For Immediate Release February 1, 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Clarity in the Midst of Confusion
-An Asha’s Refuge Perspective

Recent circumstances and new governmental requirements have created an environment where fear and confusion can rapidly increase. Many are asking what impact the recent temporary moratorium on immigration from certain countries will have on Asha’s Refuge and our ability to provide support for our refugee community.

 In short, very little!! Asha’s Refuge works with the refugee community to assist them as they become actively engaged in this confusing new society. Many refugees are not able to fully acclimate within the timeframe present governmental programs allow. We meet the refugee and their family where they are, beyond the governmental period, and help them continue to become active and contributing members of the American culture. As God has shown in His unconditional love toward us, so we reflect this grace as we welcome our new neighbors into our country.

 We say to our refugee population – we welcome you and please do not be afraid. We are glad to have you join our American family and we pray daily for you and your family. Please know we will not abandon you or forsake you. Rather, we celebrate your presence among us.

How can you help?
Volunteer with us. Come to our next Orientation Saturday, February 18, 2017 at 10:00 am at 1035 Winchester Blvd., Collierville, TN 38017 (inside Highpoint Church) to learn more about how Asha’s Refuge got started, our mission, future vision and how you can be involved. 

Offer support. Come to our Dinner and Auction Saturday, February 25th at 5:30 PM! Click here to find out more details and purchase a ticket. 
Encourage Others and Pray. Your prayers are sincerely appreciated as we seek to serve the least of the least of these in our city. Pray that fear and confusion dissolve as we share truth and love to those we serve, to those we serve along side of and to those who have sincere questions and concerns. 
Love never ever fails; let us first put on love. (1 Corinthians 13:8)

About Asha’s Refuge 

Inspired by the love of Christ, Asha’s Refuge exists to assist the most disadvantaged refugees in achieving a successful resettlement in the Memphis TN area. Asha’s Refuge has a heart to help fill the gaps experienced by the most disadvantaged or vulnerable refugees in their resettlement process. Many of the refugees we serve have a disability, an illness, are elderly, are parents with multiple children, are preschoolers in need of an educational head start, are uneducated, have no job skills, do not speak English, are young adults at risk for human trafficking or other crimes, are single parents and/or are widows. Refugees that face these challenges seem to take longer to achieve a successful resettlement. We are here to be a friend and a place of hope for refugees in our community.

We believe all people should be given the opportunity to be encouraged and educated which therefore builds character, self-esteem, allows for job success, helps to reduce crime, keeps individuals self-sufficient (not dependent upon government well-fare assistance programs) and overall offers hope to families which will lead generations forward on a victorious path of success. We provide instruction in a caring, safe and healthy learning environment, responsive to each student, in collaboration with families and the community. Our clients are taught to embrace diversity, act responsibly and contribute to their community.

We hope to accomplish our mission by being a consistent, encouraging presence among disadvantaged Memphis area refugees through a broad range of ongoing advocacy activities designed to address the specific needs of this group. By providing ongoing educational support, collaborating with other community agencies or organizations who assist this population, and by helping challenged individuals and families identify and access all available resources, Asha’s Refuge will work in every way to act on behalf of the refugees we seek to assist. 

Asha is the name of the young refugee lady that inspired us to begin our work serving disadvantaged refugees. When we met Asha, she faced many challenges that included being new to a country, not speaking English, having little to no education and having a crippling disability. The name “Asha” means “a place of hope”, “a future” or “life”. Asha’s Refuge will be our “place of hope”. It is here where we plan to bring a community of friends to offer encouragement, help and hope to disadvantaged refugees like Asha. 

If you’ve followed the events and activities of Asha’s Refuge lately, we are hoping that God has pricked your heart to show His love to the refugees in our community. The best way to get started and find your place of service with us is by attending our New Volunteer Orientation on Monday, Jan 9 at 6:30. The location is Highpoint Collierville, 1035 Winchester in Collierville. Please drop us a comment here to let us know you are coming! 

We would love to win a $10,000 grant for our giving story.  It would sure help us to help many.  Click on the link below, read our story, vote by “liking” it and share it!

