Each February Asha’s Refuge does something we call The “Just Love” project. This project allows us to thank our volunteers and supporters for the previous years help, update them on how we did the previous year and share with them our thoughts and goals going forward. The project also allows us to collect a “Just Love” financial donation so that we can get a good start on the coming year’s initiatives. God willing, we want to one day host an annual dinner for our February Just Love Project so we can really thank our supporters correctly. To date, we have not figured out the best way to provide your meal though! 😉

Last year we had goals to grow our volunteer support, raise awareness, pin down a location with which to teach our American Life and Language Classes from, invite more nationalities of refugees to AR, structure our classes more as far as the basic educational teaching plans, understand and connect more with local agencies that can offer assistance in our areas of need, update our website and pull together some marketing material to better explain who we are and save funds for purchasing our own large van to help with transportation needs. These are just a few of our goals and I’m happy to say we have done very well at pretty much reaching these goals. We could not have done this without YOUR help and prayers! Thank you.

We have a beautiful new website with brochures done by Five 17 Design (five17design.com)! Thank you so much Keith and Chris! We trust that the website will better help us to express who we are, what we are about and what we are currently doing. We’ve got some great looking signs too that match our website graphics and will really help us when we have opportunities to visit churches, groups or businesses to share about our Asha’s Refuge mission.

Our American Life and Language Classes and client base are full with refugees from several different nationalities: Somalia, Ethiopia, Bhutan (Napal), Burundi, Tanzania, the Congo, Iraq, Sudan and more. We have yet to see anyone from Syria but have felt we may at some point. Our classes have been blessed with about 25-30 rotating volunteers that have majorly helped to bring structure and better organization. We have even had a lot of success getting the teacher and student ratio down to almost one on one at times. This is a huge help to our students both adult and preschool. (I think the preschool class could always use a couple extra hands though to help corral and encourage our energetic children.)

We are currently trying to add a second American Life and Language (ALL) Class day at our Highland Heights Baptist Church location at 675 National. Our students have requested extra educational time and need it. Highland Heights Church has thankfully and graciously welcomed us again to have this Tuesday class in their building. We plan to add the class day on Tuesdays but cannot move forward with this extra day until we have enough committed volunteer teachers and a van driver. Our Thursday class volunteers are doing well and have become a tight group. We trust that God will bring to us another closely knit large group of volunteers and volunteer coordinators for the coming Tuesday class. He always provides and it is truly sweet to watch His blessings unfold.

We are still short on the van funds but we do have a van savings account with about $500 in it. A lot of our donations are tangible items that go directly to those refugees in need. We do receive some occasional financial donations but very few are monthly commitments that we can count on in order to begin saving and budgeting for things like an entire van purchase, gas and insurance for the van. We also are always trying to save for our own land and building one day where we can truly have free reign to construct as we need but for now our land and building needs are met. Our financial donations have very much helped us directly support refugee critical needs and have assisted some with our monthly low budget but required operational expenses.

Our prayer is that as the organization grows that we are also blessed to be a part of growing God’s kingdom by helping with Christ like love towards ALL people: refugee, our multi-cultural community, volunteer or supporting friend. We have a BIG vision that includes land, basic education classes, temporary housing, gardens, job training facilities, driving education paths and much, much more. We pray we will continue connecting even better with our community going forward. We are hopeful for more opportunities to share with others about our Mission…let us know if you want us to come speak to your group so that we may get more people on board “helping us help them”.

Also, feel free to help us get a good start on our 2015 initiatives by making a Just Love donation…(click on the little red heart on our website’s main page – it’s towards the bottom beside the Facebook logo symbol or click the donate button on the left tabs) or simply mail us a check to 1035 Winchester Blvd., Suite A216, Colliervile, TN. 38017.

Thank you again for a great 2014 year and even more for helping us reach the nations for Jesus by first…Just Loving. (1 Corinthians 13:8). We look forward to the year 2015!!

We have an exciting opportunity to expand our American Life and Language classes to two days a week! This is an exciting growth opportunity for Asha’s Refuge, for our students, and for you to serve with us.

We currently meet on Thursday at Highland Heights Baptist Church. The church has been so generous with their facility, and has agreed to adding classes on Tuesdays. Refugees ask so often why we don’t have more classes, so this is a huge answer to our prayers. There are a few details to be worked out to launch Tuesday classes and we sure need your help.

The most important one is additional VOLUNTEERS. Men and women volunteers are both welcome. We need teachers/tutors for adults in three levels of English – basic. intermediate and advanced. Teaching experience is not necessary. Our 2nd big need is for 3 people who will love and teach a handful of preschoolers to prepare them for kindergarten success. We also need a couple of drivers with vans or cars to help pick up students for classes. We routinely overflow the church’s van, which is a great problem to have, and can be solved by a couple of additional vans and drivers.

We ask you to prayerfully consider how you can help. If you love Jesus, love people and speak English, you are well-qualified for this ministry. If you are available for Tuesday or Thursday mornings from 9:30-Noon, and interested in volunteering, please email Jamie@ashasrefuge.org or Deborah@ashasrefuge.org. We will provide orientation so you can be prepared for your role in this ministry. Volunteer forms and policy are located on our website for more information.

