Building a Supportive Interfaith Community for New Arrivals

Having lived in Texas for over 10 years, I can tell you that what they say is true: Everything is bigger in Texas. And this includes the efforts of Refugee Services of Texas (RST), a Church World Service affiliate organization providing refugee resettlement services in seven cities across the state of Texas. 

According to data from the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Texas has received nearly 57,000 recorded arrivals from eleven countries including Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanis, between 2010 and 2019 — more refugees than any other state. And the majority of these arrivals have been received by RST, the state’s largest refugee resettlement agency. RST reports resettling around 3% of all refugees who come to the U.S., which is about 1 out of every 30 people. 

This explains how I stayed so busy when I had an opportunity to serve as the Interim Resettlement Supervisor in the RST Houston office back in 2016, and in many ways, why I was invited once again to serve with RST in 2022, this time in Dallas, where I was living and working part-time as an ordained pastor for the Presbyterian Church (USA). 

During the final weeks of the summer of 2021, the need for receiving individuals and families evacuated from Afghanistan rose exponentially when the United States Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan. This massive evacuation of Afghans came at a time when the overall U.S. Resettlement network was at its smallest in 2 decades due to the drastic reduction in refugee resettlement from 2016-2020.  As RST’s staff worked tirelessly to increase their capacity to serve and welcome Afghans arriving in Texas, the Presbyterian Church (USA) looked for creative ways to partner with Church World Service to support this monumental effort*. 

For 6 months, at no cost to RST or CWS I supported RST’s staff in a newly created role as the Community Liaison Volunteer. My primary goal was to connect as many individuals and organizations, particularly faith-based communities and houses of worship, with RST’s efforts in resettling over 630 Afghan families in the DFW metroplex as quickly as possible. Throughout my placement with RST, I worked with RST staff and leadership to integrate this new effort so that it would carry on after my departure.

I reached out to my network of interfaith colleagues connected with synagogues, mosques, stakes, and churches, letting them know of the need for housing, Welcome Teams, Community Co-Sponsorships, office volunteers, English teachers, employment leads, and in-kind donations of tablets for English classes and goods to fill the houses of those who found themselves thousands of miles away from what once was home. 

Much like the ebbs and flows of the tides, so often events and moments in our lives seem so overwhelming, until one day, somehow, they are not. As I neared the end of my time in service with RST and CWS, I reflected back on all that we accomplished with the Community Engagement Coordinators I worked closely with over the past 6 months. The once 200 individuals residing in short-term stays now had permanent housing. The 140 students waiting for ESL classes now had textbooks and tablets to encourage their language learning. And more faith communities across the city were reconnected with the ministry of refugee resettlement and offering Texas-sized hospitality than before. 

It was fitting that our work in putting together a World Refugee Day celebration would be one of my last projects with RST. As a child of refugee and immigrant parents myself, I celebrate our country and Texas’ steadfast commitment to welcoming refugees, honoring their dignity and courage, and upholding our human rights as citizens of our shared world. 

Rev. Kathy Lee-Cornell is a pastor and social worker. She currently serves as the Director for the Synod Partnership for Disaster Recovery with the Presbyterian Church (USA).