—Here is the story in the link, but in order to vote you must click the link (or copy and paste it in your browser) and “like” our story there.–

The name “Asha” in many languages means “A Place of Hope, a Future, or Life”. In 2010 my life was forever changed after meeting a young lady who had escaped war in Somalia who’s name was Asha. During my volunteer time with our local resettlement agency, I was asked to make an in home visit with a refugee client who was unable to attend our English classes due to some kind of disability that was not initially disclosed to me. I was from well to do country suburbs and had not typically roamed the poverty strickened city steets of Memphis, TN, but I was not exactly ignorant to poverty. Several previous trips to far away poor villages in the most remote jungle lands of Indonesia had quite possibly began to prepare my heart for what was to come in my own city. At age ten, Asha and her seven year old brother became the parents of their older sisters two infant children after their sister passed away giving birth to the youngest. Not long after, civil war broke out and forced this little family to run for safety towards Ethiopian refugee camps. Neighbors and Asha’s family quickly aboarded a truck leaving behind all of their posessions and many of their loved ones who were not yet able to leave. Before arriving to Ethiopia, the truck flipped over in an accident. Asha’s infants and brother were thrown out of the truck. They were bruised and scratched up but okay. Asha, however, found herself pinned underneath the truck. Asha survived this terrible accident but was never able to have the surgery needed to repair her legs. For ten years Asha walked on her hands and knees in the refugee camps of Ethiopia raising her two nieces with her little brother. When I met her, she was just twenty years old and that is the age that she was when she and her family were blessed to come to America to start their life over. She was still crawling around on her hands and knees with no suitable wheel chair. She was unable to reach the stove to cook for her family. She could not get into the shower easily. This upset me as I saw the major gaps in the resettlement system and it pushed my heart to start an organization thinking of the many refugees with similar stories and hardships to Asha’s. Asha introduced me to so many other local persecuted people who had gained refugee status now trying to start their life anew in my city but who faced serious challenges. I began giving to this family and others like hers realizing just how blessed I was to be able to freely give. My own giving, sadly, was simply not going to be enough. I felt as though I must do something more. With Asha’s permission and encouragment, I founded Asha’s Refuge in 2010 gaining our 501(C)3 nonprofit status in 2012. The organization works to help educate, mentor and encourage newcomers. For more information on our rather new organizations story, mission and vision can be found by visiting http://www.ashasrefuge.org.

http://mygivingstory.interactnow.tv/gallery/7516798137807?fb_page=321653937913319

Hundreds of people in our community will be baking delicious cookies and candies tonight and tomorrow for the Asha’s Refuge Cookies for a Cause! BAKERS:  We would love your baking pictures.  Post them on our Facebook Page. 😊

 What is this all about you ask? Here is the scoop: Asha’s Refuge host’s an annual giant cookie exchange fundraiser where we beg of you make and donate your most delicious and favorite holiday cookies, candies and brownies. We gladly accept your cookie donations and package them ourselves so that we can then sell them for a suggested donation of $12 per box. This fundraiser has literally helped raise funds for our organization to function 1/4 to 1/2 of the year! So we need your help!
Want to help us bake cookies? Embrace your holiday baking talents and bake as many as you want, we need over 6,000 cookies! Bring your baked goodies between 9:00am and 10:30am Saturday, December 10th to High Point Church in Collierville, TN at 1035 Winchester Blvd. All cookies will be sorted and packaged in our own packaging so please be sure to simply bring your cookies in a container we can throw away. Aluminum pans or box top lids lined with aluminum foil works well. (Tip: Please remember to cool your cookies on a cookie rack before stacking them so that when we are trying to package them they do not stick together and break.)
Groups and Children -We encourage small groups to get involved in this project! It is a fun way to fellowship together and serve at the same time. This is also a great project for families with children age 7 and up.  Enjoy baking together and then come help package your cookies. Parents, we request that you keep your young children beside you helping.  Safety is our goal and we want to be sure people are not tripping over little ones at play while working.

Want to help package the cookies?! Come to the above address starting at 9am on December 10th. If you cannot start at 9:00 no worries! We will be working from 9 until we finish packaging all cookies which is usually until about 2pm. Any 30 minutes to a couple of hours you can serve between this time frame will be extremely helpful. Supervised children ages 8 and up (teens) are more than welcome to help sort and package cookies.   

Want to Eat Some Cookies or Purchase a Box for a Gift? Our assortment of homemade mystery cookies are always packaged (about 14-15 cookies) beautifuly with lots of love. We encourage you to purchase a few boxes and give them as gifts. Inside the boxes of cookies will be our Asha’s Refuge brochure which will tell our story and will help raise awareness about the persecuted people (refugees) we serve. We pray each box of cookies makes it into the hands and heart of someone who will pray for us as we serve and love the nations as unto Jesus. This gift often helps to put a spark in the hearts of believers who might be interested in being a part of Asha’s Refuge. More than that, the box of cookies expresses our heart of love to ALL people as many have come together to take the time to bake and give with love. You can preorder your box of cookies today to help us get a count on how many we will want to bake.  