Happy New Year friends! Our aim for 2015 will continue on as it has been in the past – to first just love. I am reminded that love is what motivates positive change, it encourages, it is humble and forgiving, it is truthful, it doesn’t quickly become angry, it isn’t puffed up and prideful, it is patient, it doesn’t give up and it never ever fails. There are probably other describing words for love that I have not mentioned here. We pray that our staff and volunteers will exemplify first the love of Jesus to others. Father move us and be glorified in every good thing that is accomplished at Asha’s Refuge. Thank you for your loving us first so we can love others…ALL others.

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If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. (‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭1-7‬ MSG)

I received many Merry Christmas’s from several of the refugee clients we currently serve or have served. They all want me to let our volunteers know they appreciate each of you and want to tell you Merry Christmas and thank you.

I received one very special phone call today from a family I started working with near the same time I began working with Asha, the Asha from the heart of our organization’s name. Fadumo’s family! They have moved to a small town in Arkansas and miss Memphis but are doing well. I spoke to several of the family of 11. I learned the oldest boy is doing well at SW TN Community College and has been spotted as an awesome soccer player and has been asked to transfer to Knoxville to play for that small college with hopes of later transferring to a bigger college to play soccer for them! I’m so proud of this young man! I remember purchasing is much wanted soccer cleats and ball and getting to pass the bright yellow cleats to him just before his first practice! He was so excited. I can’t wait to see him play in college. He’s such a gentleman such as is his younger brother.

I spoke to the youngest brother for a while who expressed all his thanks and told me a lot of updates about the family. I actually got to speak to Fadumo on the phone first and it was so cool!!! We could have an English conversation on the phone!!! Yay God. It truly warmed my heart to know God let us at Asha’s Refuge have such a part in teaching her English and about our culture and the love Jesus has for all.

I also had a special treat to talk to the youngest baby of this family. Hamda! She speaks clear English now and in complete big fast sentences. She said, “I miss you Jamie. You gonna come see us?” Awe! I have got to go see this family and am hopeful to also invite all 11 to my new home to fish and run around the country land here.

On the other hand, I heard from an Iraqi gentleman who has donated, blessed and encouraged me along the way of starting Asha’s Refuge tonight. He has helped several of our refugee families and transported and translated for many in serious medical and health situations. His mother is in the hospital and not doing so well. She is on a breathing machine. I want to ask everyone to please pray for her. Pray that Jesus would make a way for her to have complete healing and this miracle will be accredited to Him alone and this family will know it was Jesus who did this healing! I am trying to find out which hospital his mother has been admitted to and will try to make a visit to personally lay my hands on her and pray over her as Jesus impresses in my spirit to do. Please please friends pray with me.

Merry Christmas from Asha’s Refuge and all our friends from around the world. Unto us a Savior was born!!!! (Photo below is a few years ago with Fadumo and one of her daughters.)

A generous donor and supporter of Asha’s Refuge gave enough frozen chickens for each of our student families to have 2 along with some personal hygiene items. This was a great way to wish our students Merry Christmas before we took our vacation break. It is so helpful right now as children eat more meals at home and stretching the family groceries can be challenging for refugee families. Thank you so much for providing meals at Christmas time, and for continuing to support Asha’s Refuge through donations and volunteering. Merry Christmas!

We are so thankful that our recent Cookie’s for a Cause Awareness/Fundraiser was a success. Yesterday about 20-25 volunteers gathered at The Church at Schilling Farms in Collierville’s lobby to help us carefully package about 2,340 home baked cookies that were kindly baked and donated by many of you! I must say that each year as the message gets out regarding this Giant Cookie Exchange, it seems more and more of our supporters understand what this is all about and how they can be involved with our efforts to reach the nations in love for Jesus Christ. Memphis is most certainly a “melting pot” for many different cultures who each represent the many countries in our nation. So many of those coming into our country DO NOT truly know the love and hope message of Jesus and we want to take charge in sharing with them who He is starting with the least of the least of these right here in our city, struggling refugees.

It is most certainly the responsibility and a choice for every person to come in relationship with Jesus but we believe it is our responsibility to at least speak up and act in love and kindness to the stranger and to the many who have never heard.

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭12-15‬ NIV)

Each cookie package will go out as a gift to tell others about Jesus’s love for them and also share about the opportunities we have to get involved with the nations for Jesus. It helps to raise awareness and funds about the least of the least of these in our city, struggling refugees and it acts to help us to “call believers” to help us help them. We help by first just loving ALL people right where they are as we believe Jesus would.

We thank each of you for helping with the Cookie’s for a Cause Project in all the ways you did. We didn’t think we had enough baked cookie’s to fulfill preorders but just like the bibles stories of God’s manna miracle, falling quail, never ending wine and fish meal…we never ran out of cookies to fulfill our need plus more cookies to fill the baskets and continue to sell for any donation or just to give away. If you have never gotten involved with packaging the cookies, next year you might want to. It’s often a really beautiful thing to witness. God always provides! All glory and thanks be to Him.

