I think many times, we all struggle to find our place in this world, whether that is with your job, with your friends, within your church or to find where God would have you serving others. This is a struggle that I have certainly dealt with during my 37 years on this earth. Many times, I believe, God puts us in places & situations that we would never choose to be in as He wants to teach us something. We certainly saw this in many instances in the Old Testament.

One of my favorite people in the Old Testament is a man named Benaiah. Benaiah was one of David’s bodyguards; in fact, he was put in charge of all of the bodyguards. But, it didn’t start that way. We don’t know much about Benaiah, but we do know a few things. “…on a snowy day, he climbed down into a pit and killed a lion. Another time he killed a formidable Egyptian. The Egyptian was armed with a spear and Benaiah went against him with nothing but a walking stick; he seized the spear from his grip and killed him with his own spear.” (2 Samuel 23:20, The Message). Now, it is definitely easy to overlook these passages of the Old Testament, but I’ve not been able to. I’m fairly certain that Benaiah never thought that he would find himself climbing down into a pit to slay a lion, nor going up against an Egyptian who probably had him outmatched both in size and weaponry. However, God put Benaiah in those situations in order to help prepare him for the place He really wanted him to be. (I would love to get more into Benaiah’s life right here, but I’ll save much of that for another blog posting.)

Why did I tell you about Benaiah? Not because he’s one of my favorite people in the Old Testament (although he is). Not to give you a history lesson (though it’s a good one). Not to encourage you to pick up your Bible and read through 1 Samuel 23 (although it’s a great chapter). I told you about Benaiah to encourage you to see where God has placed you now and to encourage you to take advantage of that. Could that be working with our refugee friends? Perhaps it is. Could it be in a position to travel overseas to work with people of a different culture and to be a light to them? Perhaps. Could it be ministering to your next door neighbor who is struggling with some sort of problem? Maybe.

God has you where He has you. That doesn’t mean you have to stay there, as God is always molding & shaping you for more. Don’t make things bigger than that. Open your eyes to where you are today, see the gifts & talents that God has given you and utilize them. We all have something. It could be something as small as teaching English or even just talking to someone and being their friend. It could be that you could take one of our refugee friends shopping and helping them understand the ins and outs of an American grocery store. Everyone can offer something. We all can. I’ll pray that God opens the doors wider so that we all can see where we can serve. But, don’t wait on the big thing when there are so many small opportunities to help right where you are.

Many of our friends want to help refugees by donating to Asha’s Refuge.  We have asked you to wait until we could tell you that your contributions are tax-deductible.  That day has finally come!  Here are a few ways your donations will help refugees:  ponchos and umbrellas for refugee children who walk to school, preschool supplies to prepare children for school, ESL supplies for ladies, bus fare for ladies going to MCS adult education programs, a copier to make copies of lesson worksheets and important papers for other refugee needs, as well as a host of other needs that come up all the time.  Please be assured that the Board of Directors of Asha’s Refuge will use every dollar you give to do the most good for our refugee friends.  If you would like to contribute to Asha’s Refuge, please see one of our board members, Jamie, Vivian, Deborah and Daron.  Please message us if you would like to mail a contribution and we will send you a mailing address.  Thank you for any financial support you give, and most of all, please continue to pray for us as we seek to show God’s love to our refugee friends.

While visiting a newer refugee family yesterday (to encourage the children to keep going to school even though the boys had been bullied and were frightened to go back), the family was visited by another lady. We will name her Martha. She was visiting the family to introduce herself as she would be several of the children’s ESL teacher. Martha brought baby dolls and sweet treats for the children to enjoy.

I learned that Martha was the lady that chased down the boys in this family after they ran out of the school afraid. She worked with the police officers to get the boys back into the school safely and helped to figure out that one of the boys had been threatened by another student his first few days of school. This kind of incident is very scary for an already terrified refugee. Martha was very protective of her ESL students and wanted to let the family know she was available to help them better acclimate into their new school.

Martha shared with me her concerns regarding younger students walking to and from school alone. She was particularly concerned in the afternoons as they were required to only let a child go home if they were released into an adults hands. Many times the younger children had to go home by following an older student.

Martha was also concerned about the children on rainy days. She said by the time the children arrived to school they were often dripping wet. The teachers try their best to dry all the students off which often takes away their learning time. She said they all need umbrellas. And I thought to myself, they all need ponchos.

