Tomorrow Deborah and I will make visits with some of the refugee women that we have gotten to know. Two to three days per week our Asha’s Refuge staff meets with women and children to help or encourage them. I am looking forward to a follow up visit with a friend who is still recovering from her surgery. I always enjoy my time with her, her family and her friends. It’s neat to learn about her culture and I am happy to share with them things about mine.

Deborah will be working with a young refugee lady who needs some assistance completing a few job applications. This can be challenging as two to three hour online applications are not very friendly to our refugee friends. Online applications are complicated for us to try to help our friends with as well. I recall some lengthy questions in an application I once did that required a job seeker to write a paragraph or two of why they felt they were the best candidate for the position they were applying for. I thought it was an odd question for us to try to answer in paragraph form because the position we were applying for was simply an entry level janitorial opening we saw that they had. How can one write a compelling paragraph on why they think they are the best candidate to do things like clean a bathroom and sweep floors? These types of questions are weird to me, so I can surely understand how refugees are frustrated when they try to complete applications.

Please pray for the girl Deborah will be helping to find work by completing applications. She is a little afraid and very much in need of a job. She speaks English and has an education. She should be able to find something sooner than later, I would think.

The visits we make during the week are often in order to help meet a need that a refugee woman has. Every time we make a visit for one reason, we end up helping in several different areas and to several different refugees. The needs are so great that if a willing heart to help just shows up, there are always needs that flood in. This is another reason I feel it is important for Asha’s Refuge to have a more permanent building space in the Binghampton area.

Please continue to pray for us. We want the Lord to lead us in the direction He wants us to go. We need building space. We need volunteers to help. We need monthly financial donations. We need encouragement. Thank you for your support and prayers.