A sponsor may be a local religious congregation, a civic organization, or a family member. While an organization or a family member may become a sponsor, experience has shown that sponsorship from a religious congregation provides helpful advantages. Refugees adjust more easily to their community through the loving and supportive environment of a congregation and the personal care of many individuals. Sponsors are asked to offer their prayers and friendship, and to help with the immediate needs of resettlement such as housing, furnishings, and food. Most of all, the sponsor is asked to empower the refugee to become self-sufficient.
Sponsorship is an act of faith.
It is a way in which God's gift to us can be shared with those seeking new life and renewed hope. Sponsorship is helping refugees become self sufficient, contributing members of their new communities by providing the resources they need to rebuild their lives in freedom and safety. It is also a tangible way that those in this country can translate into action their concern for their sisters and brothers in ravaged refugee situations. Many of these individuals have left behind family, friends, and livelihoods. They have had to brave atrocities and flee everything they hold dear, only to face new obstacles once they arrive in America.