Another Hard Day at Mission Adelante

Dear friends,

Thursday, February 6th was one of the hardest days I’ve experienced in my time at Mission Adelante.  We had to let go of our entire refugee resettlement team– seven dedicated employees, who had worked, loved, and given their all to serve the 171 refugees we had welcomed over the last 12 months.  As you probably know, on January 24th funding was abruptly cut specifically for the Reception and Placement Program, which used to help newly arrived refugees with housing, food and other necessities during their first 90 days in the country.  For the last couple of weeks, funding for our other refugee services (Employment services, English Language classes, Health Care navigation, etc.) has been in limbo because of the general freeze on federal grants.  On Thursday, we heard from the Kansas State Office of Refugees, informing us that they had still not been able to access federal funds to reimburse our January program expenses. In total, unreimbursed January expenses from all federal refugee programs we were contracted to execute exceeded $123,000.  We have not counted out the possibility of receiving these reimbursements in the future, but without a guarantee, we were simply unable to continue incurring expenses for these programs at this full capacity.

The generous outpouring of support through the Love Mercy Initiative has been very important, allowing us to offer a modest severance package to our refugee team members and also ensuring that we can continue assisting newly arrived refugees with rent, food, and other basic necessities through their initial 90 days in the country.  We are so grateful for this support!  In the middle of this painful season, your generosity has been a beautiful picture of the love of Christ.

Mission Adelante will continue some ongoing services to refugee families, though with a reduced capacity. Our English Language classes for refugees will continue on Monday evenings and, in some manner, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  We will continue offering walk-in hours, staffed by volunteers and staff, to help with practical needs, resources, and questions.  And, we will continue to provide some support in the search for employment opportunities and with healthcare navigation, as we are able.  Many of the refugee families we have welcomed have become part of the Mission Adelante church community, where they are now connected with a supportive and loving community that will help them find their way in this new land.

In the coming weeks and months, Mission Adelante will certainly need your support, whether through volunteering, praying or through financial contributions.  We’re thankful you’re in this with us!

Sincerely,

Jarrett Meek, Founder/Pastor/Executive Director

Some of the members of our Resettlement Team

• racial justice
• refugee resettlement

Video Update: We Will Continue to Love Mercy and Do Justice

Dear Friends of Mission Adelante,

On January 21st, the new administration suspended all new arrivals through the refugee resettlement program, canceling travel for scores of people who had “waited their turn” and been thoroughly vetted after fleeing violence in their own countries.  On January 24, 2025, the U.S. government went further and abruptly mandated a suspension of all services within the Reception and Placement (R&P) program for refugees already in the country, ending all federal support for newly arrived refugees.  Having given assurances that this year’s contracts for R&P services would be honored through September 30th, the government made this sudden suspension effective immediately, without warning. Under the R&P program, refugees received support for 90 days with rent, food, transportation, cultural orientation, and other basic needs as they worked quickly toward self-sufficiency.  This sudden suspension of funding and services leaves hundreds of newly arrived refugee families without support for basic needs, such as food and housing. 

Mission Adelante currently has 22 families/cases that are within the initial 90-day period with the R&P program.  The suspension of R&P has immediately removed the funding needed to provide basic services for these precious families and to continue to support the 2+ staff members whose roles were funded through R&P.

Mission Adelante has been serving immigrants and refugees for nearly 20 years, because we believe that the biblical command to “love your neighbor as yourself” has a special expression in the way we welcome and show hospitality to “people from all places”.  We are not alone in our conviction.  Indeed, over the years, thousands of volunteers and donors and dozens of churches, businesses and other organizations have joined us in serving, sharing life, and sharing Jesus with people from all places.  With the support from our partners, we will continue to carry out our mission.  Children and youth from all places will continue to gather in a safe place to learn and grow.  Adults from diverse backgrounds and nationalities will continue to learn English and prepare to become citizens through Mission Adelante.  And the Mission Adelante church community will continue to gather for worship, prayer and to study the Word of God together.  

“He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you– to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8

Many of our friends have asked what they can do to help in this challenging time.  To meet the need left by the government’s abrupt suspension of R&P, we are launching the “Love Mercy Initiative”.  Through “Love Mercy” we will endeavor to raise $70,000 to meet the basic needs of newly arrived refugee families over the next 3 months and provide compensation and severance pay for our initial resettlement staff as we wrap up this program.  In the coming days we will be sharing volunteer opportunities and prayer needs.  When the government abandons its commitment to the vulnerable, the church must step in to fill the gap.  

Sincerely,

Jarrett Meek, Founder/Pastor/Executive Director

Mission Adelante, Inc.