New home, new church for Everett’s African immigrants

EVERETT — A curious group of people meets for Sunday school at First Baptist Church.

About 60 immigrants from Burundi, Congo, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda found a home at the church. Most of them are just learning English. They meet every Sunday morning in the church’s community center and a staff member goes over the day’s service. Emmanuel Dismas then translates everything into Swahili.

Dismas, of Mill Creek, came about four years ago as a refugee from Tanzania, where his family fled to escape violence in the region. He quickly learned English, his fourth language, and got a restaurant job in Redmond.

His family officially joined First Baptist Church last month. They started attending services here in February, after carefully considering several congregations.

Dismas and several other people from the group used to attend Everett Community Church, started by the Rev. Peter Gatata and housed for a time in First Baptist’s community center. The church moved but some of the families decided to stay.

First Baptist Church welcomed the Africans with open arms, and that’s something the immigrants appreciated, Dismas said. They are working hard to learn English and make new friends.

First Baptist parishioner Kelly Brock met Dismas and his family when they had nothing. To help them, she contacted her co-workers at Microsoft and soon the Dismas family had food, furniture and a network of people to rely on.

Since then, Brock has helped several others get jobs at the catering company that serves Microsoft’s cafeteria.

Church members are planning a Christmas Eve gathering for the African families, who never heard of Santa Claus until they came to the United States, Brock said. Santa plans to make an appearance.

Volunteers usually pick up several people from their apartments in Everett and drive them to Sunday school in church vans.

The Africans are not just studying the Bible and learning English, they are learning culture. They are learning what it means to serve a community — something their culture is not focused on, said the Rev. Brian Harpell, a senior pastor.

“If they are going to not just survive but thrive in our community, we are going to need to help them,” he said. “This is what ought to be happening in every church, and that is a reflection of the community that surrounds the church.”

On the first Sunday of Advent, First Baptist congregation welcomed five people as their new members. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and is celebrated at many churches as the season of preparation for Christ’s birth. Advent also celebrates the spiritual journey of the faithful.

Teresa and Beatrice Ngwasi, mother and daughter, were given the honor of lighting the first of four Advent candles. They listened patiently during Sunday school as the Rev. Allan Love explained the meaning of Advent in English and nodded when Dismas translated the pastor’s words into Swahili.

At the beginning of the service that day, Harpell welcomed Bartazaro Ntahondi and his wife, Koreta Murabiye, Juliana Tangishaka, and Beatrice and Teresa Ngwasi to the front of the church to formally join the congregation. The group sang a song in Swahili, prompting cheers and applause from the audience.

As the beaming new members walked along the aisle, people got up from the pews and gathered around them in a circle to shake their hands and pray.

Cheryl Phillip put her hand on another member’s shoulder and joined others in prayer.

“It’s great that they’ve found a place where they fit in and where they can express their own culture, too,” she said.

The five are part of the community now, said Harpell. They have taken a long journey to get here, but they are home now.

Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.

Christmas Eve event

The Christmas Eve gathering for the African families is planned for 7:15 p.m. Dec. 24 at First Baptist Church, 1616 Pacific Ave., Everett. Kelly Brock created an Amazon gift registry for the families. Anyone interested in buying a gift can go to http://tinyurl.com/AfricanFriends.