We are often asked how volunteers can involve their children in ministry to refugees. We love everyone’s heart for wanting to involve their children in ministry and always try to offer some options but today I would like to explain our hesitancy in this area.

There is so much more to this ministry than the obvious activities of teaching critical English and kindergarten readiness skills. The families we help have been through unbelievable hardship, danger and suffering. Most of their stories are not at all suitable for young ears. They are heartbreaking and very difficult for us as adults to hear and understand. Because this is a ministry of relationships, volunteers who interact with refugees need to be open and willing to stop whatever they are doing – such as teaching English – to listen when a refugee lady needs help. You just never know what direction this will take, and we need to give the refugee ladies the freedom to share whatever is on their hearts. These are golden teachable moments and we don’t want to miss them. They often open doors to share the love of Christ.

It may seem that bringing American children to play with refugee children is a great idea because it is an opportunity to make new friends. That is true and we provide structured opportunities to do that periodically. However, our weekly kindergarten readiness class is a very structured environment where we teach specific skills vital to school success. Introducing American children and untrained workers into this environment is often disruptive to the focus the teachers are trying to create and maintain. This is why we are unable to invite volunteers to bring children to our classes. Please review our Volunteer Policy under the Volunteer Page of our website for additional information.

We are always seeking new volunteers and finding creative ways to involve them and their children in Asha’s Refuge, so please talk to us about your interests and availability so that we can find the right way to plug you into the ministry. This summer we will have some days that are specially designed to help connect refugee families to American families. We have currently set two park days, a movie/pizza/game day for teens and a zoo day for families. We need your involvement and this is a good time to involve your children. The mentorship and encouragement you or your children may be able to provide by spending some of your time playing at the park or going to the zoo with a disadvantaged refugee child or mother could be life changing for them (and you).

Park dates are June 1 and June 15 and will be at a park in Germantown, TN. Bring your face paint, jump ropes, frisbees, outside fun ideas and be ready to help a preschooler on the existing playground equipment. Contact Christy High to sign up at christy@ashasrefuge.org.

Zoo day will be June 8. We need transportation help, donations for zoo tickets, zoo guides and group leaders. Contact Jamie Koch to sign up at jamie@ashasrefuge.org.

Teen Fun Day will be a Saturday the end of June. Probably the 23 or 30, we apologize but we are still trying to work out the details on this and see what kind of interest and volunteer support we will have. We will have pizza, maybe watch a movie and have games. The time and place is being set so please just contact Jamie Koch at jamie@ashasrefuge.org if you are at all interested in helping. We are requesting and need your teens to be involved. Many refugee teenagers would love to have an encouraging American teenage friend.

For more information on how you can be involved and opportunities to engage your children, please see our Volunteer page. We will be updating it periodically.