So, Asha’s Refuge will be collecting umbrellas and ponchos. Will you help?! If so, your donations can be dropped off with any of our volunteer staff or contact me at jamie@ashasrefuge.org. Thank you in advance for your support in this way! If I were to guess, we need 200 or more. Umbrellas would also be helpful for other adult refugees who have to walk to and from the laundry mat, grocery store or wait at the bus stop. The umbrella should be smaller for a child’s use and can be purchased at places like Target or Walmart.

“Drink six bottles of water.” I have taught on the critical issue of rehydrating the body many times throughout this hot summer season. Memphis, TN has very humid and scorching hot temperatures during the summer months. This summer we have seen temperatures several degrees above 100 F. Adding in the humidity factor, it has been just unbearable. Many of my refugee friends are from areas of Africa where the temperatures are what they call “normal”, meaning an average nice temperature in the 70s. Their bodies are unfamiliar with the kind of climate that West, Tennessee USA offers. Refugees often complain of headaches and dizziness. We’ve even had to visit some of them in the emergency room due to severe dehydration issues.

Friday, we dealt with one of the worst cases of dehydration that we had seen yet. A pregnant mother of 30 weeks gestation visited the ER because she wasn’t feeling so well. It turned out, that she was so dehydrated that the baby had no amniotic fluid. I was surprised that the baby could survive with no amniotic fluid. I wasn’t at the ER with my refugee friend all day, so I am not sure of the exact details. All I know is what my friend was expressing to me over the telephone while she was sitting in ER. At any rate, she was put on an IV, given some medication and after all day at the hospital was sent home early that evening to rest and drink lots of water. The baby was said to be okay.

I visited my friend today in her home. I learned that she was trying to participate in a Muslim holiday they call Ramadan. During this time, Muslims fast from all food and water between sun up and sun down for near 30 days. So all day long, they do not eat or drink, but pray themselves through the day. I think with the right heart, it’s something to be admired. But, it could pose for a dangerous situation for my refugee friends as they struggle to get through the hot and muggy summer days with no water to cool their bodies down or hydrate them. This may certainly not be a safe thing for a pregnant mother to try to do.

I read in a book that pregnant women, nursing mothers or children are not required to participate in the fasting, but for some reason my pregnant friend must have felt like she wanted to try. I had to talk her through this situation and reason with her. It is also okay if under a doctors orders you have been told to eat or drink. I expressed to my friend that she had a child within her that she needed to feed and that she may not be able to participate in the Ramadan fasting and that her doctor had released her from this because of the dehydration scare. I encouraged her to still pray. I think she will listen to her doctor and my advice. She did mention, however, that there were other Muslims in her neighborhood coming down a little hard on her about her choice to stop fasting. It gave me a chance to express to my friend that God knows our heart and we don’t have to worry about what other’s think of us. I’m not sure if it comforted her much but I think it did.

I suppose clean drinking water is not as easily accessible in some of the area villages or refugee camps that my friends have come from. I’m not certain if healthcare workers are even teaching them to drink the eight to ten bottles of water that is so often taught here in America. Nonetheless, it is apparent that most of the refugees are unaware of the importance of drinking lots of water. Asha’s Refuge tries to teach some basic healthy concepts that are important to the well-being of each of our refugee friends. We are thankful for the relationships we have built which help our friends to trust our advice. We truly want the best for our friends.

Preschool help is something that always seems to be needed in so many areas of ministry. Where are the people who are “called” to love on the little children? As adults, are we not all called to stop and offer care and love to little children? It’s true, there are many people who are not comfortable being around infants, toddlers, or children of any age. I’m sensitive to that. But, what happens when our children are not receiving the time they so desperately need with a compassionate adult? When life brings all of its problems to families, the children seem to get put on hold and often miss out on the love and security they need to thrive.

Children will grow up regardless of how much attention or opportunity they have had. What kind of teenage or adult person are they when they have failed to have their basic needs for nurture and love met over and over. Perhaps that is part of what is wrong with our world today. We’ve got missing fathers. Absent moms. Wandering siblings. Unconcerned relatives. Complacent neighbors. Depressed societies. Broken families.

