When its membership dwindled to about 40 late in 2007, Pastor Kenneth Hunt and members of First Baptist Church in Huron, South Dakota, prayed intentionally and repeatedly for God’s restorative power: “Lord, help us bring in new members to revitalize our church congregation.” God responded…by linking the Huron church with another American Baptist congregation more than 250 miles away. “I had heard that a group of Karen people, who had been very faithful in our church, were headed to South Dakota to work at a processing plant in Huron and they were looking for a church,” recalled Pastor Bill Englund of First Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. “So I called First Baptist [in Huron]. I didn’t know anyone at the church…it was a blind call.”
Itself a congregation recently struggling with declining membership, First Baptist in St. Paul has found new vitality and focus through its involvement in resettling Karen refugees from Burma. Beginning with support for a single family, First Baptist, St. Paul now boasts weekly worship that includes about 200, half of whom are Karen. More than 100 Karen children attend Sunday school, and three other Karen congregations are hosted by the church. In addition, First Baptist St. Paul assists Karen families with housing, transportation, and car loans, and provides each family with a welcome basket that contains a rice cooker, a 50-pound bag of rice, and other basic household goods. National Ministries, International Ministries, and the ABCUSA office of the General Secretary have provided the church with $20,000 in resettlement grants.
Meeting with a representative group of Karen who came to South Dakota, Pastor Hunt learned of their immediate needs and hopes: “They said, ‘Here’s who we are. We’d like ESL (English as a second language) classes and to worship.’ They asked all the right questions to find out if our church was right for them.”
First Baptist Huron now has about 55 Karen attending church weekly and anticipates 5 to 12 new Karen families to become involved soon. Some of the original members have “adopted” younger Karen families whose parents and elders remain in Burma. In addition, the church sent 10 Karen youth to Camp Judson in the Black Hills with the help of a $1,000 grant from National Ministries and the ABC of the Dakota.
Itself a congregation recently struggling with declining membership, First Baptist in St. Paul has found new vitality and focus through its involvement in resettling Karen refugees from Burma. Beginning with support for a single family, First Baptist, St. Paul now boasts weekly worship that includes about 200, half of whom are Karen. More than 100 Karen children attend Sunday school, and three other Karen congregations are hosted by the church. In addition, First Baptist St. Paul assists Karen families with housing, transportation, and car loans, and provides each family with a welcome basket that contains a rice cooker, a 50-pound bag of rice, and other basic household goods. National Ministries, International Ministries, and the ABCUSA office of the General Secretary have provided the church with $20,000 in resettlement grants.
Meeting with a representative group of Karen who came to South Dakota, Pastor Hunt learned of their immediate needs and hopes: “They said, ‘Here’s who we are. We’d like ESL (English as a second language) classes and to worship.’ They asked all the right questions to find out if our church was right for them.”
First Baptist Huron now has about 55 Karen attending church weekly and anticipates 5 to 12 new Karen families to become involved soon. Some of the original members have “adopted” younger Karen families whose parents and elders remain in Burma. In addition, the church sent 10 Karen youth to Camp Judson in the Black Hills with the help of a $1,000 grant from National Ministries and the ABC of the Dakota.
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