Charleston, SC Churches Work Together to Welcome Refugees In Spite of Challenging Racial History

History is informative, but not determinative. That’s what Craig Tuck believes, Southern Baptist Associational Missions Strategist of the Charleston Baptist Association, the oldest and most historic Baptist association of what became the Southern Baptist Convention.  

A recent article from the Southern Baptist’s International Mission Board (IMB) entitled “Refugees Find Care in City Known for Slave Trade History,” highlights the transformative gospel work of welcoming refugees:  

A redeeming shift in its treatment of internationals is happening in Charleston, South Carolina. What was once a major port for enslaved people is now a harbor for diaspora groups, and Southern Baptists are an important part of the culture change. … 

Earlier this year, the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union announced its partnership with other Southern Baptist entities to form Diaspora Missions Collective. Christians’ outreach to internationals in Charleston is a great example of what Diaspora Missions Collective wants to accomplish in reaching all nations, people, languages and tribes with the gospel, no matter where they live. 

… Today, with help from The Hub Ministry Center, Charleston has become a modern day “Ellis Island” for refugees coming from Africa, the Middle East and Central and South America. 

The Hub Ministry Center partners with Send Relief, the South Carolina Baptist Convention and Charleston Baptist Association. The center provides refugees with transitional assistance and care in transportation, education, recreation and vocational training. They also provide relational care through community and compassion. The Hub’s future vision is to offer transitional housing and a medical clinic. 

“We want to show the Kingdom of God by demonstrating love through welcoming the stranger,” Craig Tuck said. Tuck is the associational missions strategist for Charleston Baptist Association, which has its office located in The Hub Ministry Center. 

I was recently privileged to have a conversation with Tuck about the ministry that their association of churches engages in by welcoming refugees that come to Charleston through refugee resettlement facilitated by Lutheran Services. Tuck spoke of the dozens of Congolese refugees that his associated churches had worked with to help resettle and the perspective behind that work: 

How do we help others begin to see more holistically, or more fully, the bigger picture? I think one of the greatest apologetics that we have, honestly, is just doing the Great Commandment (love God and love people) and saying we’re just trying to love someone who is in need and help them. … They’re right in front of us. And so we’re just simply saying that this is who God’s put in our path. And I think that’s the story of the Good Samaritan, it really was, whoever God puts in your path, that’s your neighbor. And so how do you love them as yourself? I think that’s the question every person should ask … How do you show that you are demonstrating that every person matters to God? And there’s an indiscriminate approach I have, because I want to love my neighbor as myself, especially when they’re not like me.  

Tuck reflected on the changing demographics of the South Carolina Low Country and the rest of America. Instead of seeing this as a problem, he sees an opportunity for churches to innovate and develop solutions to growing diversity that can be an example to others: 

… What does America look like in the year 2045? There’s a lot of data out there that says we’re going to be a minority-majority because of all the nations that have come here. And so there’s a swelling reality that I think a citizen here in America has to grab hold of. There’s always this revolving aspect of how you begin to make adjustments to a shifting demographic, a shifting culture. And so, I think there’s just a lot of things to consider when you look at all those dynamics. I think for us, we’re simply trying to create our own laboratory, if you will, of working out, what does it look like for a people who can love God in their faith and love their neighbor as themselves, and then, just watch that inform and really begin to shape a culture and a community here? But, also to begin to let that light shine to other people in the different neighborhoods as to how can they also love their neighbor as themselves.  

The article about this ministry went on to explain further what this refugee ministry at The Hub at Centerpoint Church looks like:  

A group of nearly 50 people from the Congo have been living as refugees for more than 20 years because of political unrest in their country. After living in refugee camps in Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe, these Congolese finally reached Charleston and found a chance for new life and new hope. 

The Hub has helped them through their transition, but the Congolese are also finding acceptance at Centerpoint. 

“What’s happening is they’re coming to The Hub to get support and care, but then the church here is also welcoming them,” Tuck said. “Some of them are Muslim who are coming to our church every week because they find community and feel loved.” 

Part of the emphasis of the “Telling a Better Story” blog is to chronicle examples of how evangelicals, motivated by their faith in Christ and the teachings of the Bible, step into potentially challenging circumstances to minister to and welcome immigrants and sojourners. Charleston Baptists find themselves in that kind of situation in a city that was once known as the largest slave market in America as they seek to extend welcome, compassion, and build new communities together with African refugees who have fled violence, war, and oppression. History informs us in that it helps us understand what has come before, the barriers that might exist in our communities and our hearts, and the bridges that have been built to address those barriers. But, history does not determine the future. Motivated by the gospel, we can work to create new communities and a new future together.  

Read more about Charleston Baptist’s ministry to Congolese refugees in the article, “Refugees find care in city known for slave trade history” by Chris Doyle here.  

Alan Cross is a Southern Baptist pastor in California and author of When Heaven and Earth Collide: Racism, Southern Evangelicals, and the Better Way of Jesus (NewSouth Books).