Oliver Phillips, pastor of the Lake Como, Florida, Connexions Church of the Nazarene and director of the Connexion Empowerment Center Inc., shared the following story about a new initiative on the Florida District to provide shelter for unaccompanied minors:

It all began with a get-acquainted lunch in July 2014 with Agustin “Gus” Quiles, national field director for the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC). His face drenched with tears, Gus brought to my attention the plight of thousands of children who had crossed the U.S. borders without visas in search of a place to escape the gang violence in their countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

We made several attempts to complete the lunch we had ordered, but the scope of the discussions about answers to the debacle made it impossible to do so. Gus apprised me about Urban Strategies, an organization in which his wife, Cristina, was involved. Urban Strategies has an extensive record of being an intermediary for the delivery of human services to low income communities, especially those of color. The organization partners with organizations that share their commitment to strengthening, supporting, and connecting community-serving, faith-based organizations, and in improving the human condition of all people.

After the memorable lunch, the wheels began to turn. Leaders from NaLEC and Urban Strategies covenanted to secure places of refuge throughout the U.S. to bring liberation for these children from the squalid conditions they were forced to endure during their temporary stay until the immigration courts decide their fate.

A federal grant to provide temporary shelter and foster care services for the Office of Refugee Resettlement under the Unaccompanied Alien Children program was secured by Urban Strategies. The dominant theme of the grant was to bring liberation to thousands of unaccompanied victims of war.

Under the auspices of the Florida District Church of the Nazarene, a local congregation has become a refuge of liberation. A dedication service was held on Sunday, April 12 to celebrate the initiative to provide temporary shelter.

In his dedicatory address, District Superintendent Larry Dennis recounted the early history of the Church of the Nazarene when it erected a Home for Unwed Mothers in 1903. He reminded the audience that Phineas Bresee, one of the founders of the Church of the Nazarene, became restless with the unwillingness of those with whom he worked to be engaged in compassionate ministry. He paraphrased Bresee: “I would rather preach in a barn than in high steeple churches.” Dennis applauded the denomination’s record of reaching out “even when it is politically incorrect to do so.” He closed his address with an admonition from the Scriptures, “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God” Leviticus 19:33.

Through the Refugio Initiative, liberation has arrived for unaccompanied children.

We are grateful to the leaders of Urban Strategies with Lisa Cummings and NaLEC, led by Nazarene pastor Gabriel Salguero, for their commitment to bring relief to the unfortunate victims of societal and systemic injustices.

Thanks for lunch, Gus! You have liberated Nazarenes to respond in the name of Jesus Christ! Nazarenes have set the burdened and battered free, and by doing so have announced that “This is God’s year to act.”

--NCN News submissions

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