understanding and friendship.
- Celebrating new mothers through baby showers.
- Managing community gardens for families who came as refugees to grow fresh produce for their families and communities.
- Offering weekly English classes and social time for women to learn and practice English.
- Promoting Community Connections by organizing dinners, picnics and other community events including Peace Feasts that involve discussions covering issues that concern Muslims and Christians, in partnership with Peace Catalyst and the Islamic Center of Boise.
- Collecting donations of furniture and household items to help set up a home for new neighbors.
Glocal Community Partners, a Christian organization, is steadfast in its commitment to the following values:
Hospitality
Welcoming “the stranger”—the refugee—into our lives without reservation.
Relationships
Living out Jesus’ command to love one another by prioritizing authentic and caring relationships.
Dignity
Upholding the value and dignity of all people as image bearers of God regardless of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or social group.
Mobilization
Calling and equipping the local Christian community to put faith in action.
Some of the greatest battles faced by these survivors are fear, loneliness, trauma, and the loss of family and community. So it is not surprising that experiencing friendship and a sense of belonging plays such a vital role in the process of adjustment and healing. Isn’t this a great opportunity for the church to reach out to the world at our doorsteps building friendships based on mutual care, trust and hospitality? We have found that these friendships are not only an important to the process of the healing and the integration, but the are they enrich the lives of those who have the privilege of getting involved.