One Africa Team and the Pastoral Studies Institute are partnering to serve the spiritual needs of refugees from the Nuer tribe of South Sudan currently living in camps located in Ethiopia and Kenya. This week read how WELS members in Mankato, Minnesota are reaching out to Nuer immigrants in their community.
Christmas blessings to you from Risen Savior Lutheran School in Mankato, Minnesota! We rejoice with you this holiday season as we celebrate Christ’s birth and His coming for all mankind.
Risen Savior Lutheran School (RSLS), a WELS Christian day school in south central Minnesota, continues to grow in God’s grace. Operated by St. Mark in Mankato and St. Paul’s in North Mankato, Risen Savior exists to teach children God’s message of salvation found in His Holy Word. Nine of our 92 students enrolled are the children of South Sudanese refugees. Our student body is blessed to call these students from four families our brothers and sisters and friends in Christ.
These Sudanese parents have moved to America to experience a better life for themselves and their children. Although they have escaped the ravaging of political war and the poverty and displacement of refugee camps, life is still anything but easy. Five of the children come from single parent homes. The jobs parents get often require long, overnight hours. These families are in poverty in America and live with government assistance for food and housing.
With the conditions of their new life in America, these families must often rely on other friends to help them raise their children. Parents at Risen Savior also become a pillar of support, so these Sudanese children can take part in the same activities that their new friends are doing at school. You can see the faith of these Sudanese parents as they allow their children to be transported with American parents they often do not know, so their children can participate in extracurricular events with friends.
In October RSLS held an All-School Read event. All families were given a copy of “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park. We then gathered to have a book discussion about this Sudanese refugee’s true story and the need for simple things like clean water in Sudan. Children and parents attended to learn more about this situation and to even enjoy a feast of traditional food prepared by two of the Sudanese moms. One of the Sudanese moms, Mary, worked all day, prepared a dish of meat and rice to share and then attended to help educate our school body about her experiences in her home country.
Nyeriang presents her winning poetry to a packed church as part of Risen Savior’s annual forensics night.
At the end of October our school held its annual forensics night. All students prepared a poem to present to families of the school. One of our Sudanese students, Nyeriang, received the highest score in her classroom’s competition. Her family was working and unable to attend but another family picked her up so she could do the honor of showcasing her poetry to those in attendance. She showed much courage in public speaking and such growth from when she first attended Risen Savior four years ago.
The Sudanese students are like their American friends and want to participate in the sports our school offers. Friday, a fifth grader, received rides to practices and games when she played soccer this September. And now Kon gets rides home from cheerleading practices and Friday, Nyeriang, Nyanak and Hannah get rides so they can play for the Risen Savior girls’ basketball team.
We are now preparing to celebrate Jesus’ birth with our Advent concert. Practicing for this beautiful event, filled with recitations and songs by the students, takes special practices at an area church. These special practices mean extra rides that Sudanese families cannot give. Pastor Keith Siverly of St. Mark will often transport some students there, as will other school families. With this extra effort and commitment, our school will all glorify God together this season.
The entire student body of RSLS presents the joy of Jesus in our Advent concert
We work together; we learn from each other; we share the same faith. Please pray for the South Sudanese at Risen Savior and their adaptation to life here. Please also pray for the American families at Risen Savior that they will not grow weary of doing good. We are blessed to share this life in America with our Sudanese friends and we await sharing life in heaven with them as well!
Jenni Heins serves as a Teacher at Risen Savior Lutheran Church in Mankato, MN.
Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news and receive updates. Go to this link to learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa
