WE NEED YOU!

Monthly After School Tutoring at CFNA For Refugee Children

Members and Friends of Reliant,

The last two Sundays, you've heard me, along with a few other individuals, talk about the tutoring program at Christian Friends of New Americans (CFNA). CFNA is an outreach ministry for refugees and immigrants in the St. Louis area, and the Tues/Thurs after school tutoring program is one of many that they offer. While it is called "tutoring" there is no teaching experience necessary. Tutoring is just a small part of the evening, and much of the time is spent talking, playing, and worshiping with the kids.   

Our community group began tutoring at CFNA last year and loved the experience enough to commit again this year. The problem? We aren't enough. The tutoring program is regularly turning kids away because there aren't enough volunteers to support the influx of kids. We really want to help the tutoring program flourish, and our hope is that rather than spreading our own community group thin and trying to divide & conquer each Thursday, we could instead enlist others within Reliant to also volunteer.  

Why should YOU consider helping? Three main reasons I can think of...

1. Presence: We're looking to make a permanent footprint in the neighborhood around Crave. CFNA's Peace Center is just a few miles down the road on Grand. The families who use its service live in nearby neighborhoods. This is our chance to develop long-lasting relationships with people who, in many cases, need the Gospel of Christ.

2. Minimal commitment: We're asking for two hours a month. That's it. Everyone is busy. Everyone has a list of reasons why we're short on time. In reality, however, two hours is nothing in the grand scheme of our entire month. We have the entire schedule in advance, so we can block the dates now and plan accordingly.

3. We are sent: At Reliant we are constantly talking about our mission of being loved and sent. Here's an opportunity to live out the "sent" portion of that mission. Sometimes we're called (sent) to situations that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but sometimes that's where God can use us the most. Feeling helpless in light of news headlines and current events? Here's something tangible that you can do to make a difference.

What do we need?

We need volunteers to cover the third and fourth Thursdays of each month. Tutoring runs from 5:15-7:15 at the Peace Center (4019 South Grand). Two of Reliant's community groups will volunteer on the first and second Thursdays, which leaves the last two Thursdays. We have 4 committed individuals for one of those two Thursdays....we're looking for 6 or so more (ideally we would have 5 volunteers for each of the Thursdays--this would be a HUGE blessing to CFNA).

Third Thursday Dates for the year: September 21, October 19, November 16, January 18, February 15, March 15, April 19

Fourth Thursday Dates for the year: September 28, October 26, November 30, January 25, February 22, March 22, April 26

(*If there's a Thursday where you couldn't attend, you could inform Pastor Stanish so they could plan accordingly. Also, if you have young kids, don't think you can't participate! A few of the Tuesday volunteers have been bringing their kids for years and the CFNA kids love meeting new kids!)

PHEW! Congrats and thank you if you made it this far. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions. 

Finally, please send me an email (natalie.mclaury@gmail.com) by next Monday, September 4th if you would like to participate in this mission opportunity. We are planning an upcoming training for after church on September 17. It will not take more than 30 minutes and you will receive all pertinent information / fill out required paperwork at this meeting. I look forward to serving with you as we bring the Gospel to the children at CFNA. 

Loved + Sent,
Natalie McLaury