March/April 2014

Open Door Refugee Ministries

GELATT FAMILY
Serving refugees in Kansas City with the Truth and Love of Christ

Volunteers!
If we could only clone ourselves! After a few months, we are getting so busy with serving the refugees, that we really need help. Please pray as we seek to nd mature and available volunteers to help with ministering to refugees. Many hands make light work!

Handy Man Micah

Micah has been busy lately with xing furnaces, toilets, and leaky roofs for our Burmese friends. They have a very strong work ethic, but are unskilled in home improvement and maintenance. So, Micah is enjoying using his skills in these areas to interact with several Burmese men, and teaching them how to build and x things in their homes.

International House of Pancakes!

We launched our rst English language class in February, and have 7 students that we meet with weekly. Johanna is teaching them English, and we are also preparing them to take their U.S. Citizenship test later this year. Since they have seen such brutal persecution in their homeland of Burma, they desire to become U.S. Citizens and raise their families as Americans ! in the land of liberty! What a beautiful picture of the gospel ! people once trapped in oppression are now experiencing the joy of freedom from bondage!" Our refugee friends are very curious about American culture and cuisine, so Johanna has been teaching them how to make basic American foods. In the picture above, they are making their rst ever pancakes. They LOVED THEM! An American family showing Burmese people how to make pancakes ! it was the REAL International House of Pancakes! So, each week, we teach them English, they teach us Burmese, and we all share food #both American and Burmese$, and deepen our friendships. "

Burmese Factoid
Only 4% of the population in Burma is Christian. Some refugees that come here bring with them a strange mix of Buddhism and animism. Pray that we can speak Truth to those who dont believe.

March/April 2014

Open Door Refugee Ministries

If you build it, they wi! come"

Micah spent several weeks remodeling part of the basement of the Kansas City Chin Christian Church, one of the refugee churches. He led a team of Burmese men, and taught them how to do the demolition and the rebuild as they transformed an unusable part of the old basement into an awesome usable Sunday School/Bible Training room. He brought a van load of his tools, most of which they had never seen or used before, and every day was a new adventure. It was a great time as he taught them how to hang paneling, lay ooring, run electrical wires, and more. You can see the progress in the pictures below ! transforming it from an ugly dingy part of the basement into a beautiful room for ministry. This same church has also asked Micah to preach #through an interpreter$ later in the year. In fact, two of the refugee churches want Micah to preach. What fun that will be!

Ethan turns 9!
Our little guy is growing up. In the picture above, he and his brother had the opportunity to spend the day at the State Capitol building in Topeka, learning how the government works. We are proud of the young man he is becoming!

Upcoming Ministry
We are currently planning a big outreach for Burmese mothers and their children - a week of Bible teaching and training to help them assimilate into American culture. This will take place in June. We are praying for many volunteers, and a large turnout from the refugees.

Contact Info.

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Micah and Johanna Gelatt 3127 N. 59th St Kansas City, KS 66104 785.231.9478 - 785.817.3997 gelatts@gmail.com www.opendoorkansascity.com