Thanks for coming to learn more about supporting refugees in West Michigan!  Be sure to check out the video about Musa's story.

Dear Friends:

PARA welcomes your gift in support of the 2009 “Welcoming Strangers, Entertaining Angels" campaign. Your gift is a response to follow the Biblical call to welcome the stranger by responding to the cry of the alien in our midst.

Hear my prayer, O LORD,
listen to my cry for help;
be not deaf to my weeping.
For I dwell with you as an alien,
a stranger... Psalm 39:12

Due to persecution, danger and violence in Burma, Bhutan, and Iraq, 75,000 refugees will take refuge in the United States in 2009.  PARA expects to assist 200 refugees to resettle in West Michigan this year.

Your gift of $20 or more will help us reach our goal of raising $15,000 by World Refugee day, on June 20, 2009.

All gifts will directly support the immediate needs of refugees arriving to West Michigan.  This primarily includes housing expenses, on the job training and emergency needs.

Listen to the voices of two recent refugee families:
Burmese refugees Nae Win and Ma Sein recalled, “We came here and we don’t know[any] people. … but they help us. Nay Win has a job. He is tired and works hard but we pay rent and pay bills. We have a place to live and it is good.”

Mon and Indra, refugees from Bhutan, shared, "I have felt a lot of love in this community.   I was very concerned in Nepal [before coming to the US]. I had many questions.  Not one worry has come true."

The support and generosity of volunteers, churches, and organizations enables PARA to help many experience new found peace in their lives. Financial gifts, volunteer time, and donated items—all these are daily reminders of God’s love to each refugee as we welcome the alien in our midst .

Let us partner together in sharing God’s blessings with our new neighbors!  

Sincerely,
Jotham Ippel
Resettlement Supervisor 

*In addition to making secure online donations through this web page, donations can be mailed to PARA - Bethany Christian Services at:  PARA, PO Box 294, Grand Rapids, MI 49501