September 7, 2019, 10-11:30 AM
Locations: We will make two stops on this tour.
Stop #1: New Life Presbyterian Church
Stop #2: Rose Hill Alliance Church
A refugee church garden interest tour.
For church leaders or community member who are curious about converting your lawns to gardens for refugees; opening your property and hearts to new neighbors.
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Stories of Refugee Church Gardening and Friendship:
Harvesting the Seeds of Friendship: A Karen family and Minnesota Church
How do you measure seasons of friendship?
Is it through life changing events like weddings and the birth of babies?
Or common celebrations like birthday parties and backyard barbecues?
[pullquote style=”left” quote=”dark”]A little part of me came back alive – I love to garden, it is a part of my Karen culture…[/pullquote]For Boe Boe and Jeff, their friendship often revolves around the seasons of the church garden.
“I have my garden and I have my church; I feel like I am a part of Mosaic,” said Boe Boe.
Boe started gardening on a plot of land at Mosaic Christian Community in east St. Paul, when Mosaic joined Arrive Ministries’ Church Refugee Gardens program five years ago. Read more here.
Bhutanese Refugees Find Solace in St. Paul Church Garden
Bhutanese Gardeners Enjoy Refugee Church Garden Program
Before any soil was tilled. With just stakes in the ground. 
Community members ran to what would soon become a garden on the grounds of Mosaic Christian Community in St. Paul, to claim their spaces.
“Their smiles and enthusiasm were amazing,” said Pastor Jeff O’Rourke, Mosaic Christian Community.
[pullquote style=”left” quote=”dark”]“Gardening is very important to my mom, she grew up on a farm in Bhutan, and spend the first 35 years of her life gardening[/pullquote]Many of these Bhutanese refugees who resettled in east St. Paul, haven’t gardened in decades. Land hadn’t been made available to these displaced people since before they spent decades waiting in a refugee camp, and before their journey to America.
“Gardening is very important to my mom, she grew up on a farm in Bhutan, and spend the first 35 years of her life gardening. But she didn’t have land to work with at the refugee camp in Nepal, nor at her apartment complex in St. Paul, MN,” said Durga about her mom Ran Gurung. Read more here.
[message type=”custom” width=”100%” start_color=”#389dad” end_color=”#389dad” border=”#389dad” color=”#ffffff” align=”left” class=””]Arrive Ministries’ Church Refugee Gardens Program seeks to build friendships between churches and refugees through gardening. This is an opportunity to get to know new neighbors living in your neighborhood and to assist them in getting familiar with American culture. The Church Refugee Gardens provide refugees with a connection to their past and to their future while helping them put fresh food on their tables. Learn more about the Church Refugee Gardens.[/message]