Order Your Box of Cookies Today! Click Link:
https://docs.google.com/a/ashasrefuge.org/forms/d/1kHbP41rk8m3xRWOLVqY7voPKqXO6KDNfE3ONYguVxJc/viewform?edit_requested=true
(Copy and paste the link below into your browser if clicking on it does not work!)
Have additional questions? Email Erica at erica@ashasrefuge.org

Lil Warm Fingers and Toes clothing collections for Asha’s Refuge went really well! We received so many pairs of socks, mittens, scarves and hats and DO NOT currently need any more of these items. Thank you Highpoint Church East and Highpoint Church Collierville for your help collecting these items. Our children and parents thank you! #loveworks #loveneverfails

Every year on my birthday, today (November 30th), I am reminded of the many clients we serve that have few to no warm socks on their feet during the colder winter days.  I am especially tender hearted thinking of the elderly men and women with poor circulation and freezing cold toes, feet and ankles!!  Ask my family, I am a true whiny wimp when it comes to cold weather and my feet getting cold. Once my feet are cold it seems like forever before I can get them to warm up.  I always enjoy slipping on a cozy pair of my fluffy, fuzzy socks, grabbing my journal or a good book and sipping on warm chai tea. 

For this year, again, all I want for my birthday is warm fuzzy socks for men, women and children of all ages.  High Point Church Children have already gotten a head start on this with their Warm Fingers and Toes Drive for socks and mittens (and scarves and hats I think).  Thank you High Point Church families for your support to Asha’s Refuge helping us to love the least of the least of these friends we have from many nations!  Bring your socks to High Point Church East or Collierville campus this Sunday, Dec. 4th!  And thank you for helping us Stop our Cold Feet problem! #loveneverfails #loveworks

As you are making decisions about your end of year charitable giving, please consider giving to Asha’s Refuge as an end of year gift, and starting monthly giving to make sure we are funded to continue the work Jesus has called us to do among refugees in our community. Many of you have followed the tragic story of Mariam, a 28 year old refugee mother, who passed away, leaving her husband, four children ages 1-4, and a newborn. We greatly appreciate your response in helping Mariam’s family pay funeral expenses and emergency needs. Your generosity made a huge impact on this family in great need and we praise God for you. Because the Body of Christ came together in such a beautiful way, over 250 of Mariam’s family and friends were able to celebrate her life in a way that comforted them and brought glory to God. By serving Mariam’s immediate family you also served her friends and extended family in a way that has made a lasting impression on the whole refugee community. 

Mariam’s family has been here about 10 years and is still struggling to resettle successfully. That means they have not gained the skills they need to independently provide their family  with adequate housing, food, clothing, transportation, education, etc. Helping adults gain the skills they desperately need, such as English, basic education, job skills, and American cultural skills such as financial management, understanding bills, accessing needed services, etc., is at the heart of the mission of Asha’s Refuge. In fact, Mariam’s family is pretty typical of the clients of Asha’s Refuge because successful resettlement is not usually a quick process. We want you to know that there are many more families with the same skills needs as Mariam’s family to achieve successful resettlement. 

Won’t you help us as we provide learning opportunities for families like Mariam’s so they can achieve successful resettlement? Your year end gift or monthly donations will enable us to continue showing the love Jesus has for each of us as we teach these desperately needed skills. 

The celebration of Mariam Manirakiza’s life is today! Please pray for the family. Volunteers with a heart to help serve this family please arrive at Highland Heights Church by 8:30am. Help needed until about noon.

11/23/2016 Update:  We want to extend a huge thanks to our community for the wonderful way you have responded to the needs of Mariam’s family. As of yesterday, the funeral is paid in full and we and our partner organizations have provided an overwhelming amount of food for the community to serve to visitors to the family all week, diapers, baby formula, clothing for the children, comfort supplies for the funeral service, and rent since the father in unable to work right now. Frankly, the family is rather overwhelmed with a stockpile of diapers and children’s clothing now. 

As we believe the needs of this family have been met, and a safety net provided for the days ahead, any additional donations received by Asha’s Refuge will go into our general funds and be used to benefit other refugee families in need. Thanks so much for your continuing support of the work of Asha’s Refuge.

—-

Previous Post

Update: Only $787 left to help Mariam Manirakazi’s family completely pay for her funeral. The body of Christ has almost paid for the funeral in full, has donated lots of food, diapers, bottles, formula, paper products and even clothes. We DO NOT at this time need any more clothes. We need to collect the remaining amount of the cost of the funeral, could use Kroger cards, diapers, wipes and all brands of formula for now. If you are still planning to help this family, please do not wait to donate. Donate by pressing the donate button on our Facebook page or the donate “heart” button at bottom of our web page (www.ashasrefuge.org). The family wants you to know how thankful they are for all your help. (Pictured here is, Nadine, our High School Volunteer and close family friend of Mariam’s family. She has been helping to set up and translate all the funeral details to the family and community, help with cooking and cleaning, and also watching over the children. Newborn baby Queen is doing well today.). Each day that goes by it is sinking in more and more to Albert and his children that mom/wife is truly gone. As you eat with your family over Thanksgiving this week, please remember to pray for this family. Funeral is Nov. 26. See details in previous post.