Through this commitment to Welcoming our Neighbors (the Stranger) and addressing the global migration crises, Conejo Interfaith Refugee Team formed In October of 2015, as the Syrian refugee crisis was exploding. Our leader, Chris Soltow, and a half-dozen other people attended a meeting of IRIS (Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Services), the partner resettlement agency of LIRS (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) in Los Angeles. Chris went back to his church, UMCWV, to gain approval to assist refugees. This was not a political decision, but an act of service. This small group believed in being called to do this work, and there would be strength in expanding the group to include other faith communities: UMCWV, St. Jude’s, Church of the Epiphany, Temple Adat Elohim, Holy Trinity Lutheran, and Church of Jesus Christ of Letter-Day Saints joined together.
In 2016, members at Ascension Lutheran and Emmanuel Church in Thousand Oaks had joined together to learn more about how they could help refugees. They were paired, through IRIS, with a recently arrived Afghan family and formed a support circle to help them in their resettlement.
Through IRIS both groups learned of each other’s work and Ascension and Emmanuel joined the CIRT effort. It is amazing how we have now grown, finding that others faith groups have similar desires to help, and we now have added, want to help - People to People LA, United Church of Christ Simi Valley, Temple Etz Chaim, Calvary Community, Islamic Center of Conejo Valley, those unaffiliated with a faith community, and we are still growing.
In 2016, members at Ascension Lutheran and Emmanuel Church in Thousand Oaks had joined together to learn more about how they could help refugees. They were paired, through IRIS, with a recently arrived Afghan family and formed a support circle to help them in their resettlement.
Through IRIS both groups learned of each other’s work and Ascension and Emmanuel joined the CIRT effort. It is amazing how we have now grown, finding that others faith groups have similar desires to help, and we now have added, want to help - People to People LA, United Church of Christ Simi Valley, Temple Etz Chaim, Calvary Community, Islamic Center of Conejo Valley, those unaffiliated with a faith community, and we are still growing.