Who will love the littlest of the least of these? Asha’s Refuge has committed each Wednesday and Friday to helping disadvantaged refugee women learn english. Many of the women have found themselves in “stuck” situations. Perhaps they were once children who were mere tag-alongs as their families struggled through the war-torn country-sides. Many have disabilities or children with disabilities, no education, are single parents, perhaps with multiple children. Their circumstances can keep them from being able to get out and tap into the resources they need to rise above the circumstances that continue to press them down. These mothers must quickly learn enough english to get a job to support their children financially. They are unable to go to educational classes because they cannot leave their young children at home alone. They must take their children with them. Asha’s Refuge has committed to helping to prepare the children for preschool or Kindergarten while their mothers are being tutored in english. The opportunity to love on a child is huge. The opportunity to show care to a mother through loving her child is also huge.

Asha’s Refuge is blessed to have Kortney join our volunteer staff as Preschool Coordinator. She has committed to helping organize the preschool/kindergarten readiness program. But, she needs help. Each Wednesday and Friday we have 10-15 children that come with their mothers to enjoy a few hours of learning time. Kortney is working to teach many children who were born in refugee camps a new way of life. The American world is so different to them. Some come to Kortney scared and unsure. Some come with behavioral problems. Some children come anxious but excited about what their morning promises. The needs of the refugee children are often a little different from what is typical of those in an American preschool program. Most of the children have never been in an organized learning center and cannot speak english; this presents a real challenge for Kortney as she works to teach them positive behavior and learning skills.

Working with refugee children takes patience, persistence and lots of love. Asha’s Refuge needs some committed adult helpers. If you or someone you know would like to help us with our preschool/kindergarten readiness program from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM on either Wednesday or Friday (or both days), please pray about it and let us know by emailing jamie@ashasrefuge.org or kortney@ashasrefuge.org.

Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you have done for me. Matthew 25:40

There’s a system to everyone’s life. It’s a way of order that one begins at birth. For the most part, no one chooses the systems of which they are born into. We can call it culture, a religious belief system, a family dynamic, a financial status, a racial grouping or a mixture of these things. I don’t know what to call it. My mind has yet to clarify it. Whatever it is, we are born into the system or the order and as an adult will have a difficult time crossing back and forth over it.

Have you ever noticed when your out with your family or friends the people around you all look like you, act similar to you and may have similar values and lifestyles as you? I mean, as a white, southern, Jesus following, American woman when I am out in the world by myself or with my family I tend to come in contact with other white, southern, Jesus following American women. Sometimes it’s a black American Jesus follower or a gentlemen fitting these general descriptions. When I’m at the grocery store, church, school or at the community park, that’s who I see. The weird thing is, when I hang out with my Indian friends out in the world, all I come in contact with are other Indian women and families. When I am with my Muslim refugee friends, then I am surrounded by other Muslims. It’s weird how that works. It has been a habit for me to seek out people of different backgrounds when I am out. I often find some really neat people very much interested in making a new American friend. I learn a lot from people outside my cultural box.

If I could describe my feelings about today adequately that would be wonderful. I don’t think, however, that I will be able to do so. In an effort to take an Iraqi refugee lady to obtain her driver’s license, I was hit head on by many conflicting circumstances mostly related to cultural, language and social barriers. Our American system is often so systemized that it actually hurts many people rather than helping. Sadly, the poorer class of people are often the ones who struggle with it the most which in effect keeps them fighting to rise above and succeed. Poor, and often honest foreigners and refugees are affected the most.

I did not choose to be born a wealthy person in America. I could have been born anywhere and could have grown up understanding life quite differently. No child chooses their parents nor the area of which they are born. The opportunities that growing up in America offers are great, but is it the best? Is there a best?

I love America and I feel very fortunate and blessed to have been born and raised here. The education I have and have been offered is of great appreciation to me. The technology, order, structure, business life, schooling, social systems and freedoms are things to truly value. But there’s something I am learning that we are missing. In our attempt to bring structure, freedoms and order could we possibly be entangling ourselves into a system or way of life that denies compassion to outsiders? Are we setting ourselves so apart from our distant relatives and the larger part of humanity that we are isolating and disconnecting ourselves? Is that okay?!

