Denver Rescue Mission Deploying Teams to Mentor Afghan Refugees

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Now that the war in Afghanistan is over, I thought that I’d write a post about what the church can do for the over 100,000 Afghan refugees who have escaped the country.

The end of the Afghan war coincides with a discovery I made a couple of days ago about how our local Denver Rescue Mission is using teams to mentor these refugees. What a pleasant surprise!

I love it when the team ministry concept catches on, especially when it is being used to help solve an urgent national problem. How relevant can you get?

I don’t know if Denver Rescue Mission got the idea of using teams to mentor refugees from the way New Commandment Men’s Ministries uses teams to serve widows and single moms, or if they came up with it themselves, but I do know from years of experience that using teams to serve people with long term needs is an effective ministry concept.

Here is why.

Teams Benefit Refugees

• Too often, churches us a “one-and-done” approach to people with long term needs, people such as widows, single moms, and, as in this case, refugees. That is, churches often just provide one-time services such as a month’s worth of rent, or help with moving. But by using teams, churches and other organizations can provide consistent, long term relational care for months and even years.
• Teams make it possible for refugees to see how Christians interact with each other and with themselves as a team.
• Teams give refugees different points of view and provide varied capabilities and resources.
• Teams provide the greatest amount of service in the least amount of time, freeing up refugees to do the tasks they need to do to adapt to their new surroundings.
• Teams provide accountability and a sense of security for their refugees.

Teams Make Mentoring Refugees Easier

• Teams spread the load so no one team member is overwhelmed.
• If they have to, an individual team member can miss a service day without the ministry skipping a beat.
• Teams make it possible for team members to develop friendships with each other.
• Team members spur each other on to greater accomplishments.
• Team members learn from each other, creating “institutional knowledge.”
• If one team member leaves the team, the team can still function until that spot is filled.

Denver Rescue Mission’s Teams Differ from Men’s Ministry Teams

A Practical Way for Your Church to Help Afghan Refugees

Now that I’ve done a little review on how to use teams to serve Afghan refugees, how about approaching your church with the idea of reaching out to them?

With the end of the Afghan war, Afghan refugees are on the minds of everyone right now. Take this opportunity and run with it.

Like Denver Rescue Mission, maybe your local rescue mission is working with Afghan refugees and can use your help. Or maybe your church can form its own teams to mentor them.

Then, once your church sees how effective teams can be with Afghan refugees, take that lesson and apply it to your own widows and single moms.

You might even join Meeting to Meet Needs, our online training site, and learn from our eighteen years of experience helping 1,000 churches start men’s team ministries.

This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.

Since 2003 New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North America and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt widows, single moms and fatherless children in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church at newcommandment.org.

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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom

and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.

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