Over the past few weeks in worship, we have been offering special prayers for Malalai and Agashirin Safi. I have kept the prayers mostly broad – “God please be with the Safis in this difficult time. . .” – instead of getting into specifics. In truth, because of some legal and personal concerns, we want to shield the Safis by not sharing too much, even though there is plenty more that could be said (and likely will be said when the time is right).
Back in November of 2021, the Session of Bedford Presbyterian Church stepped out in faith, approving the formation of a Neighborhood Support Team that would come alongside a family from Afghanistan that was fleeing to our country for concerns of safety. When I say that we “stepped out in faith,” this is so very true. We did not know who “our” family would be. We did not know anything about their past. We did not know what the future would hold for them in terms of their immigration status. We did not know how complicated their case would become with real-life difficulties. And we did not know how much we would come to love them.
All we knew was that, in Matthew 25:35, Jesus says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” And so, we sought to make the Safis welcome. What could possibly go wrong? We were living out the words of Jesus in a very real way – and very soon, we came to the realization that welcoming the stranger often means welcoming complications. There were physical health concerns and mental health concerns. There was the necessity of arranging childcare. There was the language barrier, there were barriers to employment (some of them, self-made), there were barriers of transportation, and there were barriers of culture. And yet, through the support of our Neighborhood Support Team (which includes BPC members, members of the United Church of Christ, some Roman Catholics, and community partners in Nashua, including the local Mosque) so many barriers have been broken down as deep friendships have been formed with the Safis.
The Safis began to learn English, Malalai got her Driver’s License, Agashirin got several jobs, Malalai was (and is) an exemplary employee and a self-starter. After overcoming some initial difficulties, the Safi children are thriving – especially when it comes to speaking English and growing up in a safe environment. One of the boys will often “borrow” his mother’s phone to call Larry Cowen, the leader of the Neighborhood Support Team. He just calls Larry to talk – thinking of Larry as his American grandfather.
What more can be said? Plenty. . . but not for now. With some legal and personal concerns still pending around immigration and asylum cases, I cannot say more. But I will say that the Safis are still in need of our prayers and support. Larry shared as much this past Sunday in worship, knowing that there was much more that could be said.
This Sunday, we will be singing the classic hymn, “How Firm a Foundation,” the text of which was first printed in a hymnal back in 1787. The first verse of this hymn sets the premise for the rest of the hymn:
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God’s excellent Word!
What more can be said than to you God hath said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
God’s excellent Word is the firm foundation of our faith. God’s excellent Word has told us everything we need to know about God. “What more can be said than to you God hath said. . . ?” Nothing more needs to be said than what God has already told us in and through the life and teachings of Jesus, as well as in and through the entirety of scripture, namely: that God is our help and strength who will be with us through our troubles and distress. God does not and will not desert us or forsake us.
This wonderful hymn says so much about God that – if we were to boil down the message of the gospel to its bare essentials – there might not be too much more that needs to be said. And yet, how does what we know about God’s love for us and presence with us make an impact on how we live our lives?
If God is with those who have fled to Jesus for refuge, then how do we respond to others – like the Safis – who have fled to the likes of us for refuge?
There are certainly some things concerning the Safis over which we have no control. But how we reveal God’s love and presence for them and with them is something that we can control.
Thanks be to God for the blessed assurance of God’s loving presence with us in and through all of life! May we offer this blessed assurance to all. . .
See you in church!
Grace and Peace,
John
Prepare for Worship
This Week: “Where the True Church is Found” (Foundations of Presbyterian Polity – Part 6)
- Read Psalm 85
- Read Romans 10:8-18
- Read Acts 2:1-47 (We won’t be reading ALL of Acts 2 in worship, but it would be good to read the whole thing in advance)
- Read or sing Hymn # 463 – “How Firm a Foundation”