The Della Lamb United Methodist Ministry in Kansas City, Missouri, was just issued a stop-work order by the federal government.

On August 11, 2024, I preached about “Going for the Gold,” and the spiritual parallels to the sacrificial training required. I spoke of Quincy Hall, who won a gold medal in the 400m at the 2024 Olympics. You may remember how he surged past three other runners in the last 10 seconds to get the gold.

Quincy began running as a kid growing up in Kansas City, Missouri attending Della Lamb School, a United Methodist program started in 1897 to help Italian immigrant families. Della Lamb School now focuses on early education/childcare, emergency social services, and help resettling refugees – legal refugees, if that is important for you to know before helping someone – through the US Reception and Placement Program.

In my sermon I showed this picture of the current Enforcers Track Club at Della Lamb as the school continues to change young lives with the message of Christ put into action. And yet, with this government order, any refugee who was brought here in the last 90 days, even with government approval, are being abandoned. This is unacceptable. For the Christian, no person or agency supersedes the commands of God. And God demands that we love all people, that we welcome the stranger, and feed the hungry (Matthew 25:31-46).

Quincy’s run in the Olympics was a sprint. But our race to love our neighbor and uphold the message of Christ is a marathon. This is what you can do. 1) Pray for Della Lamb School and the families being cut off from help. 2) Share this blog or related news to inform others of this crisis. 3) Call or write your Senator/Congressman demanding funding and freedom to complete the ministry, at the minimum, to those refugees who have already arrived with approval from the government. 4) Give to help Della Lamb continue the caring ministry of Jesus Christ in Kansas City despite the government’s order. 5) Find an opportunity near you to help someone in need, someone looked down upon by society, who Jesus called “the least of these.”

Della Lamb vows, “We refuse to turn our backs on the refugees in our community.” Let us, also, refuse to turn our backs on our neighbors and those who need us most.

Helpful Links …

A song to inspire you. “I Refuse” by Josh Wilson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B1Lv8k5pEc

Della Lamb’s home page with info and ways to give.
https://www.dellalamb.org/

January 28, 2025 local news article on stop-work order
https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/pulled-the-rug-out-from-under-them-groups-helping-refugees-in-kansas-city-receive-stop-work-order

A letter from the Bishops of the United Methodist South Central Jurisdiction affirming every Christian’s call to welcome the stranger, treat all people with dignity and respect, and to show compassion for those in vulnerable situations. https://missouri-email.brtapp.com/viewinsite/c9f242a70018a9745a2285d18f44d4fa?email=tishgreen@sbcglobal.net

Watch the “Go for the Gold” worship service from August 11, 2024 at First UMC at this link. My sermon starts at the 22:40. https://www.facebook.com/FestusUMC/videos/534041388978358

You can watch Quincy’s phenomenal run here.