From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

I want to use this note simply to say thank you for responding with generosity and love to the special edition of Bell and Tower sent out on Tuesday regarding assisting our Afghan Ally refugees.

We already had (as of Wednesday evening) 41 responses with 30 wanting to give in a variety of ways and with 6 able to give to cover several months of rent. One was able to offer housing, and 30 want to be helpful by doing rides, childcare, etc.

That’s a tremendous response in one day! Of course, given deadlines and the like, that number may be much higher by the time you read this. I’m always proud (a sin though it is) to be the Rector here. But it becomes an honor for me to do so when I see responses like this to real need.

This is a place that takes seriously the notion that a neighbor is not a geographic concept but a moral one. Loving our neighbor is a call to look beyond next door to those coming from all walks, a variety of cultures, and with so many needs.

If you’d like to help, please use this link. It is just a rough way for us to gauge interest and our capacity to help. As we get firm requests from migration ministry partners we will call on folks to give and volunteer as needed. This brief survey will help us tell those partners what they can expect from us. It’s not a scientific survey so much as an approximation tool.

The next steps will be for us to continue soliciting survey responses through early next week and then Deacon Leah, Mother Taylor, myself, and others will contact lay leaders to ask them to take the lead in forming an Afghan Relief Ministry working group to coordinate with those who’ve offered to help and to firm up those commitments. If you feel called to help lead such a ministry and coordinate its work, I hope that you will not hesitate in reaching out to me.

There are roughly 50,000 Afghan Allies who will be coming to find safety in America very shortly and our migration ministry partners will be hard pressed to meet the need on such short notice. You’re all taking a significant step toward making that response, in Tucson, easier to make happen quickly.

As always, it’s a gift to be your partner in ministry, and I’m so grateful for the ways you are so ready to work, pray, and give to make God’s love come alive for our neighbors.

Yours in Christ,
Fr Robert