Serving refugee neighbors through arts and crafts
Arrive Ministries welcomes Salem Arts Exchange Sewing as our newest program area in the Twin Cities. Through this partnership, we are committed to serving our refugee neighbors through the universal language of arts and crafts. [pullquote2 style=”left” quote=”light”]”Adding Salem Arts Exchange Sewing into the Arrive Ministries family perfectly aligns with our organization’s work…”[/pullquote2]
“Adding Salem Arts Exchange Sewing into the Arrive Ministries family perfectly aligns with our organization’s work of mobilizing the church to love refugees and immigrants practically, socially and spiritually,” said Mike Bergman, Executive Director of Arrive Ministries. In fact, Salem Arts Exchange helped get sewing programs underway in St. Cloud and Willmar.
Teaching sewing and creating handicrafts
Salem Arts Exchange Sewing
is based in the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, and for over seven years has paired a refugee woman with a volunteer who teaches her sewing skills and how to create handicrafts.
[pullquote2 style=”right” quote=”light”]”Salem Arts Exchange is a joyful, creative gathering, and inside our studio, you’ll hear a lot of laughter coming from our sewers.”[/pullquote2]“Together with Arrive Ministries, we are on a mission of empowering refugee women. They can leave their sometimes difficult and painful histories at the studio door and enjoy their time as a community. Salem Arts Exchange is a joyful, creative gathering, and inside our studio, you’ll hear a lot of laughter coming from our sewers,” said Beatrice Mulawarman, Interim Director of Salem Arts Exchange.
A shared mission of empowerment
“This is a really good fit as both Arrive Ministries and Salem Arts Exchange share very synchronized and parallel missions of empowerment and learning from each other,” said Wendy Meyering, Arrive Ministries’ Church Mobilization Ministries Director.
[pullquote2 style=”left” quote=”light”]”It’s a hand in glove fit with Salem Arts Exchange and Arrive Ministries.”[/pullquote2]Under the umbrella of Arrive Ministries’ Church Mobilization Ministries, we intend to expand the impact of Salem Arts Exchange Sewing by creating new sites across the state and reaching out to more refugee neighbors with the love of Jesus.
“In all of our programs at Arrive Ministries, we desire to nurture cross-cultural relationships so that volunteers and refugee participants alike are transformed by the Gospel!” said Bergman.
“It’s a hand in glove fit with Salem Arts Exchange and Arrive Ministries. I believe God has a special plan for this partnership,” said Trudi Whitson, one of the founders of Salem Arts Exchange.
Please join us in welcoming the volunteers and student sewers of Salem Arts Exchange Sewing to Arrive Ministries!
https://arriveministries.org/sae/
