Liberty students prepare to serve Afghan refugees at Fort Pickett Army Base

Liberty University’s Serve Now is sending two teams of 45 students each to Fort Pickett Army Base in Blackstone, Va., this week to assist around 6,000 refugees who have arrived there from Afghanistan since August.

“They came out of Afghanistan with literally nothing but the clothes that are on their backs, so we have been invited in … to encourage them, to take supplies to them,” Liberty Campus Pastor Jonathan Falwell announced to students during Wednesday’s Convocation.

The first team traveled to Fort Pickett on Thursday and another is scheduled to go on Saturday. The university is working on arranging more trips during October. The volunteers will be unloading, sorting, and distributing donations as well as playing sports with the refugee children.

“Over the next few weeks, we will be taking multiple trips, 10, 15, maybe 20 trips to Fort Pickett to bless them,” Falwell said. “There will be over 10,000 Afghan refugees (there) within the coming days.”

Falwell also asked students to donate supplies diapers, baby wipes, soccer balls, socks, small toys, toothbrushes, deodorant, and soap, which were dropped off and loaded into a trailer on campus on Wednesday. He showed a picture of the lobby of Thomas Road Baptist Church, where he serves as senior pastor, packed full of supplies that have already been collected by members to be delivered by Liberty’s Serve Now teams.

Additionally, groups from Liberty’s Club Sports teams and Thomas Road Baptist Church have also coordinated trips to Fort Pickett.

This week is Global Focus Week at Liberty, and Falwell noted all of the opportunities that students have to learn about other cultures and serve and support missions across the world.

Serve Now, an initiative under Liberty’s Office of Spiritual Development, prepares students in the field of disaster and crisis response by providing humanitarian, spiritual, and psychological aid. Teams serve the physical and emotional needs of individuals and communities, working alongside world-class organizations and leaders.