Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Mariam Manirakazi who went home to be with the Lord early morning Tuesday, November 15, 2016. Mariam’s husband, Albert, and their five young children (all under the age of five) request for your prayers during this difficult time:  Deborah (girl, age 4); Rusi (girl, age 3); Michael (boy, age 2); Constance (girl, age 1); newborn baby Queen (girl, 6 days old).  This family has quickly grabbed the hearts of the community.  Mariam had just returned home a few days with her new baby girl with a good report from the hospital.  The loss of Mariam has been a shock to the Burundi and Congo community and has been a real challenge for them to walk through the difficult processes of planning for the funeral and burial service here in America.

Asha’s Refuge, Peace of Thread, Highland Heights Baptist Church, St. Luke Lutheran Church in Cordova, TN, Bible Study Fellowship, World Relief and others in the Memphis community have come together to help this family.  Anyone wishing to donate can contact one of these organizations or simply give through Asha’s Refuge in these three ways:

• Send a check to our administrative office at 1035 Winchester Blvd., Suite A216, Collierville, TN  38017
• Click the “donate” button on our Facebook Page
• Click the “donate” button on the bottom of our website page (the red heart)

Clicking on the “donate” button will allow us to process donations through PayPal.  Donors should note on their contributions that the funds are intended for Mariam’s family emergency expenses.  Please email Deborah@ashasrefuge.org or Jamie@ashasrefuge.org if you have questions or need help.

Please see the information below regarding the funeral:

Visitation:  Saturday, November 26th, 2016 at 9am to 10am

Funeral Service:  Saturday, November 26th, 2016 at 10am to 11am

The visitation and funeral will take place at Highland Heights Baptist Church at 675 National Street, Memphis, TN  38122.

Graveside Service:  Saturday, November 26th, 2016 immediately after funeral service

Those wishing to attend the Graveside Service will follow the family to Pleasant Rest Memorial Gardens at 6235 Raleigh Millington Road, Millington, TN  38053.

At this time, the organizations and the community have already collected a lot of children’s clothing, diapers and food for the family and community cooking for family and friends.  So, we are not in need of clothing for the children at this time.  Four of the five children are in diapers so diapers will continue to be a big help.

The immediate need we have is to collect the remaining balance for the funeral costs, infant formula to assist Albert with feeding his newborn baby girl and your prayers.  As you can imagine, Albert will need to take some time away from work to take care of his children.

It has been a long hard few days helping this sweet family walk through the funeral processes here in America for their beloved, Mariam. I must commend one young lady, Nadine, who this family has requested to help with the translation processes and the entire planning of the funeral. Nadine says she wants to have a job after she graduates helping people… doing exactly what she has done today and in the past for others.  Albert and the Congo and Burundi community very much respects and appreciates Nadine.  He trusts her as she, her sister Esther and their family steps up to hold their hand through this difficult time.

One of Albert’s desires is to have a “cross” clearly visible at the funeral service and aside Mariam’s grave.  He says he wants all to know that they are “Christian” and the cross would be a reminder of their family and Mariam’s love for Jesus. One local donor is making something very special for him.  Albert and his family want you to know how very thankful he is to have your love and support.

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The pictures shown here are:

Mariam’s daughter Constance nearby a jar with $1 in it where the family is struggling to get a few cash donations into the jar from their direct community (so many refugees struggle themselves) to assist Albert with his family’s immediate needs.

Newborn baby “Queen” with a warm fuzzy hat someone in the community wanted her to have.

Mariam and her newborn baby girl, “Queen”.

Albert with his one year old, Constance.

A family picture with some of the children unavailable for the pic.