This winter, our city experienced an ice storm. Portlanders had trees fall on their homes, pipes that burst and flooded houses, and other impacts which displaced people from their homes. By being without power, heat, water or shelter, we encountered a tiny glimpse of what so many refugees and those who live in poverty experience around the world: people, made in the image of God, who are longing for a home and a safe place to live.
From Adam and Eve, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Israel, Ruth, Jesus and the Hellenistic Widows who were being overlooked, the theme of the foreigners’ struggles and God’s care is woven throughout the meta-narrative of scripture. As people of faith, compelled by God’s love, mercy and justice, we must welcome immigrants and refugees.
West Hills Covenant Church has a long history of welcoming refugees. In the 1980s, our congregation sponsored Vietnamese refugees and hosted a Vietnamese congregation. It has been our desire to be a church that can be both a hospital and hospitable: a place and people of healing love and welcome for all. We see throughout the meta-narrative of scripture that God is always expanding a table to welcome immigrants to belong, be seen and be treated as native-born people. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.
For the last couple of years, West Hills Covenant Church has been engaged in working with local immigrant and refugee agencies to welcome refugees. We’ve learned that one of the biggest challenges for refugees after getting off the plane is having a safe place to live while looking for permanent housing. It is an even greater challenge for families who need to find multiple rooms.
Through the vision of Pastor Jerren Wadsworth and her husband Michael, our leadership team was excited to approve and financially support the remodeling of a small house on our property—“the Cottage”—to be temporary housing for refugees. Church members Martin and Connie Helleson then galvanized our community to remodel the Cottage.
Through the dedicated work of over 20 congregants, a generous grant and funding from the church budget, the renovation was completed in under three months. The home now has a new roof, new appliances, a primary bedroom and a large room with four beds (enough to house six to seven people), as well as a beautiful view from the living room window.
In collaboration with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees (SOAR), we have built a wonderful partnership and have given a temporary home to three refugee families since October last year. We especially appreciate the training, staff support and culturally intentional grocery lists for each specific country provided by the SOAR team, making it accessible for communities of faith to house refugees with ease. They handle the administration, placement, training and social work care, so we can focus on creating a clean, safe and welcoming home. It is an image of the body of Christ with diverse parts working together as one whole for the common good.
The Rev. Stephanie Ahn Mathis is co-senior pastor at West Hills Covenant Church in Portland. She has served in urban settings, colleges, nonprofits and overseas while teaching spiritual formation and social change, multiethnic ministries and advocacy. Stephanie has a Master of Arts in Religion in Biblical Justice and Social Ethics from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She is ordained in Word and Service from the Evangelical Covenant Church.