Everything in America has a system, an order. Born and raised here, it’s hard to realize there is a system because we so effortlessly fall into it. Registrations, lines, bill paying, buying and selling things, interviewing, resume writing, appointment making, ordering food, shopping, trying out for sports, applying for schools, driving, getting married or having babies, graduating, etc, are examples of cultural situations to where systems exist. There is a system, an order, a way of doing everything in America. That’s one of the things many admire about us. But, I’m learning that if we are not careful it could be the very thing that hurts us. A foreigner often has a lot of difficulty filing into our systems. From my experience working with poor refugees as well as wealthy Indian or Asian people over the past 3-4 years, it seems that many Americans have developed a cold heart.

I don’t feel like the 9/11 devastation was the start of or the single cause of Americans putting up systematic walls to foreigners. I believe systems have gradually come into existence and we have somehow accidentally forgotten where we came from. In our excitement of gaining brains and wealth, it seems we’ve created such a system that excludes the expression of care and love to all people.

I’m uncertain what to do with my thoughts. I pray that the Lord shows me more and teaches me how to help others cross unreasonable systems. We must be willing to compassionately love people where they are and help to open doors for their growth and understanding.

Perhaps in the next few days, I’ll write about what led me to write what I wrote with this post. For tonight, however, I pray that readers will watch more closely for those around them who may look or act different on the outside but may be struggling underneath a system that keeps them knocked down. Are not people more than an ID badge, a number or a ticket? (I’m not denying some order as a necessity.) Lord, help us. Save us from ourselves.

When I started exploring the world of refugees with my friend, Jamie, I was as green as they come. I’d never been on a mission trip, only heard stories from friends who’ve been; I’d never done any work that exposed me to the lives of the urban poor, only made the customary donations to various charitable organizations and churches, helped with some meals for the homeless, and once made a delivery with my church small group at Christmas to a single mother with several children who lived in a Memphis housing project. That was about the extent of my exposure, despite the fact that I had done charitable work for years with an organization that serves another struggling population of families who primarily reside in our suburbs. That may have been my saving grace. Suffering is suffering. If you’ve seen it once, you can pretty well recognize it, no matter how different the circumstances may be. There are actually many similarities, but that’s a subject for another blog, I suppose.

So I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to grasp the full scope of what I encountered when I went down to watch Jamie help our refugee friends, and finding my place in all of it. It has been an incredible experience from the beginning.

There was the initial shock of seeing their living conditions, the initial fear associated with going anywhere in “the projects”, the initial fear of walking among primarily Muslim people- all the things that anyone who has worked among the urban poor for an extended period, or in the mission field abroad, would probably snicker at, but I had to work through it all, nonetheless. My faith was called into question because it IS like stepping foot onto a mission field. Since I’d never been on even a short-term mission trip I was unprepared for that. In the end, for me, it became a question of whether I wanted to live or to LIVE.

A large part of my reluctance to fully embrace the work I saw Jamie doing was due to the fact that I was still unable to envision how what I would be doing would look full-circle. Early in December last year I encountered a memoir, written by a refugee girl from Afghanistan, which would change that for me.

“The Other Side of the Sky” is the one book I now recommend to anyone who wants to understand what we do and why we do it. It gives the reader a comprehensive, first person account of the life of just one refugee girl from the time she can remember to present day, having successfully resettled here in America. First, the reader is taken through all of the traumatic events leading up to her resettlement in the city of Chicago with the one surviving member of her large family, her mother. Farah (the author) lost a leg to a landmine at a very young age and walks on an a prosthetic. Her mother suffers with severe asthma. World Relief is the resettlement agency in Chicago who helped her and her mother initially resettle.

But it was the kind, consistent, care from one American woman from the Chicago area, Alyce, who fully embraced them, helped them, and acted on their behalf for several years that, as Farah puts it, saved their lives.

All of the new clothes, pots, pans, kitchenware, phone, television, and other goods changed our life,, but not nearly as much as Alyce herself. She said she would come once a week, but she started coming much more often. In fact, before long she was coming to see me every day.

Once we started spending time together, my English improved rapidly. We talked about every subject, so I learned the words I needed for all those different subjects. My vocabulary grew like weeds in a garden. Alyce let me ask questions of any kind and follow my curiosity wherever it led. She taught me how to become an American by telling me about the culture and customs here–what the holidays are, for example, and how you celebrate each one. She told me how to behave in a restaurant.

