Dear saints,
On Juneteenth, the holiday that marks the end of slavery in the United States, we celebrate our second Independence Day. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were informed of their emancipation, two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation legally ended that institution.
As the newly freed people celebrated with music, food and community gatherings, they demonstrated that God takes delight in the freedom and flourishing of all creation. God’s life-giving, liberating love outlasts oppression over time, and we draw hope from this story. As John writes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” The darkness did not, has not, and will not overcome the light of God’s love, enacted through you and me.
This weekend we also honor Refugee Ministries at All Saints’. We are called to discipleship, which means, among other things, serving and being in relationship with the most vulnerable among us. Over the past 30 years, we have shared small acts of hospitality that have been life-transforming for the recipients of our care.
On Sunday, the Rev. Richard Hill will preach about the blessings he has encountered through refugee ministries. Emory Doctor Heval Kelli will also share his remarkable story over lunch in Ellis Hall. Dr. Kelli moved here in 2001 from Syria, two weeks after the September 11 attacks, and All Saints’ welcomed him, an 18-year old Muslim with open arms. It blew him away. An All Saints’ member took him to the movies. An elderly lady took the time to drive him to Georgia State’s campus, and that’s how he eventually became a cardiologist.
Come hear this good news, and celebrate God’s work in our midst this Refugee Ministries Sunday. We would love to have you and our director of Refugee Ministries, Louisa Merchant, would be glad to meet you. Anything she plans is guaranteed to be fantastic!
Blessings,
,Andy+
