Author: Kelsey Ueland

Earlier this year, I returned to work after taking a few months off for my maternity leave. I came back to the warmest welcome from our friends at Jonathan House. 

“Best wishes for you, your family, and your baby, my sister.” 

It was a reminder to me that in this community, we all have a role to play. We all have a place. We all have capacity. We all contribute. We all belong. Our immigrant friends are so much more than people in need. 

As friends who pray with us, volunteer your time, and give financially, you are also a key part of creating a thriving community. As you think of our friends at Jonathan House or other immigrant neighbors in your community, I challenge you to think of a way they have welcomed you with the same warmth they extended to me.

How might you extend a hand of welcome in return?

Here are a few ideas that come to mind for me:

• If you have a personal connection with someone who lives/lived at Jonathan House, check in to see how they’re doing.
• Get to know Jonathan House better by exploring our volunteer opportunities here!
• Join the Keychain Collective, our group of monthly financial supporters who partner to sustain our work. 

For the last several years, the Jonathan House staff and residents have taken a summer trip up to Camp Amnicon on Lake Superior. It is always a pristine setting to get away for a while and relax. We spend our days there swinging in hammocks, sitting on the beach, kayaking on the river, playing games, and talking around the fire. No work, no agenda, no meetings. It is a time simply meant to relax together as a community and enjoy each other’s company.

Over the years I have watched as the informal setting has equalized power dynamics and allowed people to let down their guard. At Amnicon, we are all simply friends. Sometimes funny stories are told, or old traumas are processed. Sometimes new skills are learned, or old ones are resurrected. Sometimes people share deep spiritual revelations, and sometimes they just sit quietly in the silence of the summer afternoon knitting or sleeping or reading a book. All of these moments seem to flow naturally together, creating an atmosphere of restorative rest in God’s creation.

While I personally was not able to attend this year, I still got a little taste of the beauty of the week as I visited with residents in the week afterwards. I walked into the men’s house one morning to see Salana reclining in a chair smiling and looking more relaxed than I had seen him in the five years I’d known him. I inquired as to the reason for his very different demeanor, and he told me he had not had a vacation for seven years and said,

“I never believed it could be possible to feel so rejuvenated.”

Safety. Stability. Support. Community. These are words you hear from us all the time and for me, this story really captured the “why” behind them. Those are some of the key ingredients that help people to truly recover from all that they have been through before arriving in the United States and all that they continue to face as they fight to establish themselves in a new place. When given time and space outside, with a safe community, and a caring God, all of us can breath a little better as our hearts and bodies find the space they need to mend.

We are beyond grateful to Camp Amnicon for generously gifting us this retreat free of cost each year. If you are looking for a time of rest and rejuvenation for your own mind, body, or soul, take a peak at their website, http://www.amnicon.org/. They offer personal retreats year round in their beautiful, private cabins. You won’t regret it!