REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT HUB
Since 2001, the United States has received an average of 50,000 refugees every year and is making provisions of 125,000 in 2024. An average of 60% of refugees arrive in the USA knowing little to no English. Refugees have 1 year to apply for permanent visas once coming to North America. In 2022, the United States government completed over 771,000 applications for long term migration into the United States. There are nearly 2 million people that moved to the United States with the intention of a long-term stay with little to no access to life and health resources.
Every day, refugees are forced to leave everything to find security, opportunity and a new place to call home. Often, they enter a country with few resources and unable to speak, read or understand the language. They arrive with tremendous dreams, but their needs leave them vulnerable to manipulation and abuse. From refugee camps to permanent resettlement, The Hub partners with churches and groups to walk with them along their journey, protecting them and helping them adapt through intentional support and genuine friendship. Together we are the hands, feet and voice of Jesus as we help them find spiritual, physical and emotional healing.
REFUGEE CARE TEAM
Nations 2 Neighbors
Nations to Neighbors is a Gospel centered non-profit working with churches, community organizations and non-profits to demonstrate the love of Jesus through hospitality and care for the sojourner in Greater Charleston. Nations to Neighbors provides educational opportunities for non-native English speakers and their families as well as skills training, workplace coaching and driving lessons. Additionally, there are programs for personal development through spiritual formation, recreation and counseling. Nations to Neighbors is in partnership with Send Relief Charleston and is led by Pastor Jonathan Edney, former International Mission Board missionary to Brazil: www.nations2neighbors.org / nations2neighbors@gmail.com
Rebekah Kinsella - Lutheran Services of the Carolinas
Lutheran Services of the Carolinas is the front door for refugee resettlement in Greater Charleston. Lutheran Services is a campus partner with The Hub Ministry Center. Coordination for circle of welcome teams are provided with orientation and transitional assistance.
Steve & Melinda McMillan, residents of Greater Charleston, are former missionaries to The Congo and have tenured international mission experience among the nations. They serve as translators for Congolese refugees and logistical coordinators for newly appointed refugee residents.
Larry & Teresa Thomas are ESL (English as a Second Language) coordinators for our weekly classes held at The Hub. Additionally, they assist refugees with weekly food and clothes distribution.
Neighbors Health Clinic & Residency (2025)
Neighbors is a nonprofit coalition of faith-based healthcare entities in Charleston, SC dedicated to improving the health of our communities. The Neighbors group has identified the need to start a new business model, called Neighbors Health, to adequately support the growing need for primary care in the area.
A detailed needs assessment was performed of the Charleston area identifying the zip codes of highest concern. The 29406 area was determined to be the neediest area, with 57% of its 36,200 residents qualifying as low-income. Health center penetration into that area is mere 5.7%, meaning 94% of those residents are not served by a health center. Health statistics for this zip code are some the worst in the Tri-county area, with diabetes rates of 15%, hypertension 34%, low birth weight babies 11%, and obesity 37%.
One-fourth of these residents reported not having any usual source of care, and 20% of them said they delayed or did not seek care within the prior year due to cost. The life expectancy for some census tracts in this zip code is as low as 66, while adjacent tracts are 81 or greater.
THE MISSION: Neighbors healthcare is a community of Christian disciples united together using healthcare to make Jesus unignorable in Charleston.
THE VISION: to see whole people living in flourishing communities.
Neighbor’s Health Clinic & Residency Team
John David Williamson, MD, FAAFP is a Family Medicine physician currently working as a hospitalist with the Roper St. Francis hospital system since 2020.
After finishing medical school and residency in Charleston in 2009, he moved to Memphis, TN where he was the founding program director for a faith-based Family Medicine residency program as well as a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer for Resurrection Health. In 2018, he and his family moved to Kurdistan, Iraq where he was the founding Chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences at the newly-established University of Kurdistan-Hewlêr School of Medical Sciences.
THE MISSION: To make disciples of Jesus among healthcare students in Charleston.
THE VISION: To glorify God by training new generations of health care providers to bring the healing of the gospel to the world.
Neighbors Health Network / Medical Campus Outreach
The beginning of Neighbors Health Network goes back 25 years ago when two physicians started a pediatric practice in Charleston with the purpose of serving their neighbors while also investing in medical students. The practice and student ministry grew steadily over that time, and Neighbors Pediatrics opened its third pediatric office in a medically underserved part of North Charleston in 2019. Soon thereafter, two other ministry partners opened a direct primary care practice named Neighbors Med out of the same building. These physicians are also in leadership roles at a well-established free clinic named Harvest Free Medical Clinic. These three companies represent different business models, but they share the same motive for why they do what they do.
Medical Campus Outreach
Matthew Hawkins: Administrator,
Medical Campus Outreach & Director of Rosani
Matthew provides administrative and operational support to Medical Campus Outreach and directs the international outreach of Rosani Lens Project. The Rosani Lens Project is a non-profit group who work to provide high quality eyeglasses to those in need around the globe. Rosani makes glasses locally and trains volunteers to take them overseas to communities in need
MCO exists to glorify God by training a new generation of health care providers to bring the healing of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. MCO is a discipleship-based ministry focusing on sharing the good news of Jesus to students at MUSC, CSU, establishing new believers in the faith and equipping believers to bring the gospel to the world through health-care.
