Just the Beginning

By Stefanie Cassetto

This article is a sidebar to Cassetto’s “A Day in the Park.”

Small Group Outreach After “A Day in the Park”

Small group outreach became personal for one group of nine after “A Day in the Park” opened their hearts to extend God’s love even more. Listening to one family’s story moved the group from awareness to action. What followed became a shared journey of learning, serving, and growing together.

• A small group listened closely and learned before taking action.
• Helping one family find a new home became a tangible act of care.
• Names and shared life experiences turned “poverty” and “refugees” into personal relationships.

For my small group of nine, “A Day in the Park” was just the beginning of our journey. When we met the following week and began to share our stories, God started to open our hearts and eyes to ways we could extend his love even more.

Listening to One Family’s Reality

My husband, John, shared his experience of helping a father and son with a delivery to their small central Manchester apartment. The smell was the first thing that hit him when he walked through the door of their home. As he looked around he saw lots of children. Several were naked. There was very little furniture. But the thing that caught his eye were the bugs. Bugs were crawling everywhere.

As we learned over the next few weeks, they were a one-income Somali family of eight making $1,200 each month. Of that, $900 went to pay rent for the bug-infested apartment. Bugs were crawling into the children’s mouths at night and biting them while they slept.

Moved to Action

As we listened and learned, we were moved to action. We couldn’t just do nothing while this family was living this way. This family needed a fresh start, a new place to live.

A Fresh Start

In January, we walked our family through the front doors of their new apartment. It was emotional for all of us.

Names and Faces

For me, people living in poverty now have faces. Refugees with stories of fear and death now have names. I thank God for Abdi Kamis, Isha Banku, Abdul, Fatumah, Imena, Moftu, Ibrihim, and Hawa. We have shared meals together, laughed while making cookies for the first time, and learned of their journey to America while doing laundry. We have survived a pipe burst, a tricky landlord, and new neighbors. We are teaching where we can and learning all of the time. They have made our lives richer and taught us more about God’s love than they will ever know.

Author: Stefanie Cassetto