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In this season of Thanksgiving, we are grateful for you, your church, and the difference you are making in the lives of the thousands of migrants being bussed to Washington, D.C., and abandoned to an uncertain future. For almost two years, these migrants have been met with incredible hospitality by United Methodists and others offering resources and, in some cases, a place to temporarily call home. But the need is growing.
On Global Migration Sunday, Dec. 3, the BWC will kick off a campaign to raise $45,000 to assist migrant families arriving in the D.C. region. With these funds, we will continue moving beyond charity to offering solidarity and a hope-filled future.
Every congregation is being encouraged, during Advent, to take an offering for the migrant crisis. Your funds will help to:
Raise the roof — support our ongoing resettlement work by funding efforts to furnish the homes of new migrant families and pay the rent for transitional housing. Beacon of Light at Emory UMC in Washington has hosted immigrant families in a transitional housing program.
Meet basic needs — Capitol Hill UMC in Washington hosts a biweekly free store, where families can access gently used clothes, coats, shoes, new underwear, socks, and hygiene items. These items are greatly needed among newly arrived families and those who arrived in warmer months.
- $50 = a phone, an important lifeline
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$100 = a jacket and backpack at the Capitol Hill UMC store
- $500 = wrap-around perinatal support for an expectant mother
- $1,000 = furnishes a home, including moving costs
- $3,000 = one month of rent in Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid's transitional housing
We hope you’ll give generously. Donations can be made via check, payable to “BWC Treasurer,” with “migrant” in the memo field, and sent to Baltimore-Washington Conference Center, 11711 E. Market Place, Suite 1, Fulton, MD, 20759; ATTN: Dr. Emma Arely Escobar.
In 2019, a liturgy was written by members of the BWC who went on an Immersion Experience to the U.S.-Mexico border. We invite you to use whatever parts of it might be helpful in your church's worship. See Migration Sunday: A Worship Service.
Questions? Contact Emma Escobar, the conference Coordinator of Hispanic-Latino Ministries and Community Organizing. Your contributions are changing lives. Gracias.
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