If your congregation is considering sponsorship of a refugee family, members of the Beargrass Christian Church would offer a resounding "Yes, do it!!" It's what you call a win-win situation. Both the congregation and the family are big winners.

We just finished sponsorship of our second family. Our first family, resettled in 2003, was from Sudan, and it was soon apparent that many members who did not normally volunteer for outreach projects were eager to help provide furniture, clothing and other items for the family and offer much-needed transportation.

When asked, we didn't hesitate to take another family. This time the refugees were Meskhetian Turks. The congregation learned that Meskhetian Turks were originally from a section of what is now Georgia, adjacent to Turkey. The family welcomed by Beargrass in April 2005 reiterated the stories told by others of the difficulties faced for decades by these people, who were displaced twice in 60 years and were still being persecuted by the Cossacks, who denied them the right to work or own property, attacked them for no reason and spit on and discriminated against their children.

The family, comprised of Rustam, his wife Khatycha, their daughter Salvi, 17, their son Ruslan, 14, and Rustam's brother Islam, were extremely grateful for the chance at a new life and easily adjusted to life in the United States. The adults had some trouble finding suitable jobs because they spoke no English (the children did). They did speak Turkish, Russian and Uzbeki and quickly started English lessons.

The family's troubles started in 1944, when Josef Stalin deported about 100,000 Meskhetian Turks to Uzbekistan. Many of the men had been ordered to join the Red Army fighting Nazi forces. Rustam's grandfather never returned from the war.

Khatycha's grandfather returned to find his family gone and after great difficulty, he finally was reunited with them in Uzbekistan.

Khatycha and her brother, Server, who has recently joined the family here, grew up hearing about the journey in which people were crowded onto trains and taken to a strange land. Some 15,000 people died from cold and starvation before they reached their new homes. The Meskhetian Turks did fairly well in Uzbekistan for several years, raising gardens, going to school and working most of the time.

But ethnic violence flared in 1989; hundreds were killed and many homes were burned. The Meskhetians were forced to move again, this time to Krasnodar Krai in Russia, near the Black Sea. This family we sponsored lived there for 16 years and suffered persecution, along with their fellow Turks. They were denied registration papers, although such papers were necessary for employment, voting and all other social services, and they endured theft, beatings and harassment by government officials. When the United States designed an immigration program for people from this region, this family jumped at the chance to escape persecution.

The family is doing well, and several other Meskhetian Turks have moved into their apartment complex, where they now form a community that helps each other in many ways and shares meals and holiday celebrations together. They are a particularly hospitable and outgoing people. As Melody Masoud, Chair of the Beargrass Refugee Task Force, says: "Don't eat before you go to visit them because they always have a meal ready and you'll be expected to join them." This is something the visitors are happy to do.

Melody says: "I am grateful to this family because they have taught me so much during the process. Watching their reactions to the many things they received from our congregation reminded me how blessed I am in my life. I hope I never take anything for granted again. This experience has given me so much including the chance to meet so many wonderful members of our church - an experience I would not have had otherwise."

The adult family members all have jobs now and their English is improving. The children attend school and perform well. Salvi, who serves as a translator for many in the apartment complex, is making top grades and hopes to attend college, something she never dreamed would be possible.

The church's official sponsorship is over, but the friendships continue, and many still keep in regular touch with the family. The same is true of the Sudanese family, who have joined Beargrass. The Meshhetian Turk family is Muslim, but they love Beargrass Christian Church, which gave them a chance at a new life, free of fear and persecution. As for the church, its members are already thinking ahead to their next refugee  family.

Janet Graff is a member of the Refugee Task Force, Beargrass Christian Church, Louisville, Ky