I know I may write this a lot in the newsletter, but there are truly exciting things going on at FIRM! We are regularly working together to bring new opportunities to serve the Hmong, Lao, Ukrainian and other refugee groups that we do. The reality is that there are many opportunities in order to do this, but we cannot do it alone. As we seek to grow the Gospelcentric ministries we operate at FIRM, we will need volunteers all the more. I believe that we have several exciting opportunities right now that we could use your help to engage our community with the good news of Jesus Christ.
Care Fresno Sites: In partnership with Care Fresno, we will have two “Care Fresno-FIRM sites” launching this summer. One will be at FIRM and the other at the Slavic House of the Gospel. We will have missionaries at both sites serving in the leadership role, but we will need as many regular volunteers as possible to make these programs as effective as possible. These sites will operate this summer for youth Kindergarten-8th grade and will transition directly into an after-school program in the Fall.
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) Good News Club: We would like to host a Good News Club at FIRM that would serve the young people in our community. A Good News Club would operate once per week, for 12 weeks in the fall and in the spring for one hour. These clubs teach children Bible verses, songs and provides many activities to expose children to the Gospel. We need 4 leaders to begin the process to launch this program at FIRM!
Recovery Ministry: We are beginning the process to provide recovery ministry at FIRM for those struggling with alcohol and drug addictions. We know that this is a prevalent issue in the refugee community and want to provide an opportunity for those who do struggle to receive assistance. We are hoping to provide these services in Hmong and Laotian, but need help in doing so. We need at least 2 Hmong leaders and 4 Laotian leaders to help us launch this ministry. We will be considering either Celebrate Recovery or Alocholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous.
As you can see, these are ministries that are effective and needed amongst the community that we serve at FIRM. At FIRM we are striving to “Share Christ’s love to build communities of hope with new Americans.” How are we doing this if we are not giving hope to youth from refugee families with regards to their education? How are we doing this if we are not sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the future generations of the Southeast Asian community? How can we give hope to those struggling with addictions if there is no opportunity for recovery support? We need your help to provide hope through sharing Jesus’ love through as many ways as possible!
If you are interested in any of these opportunities to serve, please contact me directly at [email protected] or at (559) 283-1006 and I would be happy to speak with you more about them!
Peace and Love,