Every week, 1 st through 4 th year medical students experience biblical community within the relational context of physicians homes. Students are being discipled by other students and physicians to follow Jesus. Students also experience practical learning through the Neighbor’s network practices and the Harvest Free Medical Clinic. Once a year, students are invited to join physicians on a cross-cultural medical clinic mission project.
Charleston Collaborative Equipping Center
Out of the 132 appearances of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, 122 appearances were in the marketplace. Of the 40 miracles recorded in the Gospel, 39 of these miracles were performed by Jesus in the marketplace. Additionally, 45 of Jesus’ parables were taught in the marketplace context. God is on His redemptive mission among every man, woman, and child effecting the multiplication of missionary disciples, leaders and churches. Saturating every life with the Gospel has always been intended to be within everyday places and spaces by everyday disciples who are living on mission where they live, learn, work and play.
Residency Central Support (Fall 2024)
Residencies help churches multiply through intentionally developing and deploying missional leaders and church planting teams. They help aspiring leaders identify a ministry call, mature leaders pursue God’s leading in their lives and prepare leaders and teams for new missional opportunities. All churches have potential to raise up leaders within the greenhouse or lab of their own church context however many churches struggle to carry the weight and dynamics of the formal learning and training. The Charleston Baptist Association provides central support for residency programs and leadership development.
Mission Charleston missionchs.org
Mission Charleston is a city-wide interdenominational collaborative of churches, leaders and communities in partnership with Saturate: www.saturatetheworld.com. We share the belief that it will take a unified Church working together five key areas to see a movement of gospel saturation take place in a city or region. Mission Charleston aims to support the formation of these Gospel City Hubs and provide tools to equip people in each of these five initiatives.
Jesus is the head of His church. We, the church, are His body by which He fills all in all. The vision of Gospel saturation gets accomplished through Jesus as head of the church filling every place through His body with His presence where we live, learn, work and play.
1. City-Wide Prayer
2. Disciple-Making Strategies
3. Healthy Leaders
4. Serving the City
5. New Churches & Kingdom Initiatives
The Cypress Project (www.cypressproject.org)
A collaborative immersive training and collective that provides a transferable missiological framework for church and marketplace leaders. The shaping principles of movement, kingdom, harvest and disciple provide pathways for transformation of people from church-minded believers to Kingdom-minded disciples. Over the past decade, The Cypress Project lead equipper, Neal McGlohon has equipped church planters and established church pastors in Greater Charleston that has fostered a collaborative culture through common language and shared tools. Annually, this missiological DNA is shared through workshops, residencies and cohort clusters.
Disciple-making Labs
The population demographics of Greater Charleston continue to experience dynamic shifts. Learning how to contextualize making disciples as the church gathers and scatters is essential if we are going to reach every man, woman and child. The complexity of secular culture and growing diversity of industry and ethnicities presents challenges for everyday disciples. Disciple-making labs provide a collaborative learning experience that engages the local context, leverages resources and incorporates the unique strengths of the local church and everyday disciple. Jeff Vanderstelt, author of the books, Gospel Fluency and Saturate leads through coaching workshops and consulting cohorts.
Master Class Training
“Truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
The Spirit of God has poured out His grace on leaders who have worked principles and practices out in wisdom,experience and insight. Classes are shaped in different learning environments such asrelationships (heart), purpose (soul), knowledge (mind) and strength (stewardship) and are offered from Kingdom class leaders and world best-practices in church and personal spiritual growth. These training classes are designed to equip everyday leaders with greater knowledge and skills for excellence in their calling. Learners will be taught how to think and apply sound biblical principles in “hands-on” situations as they serve in churches, ministries, homes and the workplace. God’s people need leaders to influence culture and inspire true change for Gospel impact.
SEND RELIEF AFFILIATE CENTER
“So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea” (Acts 11:29)
Kingdom come in Greater Charleston as it is in Heaven is expressed when a transformed community of people (The Church) bring Gospel hope to redeem people into the family of God and advance Gospel purpose in human flourishing. The Hub Ministry Center partners with the North American Mission Board as a Send Relief Affiliate Center in compassion ministry promoting human dignity and flourishing. With Send Relief’s help, we foster collaboration with churches, non-profit organizations and community partners to be the hands and feet of Jesus to communities in crisis, refugees, those affected by natural disasters, and vulnerable children and families.
SEND RELIEF AFFILIATE CENTER
PASTOR JERRY ZAPATA
Protecting families and children is of utmost importance to God, the Church and to society. Scripture reminds us, “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse an=than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:18). When there is alleged or actual abuse, the court orders parents or guardians to go through a parenting course.
Parents seeking family restoration may be required to complete a parenting class and can elect to participate in this Gospel-centered, six week class and mentoring experience. As a result of a true sense of community that occurs, parents and guardians are welcome to join into a life together group that builds on the relationships and renewed priorities for a healthy, safe family. Classes are offered year round.
Strengthening communities through mining out the asset based resources of a community through trade, art, music, clothing, etc…brings provision from local, handcrafted goods and proclaims dignity regardless within a diversity of ethnicity, economics and culture. Dignity Market features an eclectic mix of people and products that provide connection, hope and value. Communities are strengthened as support for asset-driven, locally based people experience community and personal development.
Dignity Market (Fall 2024)
Envisioning & Equipping Mission Teams
The Hub Ministry Center engages churches, short-term mission teams and volunteers in compassion ministry for mutual support, training and encouragement. Shared experiences for local volunteers as well as visiting mission teams will be envisioned and strengthened in their respective next steps in compassion ministry.
