Serving our refugee friends today along side of 14 to 15 volunteers was such a beautiful thing today. Asha’s Refuge had a trial run for our typical English Conversation Class in what may become our new meeting location at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Germantown, TN. We have prayerfully connected to this church in hopes of finding the best ways to serve our refugee friends. We feel like the Lord has been up to something and is working for a greater plan than even we may realize. The needs are beginning to be met and creative ideas on how we may be able to meet more challenging needs are floating in the hearts of many of the volunteers. Our Fridays are sweet times with many refugee women and children who would otherwise be at home bored, sometimes afraid and lonely.

Today we had so many volunteers that we were able to have just about one on one English conversation, reading and tutoring. This was so much more personal and relational. Our preschoolers and infants had a clean, spacious and teachable learning area with hearts ready to care for and love them. A nurse friend and staff volunteer, Heather, came and taught a class on healthy habits as we approach the cold and flu season. This information was so valuable to our friends. Heather did a great job. We enjoyed a yummy sweet snack together and chatted (in broken English) in a large fellowship hall around large circle tables. We even had a big clean bus with a precious gentleman driver! The Lord thought of everything for us. We couldn’t have put this all together more beautifully ourselves. And, it was in His timing with His chosen people.

I would envision some really neat relationships happening in the days, weeks and months ahead between the volunteers and our refugee friends. The blessing of N.B. Missionary Church space allows us to be able to invite more volunteers to help us and that gives each refugee some much needed attention. Thank you church!

We are praying about how we should keep moving as we provide training and orientation for volunteers who are eager to get involved and serve in this area. We are praying about our new connection with N.B. Missionary Church and how our hearts will align under the authority of Christ. We are praying about our Thanksgiving and Christmas project where we are collecting red and green bens filled with toiletries, a Kroger gift card and other needed household items (for more information on how you can help with this click on the “refugee needs” tab at the top of our website). We are praying about God’s love message through His Son being spoken about as we work. We are praying for God’s way and not our own. We are thankful, oh, so thankful for the help and love that was in the air today. God is showing each of us, refugee or American volunteer, His love on a very personal level and reaching for us one at a time. He wants to show His love to us one by one and intimately one to one. To Him be the glory.