All photos taken in this photo gallery of the Lost Boys are by Norman Jameson.
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In this ‘Welcoming the Stranger’ series, we learn what happens when one church decides to live up to its covenant of “We will not let our differences separate us” and “We will be a servant church.” After some ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’ resettled in their neighborhood in Charlotte, they embraced them immediately, encouraging, mentoring, feeding and providing personal instruction on the baffling machinations of American life. Now, after decades of life together, they are like family and welcome a new generation of Dinka-Americans as they begin their own church on the same campus. St. John’s Baptist Church truly welcomed and loved the strangers among them.
Read more in the Lost Boys Series
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Churches helping refugees despite fear and rhetoric, say those involved in resettlement
Related commentary:
Humility, kindness and welcome: Hard but biblical callings | David Jordan
A lavish welcome to the table | Amy Butler
This series in the “Welcoming the Stranger” project is part of the BNG Storytelling Projects Initiative. In “Welcoming the Stranger,” we share the inspiring stories of the people and faith communities that are teaching us all to love our neighbor as ourselves.
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Seed money to launch our Storytelling Projects initiative and our initial series of projects has been provided through generous grants from the Christ Is Our Salvation Foundation and the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation. For information about underwriting opportunities for Storytelling Projects, contact David Wilkinson, BNG’s executive director and publisher, at David@baptistnews.com or 336.865.2688.