outreach
| church planting
| compassion
Compassion and Justice Ministries
The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the six parables that the
Lord has used to shape our vision and set the direction for the kind of
church family we hope to become together.
Church of the Redeemer
To begin our compassion ministry, two years ago New Life committed to
significantly contribute to the ministry of Danny Martinez, and his congregation,
the Church
of the Redeemer in South Central Los Angeles.

Beautiful Day
As New Life further explored its role in serving the community of San
Jose, we joined together with other local churches to serve local schools
and families through
Beautiful Day. These projects included redecorating the teacher's
lounge of Willow Glen Middle School, painting the home of a neighbor in
the Gardner Neighborhood, shipping needed supplies to a U.S. Army unit
in Afghanistan, serving meals to clients of Love, INC. participating in
the annual Walk for AIDS Silicon Valley and hosting an annual Easter Egg
Hunt at Doerr Park in San Jose.

Refugee Relocation Ministry
In May of 2008, New Life’s board and congregation approved an ambitious
project for the church to partner with Catholic Charities of Santa Clara
County to help house and serve the needs of some of the 200 “free case”
refugees who arrive in San Jose each year. Free case refugees arrive with
no family or friends to sponsor them, so Catholic Charities serves that
role. As we began this partnership, we were delighted to have the support
and additional partnering of Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church and Silas Khadka,
a local pastor serving the Nepali speaking community of Santa Clara County.
The two churches, working together, are also developing Refugee
Outreach Partnership, an affiliation of faith communities who have
a heart for refugees and wish to contribute their time, talents and resources
to serving this vulnerable but highly motivated population.
Current Situation:
- Refugees entering the U.S. through this program have been approved
for resettlement by both the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Catholic Charities is authorized by the federal government to receive
and transition the refugees to become full citizens of the U.S. Their
work includes housing, education and ESL courses, job training, medical
care, and a range of social services coordinated for the refugee by
their Case Manager.
- Refugees arrive in Santa Clara from many countries, and many are survivors
of torture, slavery, and other trafficking circumstances.
- The Transition house provides the refugee with a safe, welcoming home
from which to begin their life in the United States.
Response:
- New Life can serve these refugees by providing Catholic Charities
with the badly-needed funds to rent a second Transition House.
- In addition to funding, there are many opportunities for the congregation
to volunteer, to work with other churches who want to assist the refugees
and to provide additional resources and friendship to the refugees.
- The initial goal is to fund a house for 3 years, with a long-term
goal of enlisting the financial support and volunteer efforts of other
local churches to serve the refugees and provide a perpetual source
of funding for the Transition House.
- Maintain open and regular communication with Catholic Charities and
establish an ongoing review process for the project.
Volunteer:
Volunteers are highly regarded and necessary to the Resettlement Program,
offering help and friendship to the refugee and a returned friendship
and expanded world view for the volunteer. Volunteers are needed to:
- Maintain and help keep the Transition House in good order
- Provide rides to doctor appointments, grocery trips, etc. for the
refugees
- Stock the transition house kitchen with staples for the new families
- Provide outings to local events, parks, beaches, for the refugee families
- Assist mothers to communicate with their children’s school
- Serve as an ESL instructor and receive training and support from
Refugee Transitions, another partner organization
- Learn more about the world refugee situatton from the UNHCR
Web Site and help raise awareness about refugees
- Anything that you would like to offer can be accommodated, just let
us know what you’d like to do!
Watch a Video:
New Life, in partnership with Sunnyvale Pesbyterian, the San Jose Presbytery
and Catholic Charities, produced a video to help churches and faith organizations
better understand how to help refugees in their community. Feel free to
share this with a friend!
Refugee
Outreach Partnership Video (Windows Format)
Learn More:
To learn more about the Transition House and New Life’s partnership with
Catholic Charities, contact Andrea Lee (andrealee@newlifesanjose.org)
or just call the church office. We’d love to hear from you!

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