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Palmetto Collective Serving Refugees in Clarkston

Palmetto Collective Serving Refugees in Clarkston

Palmetto Collective Serving Refugees in Clarkston

South Carolina Baptist’s Palmetto Collective traveled to Clarkston, Georgia, this New Year season with three main goals: to learn, to serve, and to share the Gospel.

Palmetto Collective is a program led by the South Carolina Baptist Convention that helps college students discover the most strategic place to minister after graduation. With spiritual lostness in America as a growing problem, an increasing number of the younger generation in the church is taking ownership of Jesus’ Great Commission.

Uprooting one’s entire life, forsaking most earthly possessions, moving to an unfamiliar place, living among unfamiliar people: these daunting demands are often considered when speaking of mission work. Some consider it scary; others think it foolish.

Diversity in Clarkston

But the nations aren’t just on other continents. In Clarkston, they’re just across the street. This is the most diverse square mile in America with 14,000 people representing 120 people groups—90 of whom are unreached and unengaged—100 languages, and over 60 countries. Clarkston became a refugee resettlement area in the 70’s because its access to transportation, jobs, and housing made it easier to find stability in a new country. Behind each number is a real person with family, stories, and traditions.

The reality is that refugees in Clarkston have already fled their homes and cultures. After claiming asylum, they are thoroughly interviewed, moved around multiple times, and held in uncertain limbo about when they might move to a host nation. This process is about 17 years long on average. Once accepted, a refugee takes the intercontinental journey, but many are without the hope of an eternal home, an unperishable wealth, and a God of love who will never leave them.

Outreach at Clarkston International Bible Church

Samuel Rai, pastor of Clarkston International Bible Church (CIBC) and former refugee, says that if he had to describe a refugee in one word, it would be ‘hopeless.’ CIBC says they are a “multi-ethnic, Spirit-filled church family where all people can come to know, experience, and serve Jesus Christ.”

The church seeks to meet the needs of refugees through ministries that offer English and citizenship classes, providing furniture and home goods, children’s camps, and more. CIBC also partners with five church plants that worship in heart languages including Arabic, Nepali, Swahili, and Burmese. When asked about how to do ministry in this town, Pastor Rai said, “People here just want someone to be their friend, someone to do life with.”

While going door to door in an apartment complex, a Palmetto Collective student was able to do just this, welcoming a couple who had arrived in America just days before. They were hospitable, grateful, and glad to have a warm conversation. The couple was able to get connected with local missionaries who can help meet physical needs like finding a job, but also to share the hope of the Gospel.

One of these apartments is affectionately referred to as 14D by Kinslee Medlin, a North American Mission Board (NAMB) journeyman and Palmetto Collective graduate. From this building, kids have a safe space to enjoy their favorite activities like soccer and coloring. English classes are taught as a practical tool to make the new American life easier. Most importantly, stories from the Bible are shared with the kids.

Reaching the Nations

There are 14 apartment complexes with over 1,500 total units. Within each unit are souls who need the Gospel, and the church has the chance to share with them. Each group of buildings is a field white for harvest if only laborers would go.

All ministry at CIBC is fueled by a deep commitment to prayer. One evening, the church spent two hours praying over individual apartments, the surrounding community, and specific countries represented in Clarkston. They prayed for local churches to strive together to bring the Gospel to these residential spaces. Many believers haven’t been told about the harvest fields just 30 minutes away. Each action at CIBC starts and ends with prayer, looking dependently in the face of Jesus to sustain and advance his work. Some Palmetto Collective students have caught the vision and are now praying about coming back to serve with NAMB in Clarkston.

Author

  • Josh Williams

    Josh Williams

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