September Newsletter
From the Northern Associate DS | I Hope You Dance |
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African Ministry at Cornerstone EFC in Annandale, VA
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Women's Ministry Corner
African Ministry at Cornerstone EFC in Annandale, VA
Moving from ethnic homogeneity to a diverse congregation that reflects not only our local community but also something of the population of heaven is a challenging task. But our church has taken a small but significant step in that direction in the last ten years through ministry to African immigrants, particularly from Sudan.
This development was certainly not the result of some self-initiated church program designed to reach some identifiable people group. A recently immigrated pastor affiliated with the Evangelical Free church of Sudan named Samuel Juma sought us out and became a part of our church. Samuel has a heart for his people, and he began a ministry to Sudanese refugees, both in the Washington, D.C. area and in East Africa, called Fulaa Lifeline, International. Our church became Fulaa's biggest supporter, both in money and manpower. Fulaa has helped to resettle new immigrants and has engaged in several projects in Africa, including the current project of building a children's home for orphans in the town of Nimule, South Sudan.
Through Samuel's influence, a number of Africans have been drawn to our church. We have a monthly fellowship for Sudanese which can attract fifty people and holiday dinners that draw several hundred. We hired a Ugandan, Francis Manana, as a part-time associate pastor to help meet the needs of a growing African community in our church. Another Sudanese, Kwathi Ajawin, has been given a monthly stipend to free him up from his second job to engage in evangelism and discipleship. He recently organized a weekend "revival meeting" with a Sudanese choir and two visiting pastors. Our church has also hosted a number of Sudanese funerals and memorial services which meet a need in the community and provide opportunities to share the gospel.
Perhaps a dozen Africans have now become members (about six African nations are now represented in our church), and our church family has been blessed beyond measure by their fellowship with us.
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