Today, like four other days of the week, Marcie and I came through the church gates to see 150-250 refugees waiting for assistance from St. Andrew’s Refugee Services. It was hot; another 99 degree day. Along with those in the courtyard, there are hundreds of other refugees meeting in classrooms, old shipping containers, offices, and parish hall with staff members; hoping for assistance of many kinds; food, medical, legal, and psycho-social needs.
And currently, most of the refugees are Sudanese. In Saturday’s New York Times, Nicholas Kristof reports that Sudan is “probably the site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis today. Famine was officially declared there last year; the United Nations reports that some 25 million Sudanese face extreme hunger and at least 12 million have had to flee their homes because of civil war. Tom Perriello, who was the U.S. special envoy for Sudan until this year, tells me that he believes that the death toll by now has exceeded 400,000.” (from, Where There’s No Debate About Genocide-and No Response Either, Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, August 30, 2025).
In the midst of the great need, I am grateful for the many who have stepped up to support this ministry to the Sudanese over many years; the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), together with organizations and congregations throughout the world, including my most recent call, Peace Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Minnesota.
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