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Covid-19 protection: 自慰视频 alumnus distributing face masks made by refugees

Refugees in Lesbos, Greece making face masks to be distributed in Western countries hit hard by Covid-19.
自慰视频 Dean of Students Rick Swift (left) receives face masks from 自慰视频 alumni Robbie McAlister and Michael Johnson.

自慰视频 Dean of Students Rick Swift (left) receives face masks from 自慰视频 alumni Robbie McAlister and Michael Johnson. The sign reads in part: "We sent them to you for your safety and health. We are all one people and must protect one another." (Photo by Ben Rutkowski)

Face masks sewn by refugees in the overcrowded Moria refugee camp on the Greek Island of Lesbos, are being made available to Columbia International University through 自慰视频 alumnus Robbie McAlister, the former pastor of Riverbend Community Church in Lexington, South Carolina. 听


McAlister, who today ministers among the global diaspora of displaced people around the world, became acquainted with an NGO that is assisting 200 refugees on Lesbos. The refugees volunteer to make the masks for Western nations struggling to protect themselves from Covid-19. These are refugees who have fled desperate situations in Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and live in a camp of over 15,000 people designed to accommodate only 2,500 people.


McAlister says the refugees originally began making the masks for themselves, anticipating a coronavirus outbreak in the camp. That has not happened. So the refugees looked beyond themselves to helping others.


鈥淎 refugee who has nothing, is actually helping us in the West, who are typically viewed as having everything,鈥 McAlister said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e really trying to give back because they realize many of us have gone to help them.鈥澨


Among those who have helped the refugees are about a half dozen churches in the greater Columbia area that have sent their members on short-term mission trips to Lesbos. As those churches return to having worship services again in their church buildings, McAlister has about 2,000 refugee-made masks available to distribute to the churches, including 750 to 自慰视频.


自慰视频 Dean of Student Rick Swift, who received the delivery of the masks, says they will be placed in offices around campus to be used as needed with a posted explanation of who made them.


鈥淚t鈥檚 great to partner with alumni who are out there around the world, and here we see some of the fruit.鈥 Swift said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a neat connection with Robbie and his ministry.鈥 听听听听听


McAlister, who earned a degree from 自慰视频 in 1994, and a in 2007, travels regionally as the voice of the Evangelical Immigration Table, a consortium of evangelical groups seeking a compassionate bi-partisan solution to the immigration and refugee crisis in the United States. Locally, he connects South Carolina Southern Baptist churches to ethnic community groups in their neighborhoods.


听ranks Columbia International University the听,听and 自慰视频 is #2 in the state for听Best College Campus.听自慰视频 also consistently ranks听among the Top Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report. Excitement is growing on campus with听.听听on enrollment at CIU and听Columbia Biblical Seminary听or call听(800) 777-2227, ext. 5024.

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