Harvest House Update
February 2025 Harvest House Update from the Missions Department.
Letter to OMPC From Tom Patton, 2/13/25
Dear OMPC —
Thank you for the incredible support you have shown through your prayers, gifts and service toward the development of the Harvest House over the fence ministry through OMPC. Our first refugee family, the Lopez Family, still faithfully attends OMPC, with Lucia also attending our Wednesday morning Women's Winter Study. And the Rohingyan Families are still in touch with us on a regular basis as well. Both families are doing well and have experienced the tangible love of Christ through you!
As we shared at the end of 2024, the Harvest House was one of the three projects listed as a way to allocate funds given above and beyond our 2024 General Fund budget. The surplus funds given last year have already been used to add a bathroom, replace the 30+ year old water heater, and repair damaged flooring and plumbing. These repairs should be completed within the next few weeks. Thank you for your generosity in 2024!
As I'm sure you are aware, there have been a number of executive actions within the last couple weeks that have raised many questions about legal immigration and resettlement. Despite the tense and evolving circumstances, the families we've served are safe and provided for at the moment. We will continue to provide support to these families, as well as a few additional relocated families that we've become aware of through our partnering agency, Inspiritus. We will also monitor any needs that arise for refugee families that are displaced and needing temporary housing at the Harvest House until the immigration freeze is lifted.
Please continue to pray for the refugee families whom we have served, as well as for wisdom in the ways we can provide support in our community over the next several months. In addition, we invite you to join us for a time of prayer on Friday, February 14, at 9:00 am at the Harvest House. Our ministry partner Chris Sicks, with One Voice Fellowship in Washington, DC, will be in town to join us for this time of prayer and also to worship with us on Sunday. He has experience in working with refugees as his church is made up of refugees of 18 different ethnicities.
Thank you for joining us in serving our neighbors from all over the world, over the fence!
Tom Patton
Missions Pastor
A New Purpose for the Harvest House
Providing respite and care for our new refugee neighbors over the fence.
Ministry Overview | Fall 2024
In 2023 alone, 117,00,000 people were forcibly displaced, fleeing war or persecution., Over 100,000,000 people were forced to leave their homes, to attempt a new life, many possessing only the clothes on their backs.
When God delivered His people out of Egypt, they became sojourners, wandering from encampment to encampment, and wondering when God would deliver them to their long promised home. In Deuteronomy Chapter 10, Moses exhorts Israel to remember their own journey, to care for orphans and widows, to love the refugee, because God loves the refugee.
For many years, the Harvest House has served as home to our sister church, Iglesia La Fe. In Fall 2023, the Lord provided a new church home for La Fe, creating an opportunity for OMPC, as well.
We have partnered with a Christian organization - Inspiritus - to provide respite for families displaced from their home country. The new purpose for the Harvest House is to welcome and serve as temporary housing for families as they find footing in Birmingham. In addition to providing shelter, we are calling on you - our church family - to engage our new neighbors with the surprising power of grace freely given to us, so that we could extend it to others.
It is important for you to know that Inspiritus works with numerous federal agencies to receive and place refugee families across throughout the Southeast. You can rest assured that the utmost care is taken to ensure that these families are vetted thoroughly.
In our preparation to receive our first family, their needs and the many ways in which we can cover them in love will become clear. We will provide more details and ways in which OMPC can best serve the newest members of our community soon.
Thank you for your prayers and willingness to do what the Lord requires from us (Duet. 10); to walk in His ways and care for the soujourner.
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