My English improved more in a couple of weeks of chatting with Alyce than it had in three months of taking that (English) course. But I don’t want to make it seem as if Alyce just helped me with English. As soon as she saw how much we needed she took it upon herself to save our lives, and I do not use the word “save” lightly.

She saw what difficulty we had just getting food, so she began bringing groceries over to our house, or she took me to the store to buy a whole bunch of groceries at once and got them back to our apartment in a car.

When she saw that my mother needed medical care, she took it upon herself to set up her appointments and get her to the doctors on time. Alyce set us free from those seedy, chain-smoking, hard-drinking taxi drivers. She also went to our appointments with us. She asked the doctors the questions we didn’t know how to ask. In fact she asked the questions we didn’t even know we should ask. Alyce got us better medical care because without her, the doctors could not get much information from us. They had to rely purely on what they could learn from their instruments.

In those days my mother was still having frequent asthma attacks. I had to rush her to the hospital at all odd hours. Alyce never failed us in those moments. I could call her at midnight, at two o’clock a.m., or at any time of the night, and she would come.

Farah goes on to describe all the many situations that she and her mother find themselves in and how Alyce helps them navigate those. Alyce is unafraid to confront what she has to, standing in the gap for them because they are so unable to do so for themselves.

Now, if you will bear with me for a moment longer, I promise this next part is worth it to those of you who are seriously interested in how this work relates to how we are called to be as followers of Christ and instruments of peace. Please examine this next excerpt:

When we came to America, my mother was thinking, “What if my daughter loses her religion and becomes a Christian here?” When I discarded my head scarf she panicked. In those early days, when I went out with Alyce, she stayed awake watching for me. She worried that this woman would take me to church and force me to convert, or that she would take me to unsuitable movies, to dances and parties–that she would corrupt me.

But Alyce was simply nourishing my spirit. She was the one person who took an interest in any progress I made, the one person to whom I could recount my day’s adventures. Everyone needs an audience of one.

Alyce does ask about my religion, and she listens to what I say and tries to understand. I am no scholar, but I tell her what I know about Islam. I tell her we believe that God-dear is unique and one-of-a-kind, a light that one sees with one’s heart, not one’s eyes.

Then she tells me what she believes, and I listen. I see nothing wrong with listening to each other’s beliefs. I want to know about her religion, just as she wants to know about mine. We can talk about our beliefs without pushing each other to feel wrong. This is one reason why I love her so much.

But there are many other reasons that I love her too. She’s funny. She makes me laugh. When I’m with her, I forget my problems. I don’t think of her as an American or a foreigner or this or that nationality. It never crosses my mind that she’s an adult woman, so much older than me. Different ages, different religions, different nationalities–none of that matters. She’s my friend. It’s as simple as that.

When I consider what I am doing in terms of sharing my faith, I see that when I choose to reach out to, and befriend one refugee, to love them in a Christ-like manner, my actions have an impact that moves throughout their lives into the lives of others through their testimony, and spreads into the world like ripples on a pond. Is it bold? Yes. Is it risky? Of course. Is it challenging? Very. Is it worth it? There are no words. I believe that LOVE wins in the end.

“The Other Side of the Sky” gave me a more thorough understanding of the work Jamie, Alyce, and others were already doing, helped me begin to understand my role, and most importantly, gave me the courage I needed to embrace my role. Please read the book! And thanks for bearing with me to the end of this lengthy post!

I’m sure it was scary for my refugee friend last Wednesday. We will call her Nadia. She’s about 7-1/2 months pregnant. She was pulled over by a police officer for stopping at a green light. Nadia was trying to find her way somewhere and was a little confused as she drove. She called me on her cell phone very shaken up and afraid. The police officer had apparently pulled her over and sat in his car behind her checking out her tags. He sat behind her for some time and had not spoken to her. She began to get very concerned and called me.

The temperatures were very hot Wednesday; probably in the mid to upper 90s and extremely humid. Nadia sat in her hot car waiting on the police for a while before she called me. She was now afraid and wanted to know what she should do. Fortunately, for Nadia, she could speak English and could have a conversation with me. She came to America and entered either the 8th or 9th grade and was pushed along in high school to graduate by the schools even though she wasn’t truly learning at the level of her classmates. She was expected to go forward to college but, like many refugees entering the American school systems at this age, she just wasn’t college ready and couldn’t meet the expectations that were required. The length of her time here in America had taught her a lot but there are still so many societal norms that she just does not get.

