Owego church supports Afghan refugees

The First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego held a zoom presentation for members and volunteers on Thursday, Sept. 23, detailing how the church has been supporting Afghan refugees since the beginning of the month. What started with a man on a local church doorstep asking for help for not only himself, but his many family members still trapped in Afghanistan, quickly escalated into a community-wide effort to do the right thing. 

“Unfortunately we are here because of a human made disaster, but disasters take all forms,” said Bruce Gillette, pastor at the First Presbyterian Union Church, adding, “On September 2 we got the phone call to ask if we could provide hospitality that evening, so we put (the refugees) up at the Hampton Inn and then put out emails and phone calls; and then, in less than 24 hours, three bedrooms were furnished with five beds.”

Along with the beds and rooms, church members and local volunteers had also put together a refrigerator with food, clothing and supplies, and even trips to get vaccinated. 

“Day in and day out we [have had volunteers] sitting on the church porch tutoring people in English,” Gillette said. 

A Mennonite Church from over two hours away volunteered to bring furniture for the family, something Gillette said is indicative of the area. 

“This has been amazing, and not only for the people of Owego,” Gillette said. 

Church member and immigration lawyer Emma Buckthal said that everyone involved is now working towards bringing 105 more members of this family over from Afghanistan as they are from a minority whose physical appearance makes them ripe for Taliban aggression. 

Buckthal went on to say that while the church leaders have been in talks to sponsor refugees and help with extra space, no one thought it would happen so soon. 

“This happened sooner than what we expected; thought it would be months, and we learned a lot of things fairly quickly and it has been a good experience so far,” Buckthal said. 

After a lot of hard work, Buckthal said that the church now has a list of 105 family members still in Afghanistan that they are working to bring over. While everything happened on short notice, Gillette added that it has long been in the tradition of the church to try to aid refugees from throughout the world.

“This is based on the tradition of the church,” said Gillette. 

Going forward, church leaders in attendance asked those listening if anyone had experience teaching English as a second language and if they could volunteer their time. Before the meeting had even ended, scores of people willing to volunteer were flooding the comment section of the Zoom meeting. 

“Basic tutoring can go a long way,” said Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. 

There was also a call put out for church members or local area volunteers who were willing to let their children play with the newly arrived children. By encouraging them to interact it would not only help teach the new children English, but also give them a familiar face to help them feel comfortable when they begin to attend school. 

As seemed to be the case throughout the evening, there were plenty of volunteers.