The Winthrop Senior High youth group will be traveling once again on its annual Workcamp. This year, the group will go to Fresno to work with the Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries, a program working within the southeast Asian community there. There are about 60,000 southeast Asian refugees living in Fresno. Most recently, the U. S. Department of State decided in December 2003 to allow the 15,000 plus, Hmong residents of Wat Tham Krabok, Thailand an opportunity to resettle in the United States. About one third of them resettled in California. Our youth will be staying at First Congregational Church of Fresno and will be working with Rev. Sophia DeWitt, program director of the Hmong Health Navigation Project and friend of FCCB. During the day they will be tutoring elders who are learning English and working towards taking their citizenship test. In the evening, they will be co-leading a community children’s program offering games and activities to primary school aged children and their families. In addition, they will take a day to visit Grant Grove and have a BBQ at FCCB members Jim and BJ Spitze’s ranch. The team will be commissioned during worship on June 10 and then they leave Saturday June 16.
