Justice Ministries
A committed group of St. Mary’s parishioners has come together to live our Christian call to justice. As the Rev. David Erickson phrases it, the goal of justice ministry is “to address systemic evil with systemic good.” Justice goes beyond charity to address the systems that cause and support injustice. In addition to feeding the hungry, for instance, justice asks that we identify and address the sources of hunger. Justice invites us to recognize the incarnate Christ in everyone and actively live our Baptismal covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.” If you wish more information or to be included on the Justice Ministry e-mail list, please contact David Crosson.
BAMGBOYE ACCOMPANIMENT UPDATE
In September 2023, parishioners Nancy Clark and David Crosson picked up father and son Afeez and Fuad Bamgboye as they arrived by bus in San Francisco. At the end of February, Nancy and David put them on a bus to Los Angeles, where they have friends and a strong Nigerian community to welcome and support them. In between, the St. Mary’s-Sherith Israel Nueva Esperanza Accompaniment Team (NEAT) helped them find housing and furnishings, work, clothing, ESL classes, badly needed medical care, legal assistance to initiate asylum proceedings, and even an Arab-speaking soccer (football) team. Their move to Los Angeles places them within a Nigerian cultural community that will provide a warm and comfortable embrace as they continue to forge lives of independence and dignity within the United States.
Fearing for their lives, Afeez and Fuad’s originally fled their native Nigeria to Brazil. After taking a year walking from Brazil to the United States, they entered the country at a California border crossing and housed in a private detention Center in Calexico. The immigrant support organization Imperial Valley Equity in Calexico contacted Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, in Oakland, seeking a legal sponsor in order to secure the Bamgboyes’ release on bond. Nancy Clark volunteered as that sponsor.
Then Casa Marianella, an organization in Austin (yes, the one in Texas) worked with an attorney in San Diego to secure the Bamgboyes’ release. On the last day possible, the National Bail Fund Network secured bond through the Minnesota Freedom Fund, in Minneapolis. And now they have found a friend and a supportive community in Los Angeles. This is how God’s kingdom is realized: many, many people and one small miracle at a time.
Need Housing for Mauritanian Asylum-Seeker
The St. Mary’s-Sherith Israel Nueva Esperanza Accompaniment Team (NEAT) is prayerfully seeking housing for Sidi, a wonderful young man in his early thirties who arrived in San Francisco about two months ago. Sidi was trained as an engineer in France and returned to his home in Mauritania to work with international peace and social service organizations. Radical Islamists, who pretty much control Mauritania, threatened Sidi’s life often, and he was forced to flee to the United States. He is applying for asylum and a work permit and is seeking employment. Unfortunately, his free housing ends on 1 March. Sidi is fluent in French and is learning English. If you know of anyone who has a studio apartment, “in-law” unit, or even just a room, please contact David Crosson, [email protected]. You, too, can be one of those small miracles that realizes God’s kingdom on this earth.
Hope Beyond
Hope Beyond founders, Jodi DeMillo and Celia Firl with The Rev. Kira at St. Mary's in August 2023
Adult Forum: Reducing Recidivism with Hope and Beyond & Linda Connelly