I comforted Nadia and told her just to sit still and stay on the phone with me. I informed her that she should NOT try to leave. After a period of time, the police officer came to her. She set the phone down, but I could hear him speak to her. The officer was impatient with Nadia. He asked for her insurance card and ID. She didn’t have her insurance card in the car (but she really does have it). He took her ID and must have walked back to his car. Nadia spoke to me on the phone and I again comforted and tried to encourage her to stay calm. She hung up with me. We spoke again later that day in person.

Nadia says the police officer didn’t believe she was who she said she was. Her two ID’s differed (work and TN ID). They each had a different spelling of her last name. This was because one of the ID’s had gotten the spelling from her Social Security Card which had her name spelled wrong on it. She would need to get the Social Security Department to fix it. Her last name, Mohammad is very common in her country. There are several spellings of this name. I have seen it spelled Mahamud, Mahomud, Mahamed and Mohamed. (One of the reasons for this might be because in Somalia the spelling of things isn’t as important as the pronunciation of the word. Many words have multiple ways of spelling it, including a persons name.)

Nadia said that the police officer asked her when she was born and she felt “scared” (worried) about it. She was given a January 1st birthdate with the appropriate year by refugee officials. Most Somali and other area refugees are given a January 1st birthday when they enter on to the US. (I think the UN gives them this birthday.) But, Nadia actually knew her real birthday. (It was in April, I think). It seems that when non-English speaking refugees are seen by the UN for documentation the UN authorities or helpers are not always patient enough to wait for a translator. It is true that many refugees truly do not know their exact birthdate and record keeping isn’t the norm in all cultures. But, some do know their birthdate and are either not asked, or aren’t given the opportunity to share the information correctly. Perhaps the UN is in a hurry or there truly are not opportunities for the correct information to get documented at the refugee camps. Whatever the case, Nadia struggled to answer the police’s question. Something about the officer’s behavior made her feel as though he didn’t believe her, and this terrified Nadia.

(I know of one young girl who’s birth year is way off. She is actually like 23 but her documents say she’s 32 or something. I thought she looked and acted younger!)

Nadia says she was sitting in her hot car, pregnant for 1-1/2 hours. She begged the officer to just go ahead and let her go but he took his time and questioned her a lot. I’m sure the police officer was trying to do his job. It was unfortunate for Nadia that she was in the situation she was in.

Asha’s Refuge will work to help build better relationships between refugees and police officers. Many war-torn refugees have had terrible experiences with armed men in uniform. They are often extremely terrified and unsure of how they should appropriately respond. Police officers are often caught in sticky situations with refugees as they work hard to keep our city safe. The language and cultural barrier can be quite awkward and scary at times. We trust that we will be able to find many friendly neighborhood police officers who will be happy to encourage and educate our friends from other countries. We are thankful for the men in uniform who are working hard to protect us and we want to help them wherever we can.

There are days when I find it difficult to describe the situations that occur as I seek to help my refugee friends to achieve successful resettlement. I often feel that if I hear one more tragic story I’ll just have to scream and run away. Or if I have to deal with one more person that is insensitive, harsh and uncaring to my friends or to me as I try hard to help my friends then I may also want to scream and run away.

To me some of the craziest things happen, but they are opportunities to share love. While I say I feel like running away sometimes, I cannot and I won’t. I believe I’m supposed to be where I am for such a time as this. I know where real strength comes from…Jesus fill me up…I’ve spilled it all out today and I need more! Thank you Jesus that Your supply of strength, grace, hope and love is endless.

I thought I would try and make a list of the incidents or obstacles in our world that I or a coworker have had to face as we’ve been working with our friends. Some are heartbreaking. I think they are all opportunities to show love to others and for me to learn and gain understanding as well.

1. A refugee child was told by school teacher to go home and not come back to school until they had the right shoes on their feet. A child who was once so very excited about starting school was now crying, shamed by a teacher for not having the right shoes. (School requires tennis shoes. We went and bought tennis shoes for the child and the child has returned to school.)

