Veteran’s Day Weekend usually brings a lot of sales and commercial promotions. But this year, the Virginia United Methodist Church is asking you to join your fellow Methodists and shop for the Afghan Allies who have recently come to our Commonwealth after the fall of Kabul. These are Afghans who stood alongside our soldiers as translators, worked on U.S.bases in country, or served at our embassy alongside our diplomats. In the words of Bishop Sharma Lewis, “many of them have sacrificed and risked more than most of us will ever be asked to do.”
Most arrived in Virginia with little more than the clothes on their back. While some of the wishlists were prepared by organizations working to resettle the Afghan Allies, the most immediate needs can be found on the Amazon wishlist for refugees at Fort Pickett. As temperatures drop, winter clothing is needed, especially for women. I hope you will join me in shopping to meet the VAUMC goal of having a completely empty wishlist by November 14!! This can be our way of following the command set out in Matthew 25 by Jesus, himself a refugee. “I needed clothes and you clothed me, Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Thank you for showing Christ’s love to those who, like He was, are refugees in a new land.