2. A young, college-aged American laughed at the marks on my arms and said, “Did someone get hold of you with a sharpie?”. (I smiled as I told her it was Henna art drawn on me by my very dear friends. No, I had not gotten crazy, irresponsible and wild at a party. It was a neat opportunity to share.)

3. I stood in a school office alone with a refugee mom and her child, ready to register the child for school. After being ignored by two secretaries who were carrying on a personal conversation for  5-10 minutes, our presence was finally acknowledged, as though we were bothering them by simply occupying the same space. One of them very rudely asked, “Do you need something?!” I said that we needed to register a child for Kindergarten. (The Kindergartner had her backpack on and was carrying all the supplies…very excited to be in school for the first time.) We were quite rudely told that we would have to return at another time because they were finished registering children for school for the day. The problem was, the mom was dependent upon me for transportation and help completing the over-abundance of school forms required to enroll her child in school, I live 30 minutes away, and I had several other refugees waiting on me to help them with other needs. In the end, another lady who overheard the exchange, had compassion for us, and over-ruled the other not-so-helpful secretaries. My kindergarten friend was tested and we were given the registration forms to take with us, fill out, and return to the school the next morning so that the child can go to school starting Monday. This type of difficulty in navigating bureaucratic mazes is, unfortunately, something shared even by American citizens, and are particularly treacherous to those who don’t speak the language, don’t understand cultural nuances, and labor to simply get to the location where they’ve been told they will find help. If the people administrating the supposed “help” are bold enough to treat an American citizen with such disregard, imagine the powerlessness and discouragement our refugee friends must feel when they attempt these things on their own. Had this mother attempted to register her daughter by herself she would very likely have left with the impression that she could not register her daughter for school at all. By the time someone who cared enough to check on her was able to determine that there must have been a miscommunication was able to convince her to work up the courage to try again, her daughter would have missed weeks, and possibly months of school.

4. A new family of men struggled to get anyone to come help them fix their stove. After repeated phone calls and messages they were getting hungry not being able to cook and frustrated. It had been a couple of weeks or more. So they asked me, Jamie, to fix their gas stove. I had no clue how. I felt terrible for them and the people they say they called was who I would have suggested to call. I truly prayed and asked God to show me what to do. The Lord told me to pull out the stove to see if it was plugged in. (Plugged??? Gas stoves don’t use electric plugs.) The men pulled out the stove and I saw the gas line and a blue plastic lever. I turned the lever. The gas line had not been turned to on. I (God through me, sorry, but I hadn’t a clue) fixed the stove!

5. When a young child whose mother attends our ESL tutoring times was asked if she could fly anywhere where would she fly she replied, “To heaven to see my mom”. (We are encouraging and loving on this child as we are given the opportunity. Please pray for her. We will call her, Em.)

I could share more but I will save it for another day or for my coworkers to share. I’m exhausted today. It’s been a tough week, but I think a good one. Just love…

Asha’s Refuge has been pushing forward with our efforts to get students in school with the supplies and uniforms they need.  We are still trying to locate and purchase uniforms, tennis shoes and a few more backpacks filled with supplies.  We are also still trying to obtain some final immunization shots and records for refugee students to begin school.

We were so thankful for a donation of 50 backpacks with school supplies inside them from Central Church and the community they collected them from.  We handed the backpacks all out the same day that we received them.  The children and families were very happy and grateful. 

The staff at Asha’s Refuge successfully registered about 25 to 30 disadvantaged refugee students both children and adults who were either unable to register on their own due to disabilities, language or educational barriers or just confused about the school registration process.  We are truly thankful to the staff at the Neighborhood Christian School, Lester Middle, Brewster Elementary and Messick Adult School and Catholic Charities Diane Lewis’s  for their help, kindness and patience with our friends.  I am thankful for the staff at Asha’s Refuge who have given up a lot of their own time and energy trying to navigate through the processes of appointment making, school calling, form completing and supply collecting all the while keeping themself focused on the main thing – love.

Asha’s Refuge will work hard to prepare for the school registration process earlier next year.  That means making doctor appointments in advance if possible and working to collect some of the necessary school supplies throughout the year.  We hope to better prepare the schools for our students and our students for their new school experience.   But, as always, we will expect the unexpected and stay flexible and willing to help wherever there is a need.