Thank you body of believers for being a vessel and giving of your time, energy and goods. You are always a pleasure to be around and so full of joy as you serve and that’s truly a testament of God in you.

Today is Giving Tuesday! Consider donating to support the needs of local refugees. Click on the DONATE tab.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_Tuesday

We are getting ready for cookie time! ‘C’ is for Cookie it’s good enough for me! I recently heard on the radio that Cookie Monster on Sesame Street was perhaps being pressed to suggest eating Carrots instead of Cookies for better health. Now how can a Cookie Monster be a Cookie Monster with no cookie’s to chomp down?! What?!

You’ve been asking! Yes, we are having our annual Giant Cookie’s for a Cause Exchange Fundraiser. This fundraiser helps us to raise awareness about local refugee needs and allows us to have operational support to continue serving those in need unto Christ. Here’s how it works: You bake dozens and dozens of one or two kinds of cookie’s and bring those to us (not packaged fancy) on Dec. 13th. When all varieties of cookie’s are exchanged we will have a fun day of sorting and packaging them while sharing a video and updates about local Asha’s Refuge refugee initiates. (Sorry, we must try not to eat the yummy cookie’s…we will try our best to provide you with plenty of healthy CARROTS to munch on instead!). We then sell these beautifully pre packaged assorted mystery yummy goodies for a suggested donation of $10 each. As we sell them we have an opportunity to share our story and the story of some of our refugee friends.

We need lots of volunteers on this day. We will need about 175 dozen cookies!! All kinds homemade cookies and brownies are very much appreciated. Please feel free to have your small groups bake together and make a fun day out of it. This is a great way for men, women and youth groups to get involved! We will need all hands involved to help sort and package the cookies on Dec. 13th any time beginning at 9am til we finish about 2pm. Please contact jamie@ashasrefuge.org, deborah@ashasrefuge.org or erica@ashasrefuge.org if you have questions about how you can become more involved! We thank you in advance for your willingness to take your precious time and spend it with us or for us. We pray a blessing upon you.

Yesterday an older gentleman friend of mine called out my full name from across the lobby of my church. I was kindly being paged. Mr. Lloyd met me in the middle of the lobby with a humble grin on his face to tell me about the excitement and joy he has had getting to know, walk along side of and teach an older refugee gentleman, Mr. Mohammad. Mr. Lloyd expressed the respect that Mr. Mohammad had for him and the admiration that Mr. Mohammad showed him and how the feeling was mutual.

Mr. Lloyd went on and on with tears in his eyes to tell me how much this experience getting to serve Mr. Mohammad one on one, serve other refugee families, and help with transportation to and from school has grown him. He, like myself, had grown a heart to tell everyone he meets about his experiences and wants to offer them opportunities to have the kind of life changing experiences through serving and loving others. He is sure this is the way Jesus had intended for it to be.

Mr. Lloyd and his wife Mary Lou both serve at Asha’s Refuge. As a matter of fact his wife began serving probably a year before he did. Mary Lou seemed a bit unsure at first because she was a former elementary teacher and she was unsure if she could teach non English speaking adults. Little did she know or realize, however, God had her better suited than she had ever imagined and for such a time as this! Mary Lou’s gifts with teaching, especially in areas of reading, foundational Kindergarten and First and Second Grade educational skills were more than enough for her to be a huge success with our adult refugee friends. I’m pretty sure she was a bit taken back at how little our adult ladies new and how much of her help they would appreciate.

Once Mr. Lloyd began driving with our other dedicated team of transportation helpers at Asha’s Refuge, he saw our need to have a bus, van or something to help pick up more students. He and his wife showed up the next Thursday Class morning, and every morning since, with a larger vehicle to transport more students. (I must say we have had another volunteer gentleman and his wife to purchase a 7/8 passenger van and drive for us as well. We are thankful for the hearts of our drivers to help get students to and from classes to the extent of helping to financially take on this burden for us. We pray it has been a blessing for you and that God pours out blessings on you and your families). Both Mary Lou and Lloyd are compassionate people and are truly servants at heart. The light of Jesus’s love is evident in their actions, their walk, their overall appearance and it’s inviting and oh so contagious!

So back to Mr. Mohammad and Mr. Lloyd for a second to end here. I can see that Mr. Mohammad has found a friend in Mr. Lloyd. Mr. Mohammad runs to Mr. Lloyd with a huge smile on his face each class day as though he were counting down the days and minutes to the moment he could sit with his teacher and friend. Mr. Mohammad respects Mr. Lloyd and links arms with him to walk as if to help him and assure Mr. Lloyd. You see, if I’m not mistaking, Mr. Mohammad is from Ethiopia. I’ll have to check back our records. I know he speaks a few languages, Arabic, some English and for sure Eritrean. In these countries (and many other poor countries) older people are often very much highly respected and esteemed in their culture. In America, sadly, we often do not take care of our older people as well as those families do in other countries. The interesting thing is that other cultures recognize that we care poorly for our grandparents and such. It’s sad. Anyhow, older people are highly respected in countries like Africa where Mr. Mohammad came from. So many people die young from birth, disease, war and famine that the people see those that live longer as very blessed by God and wise because they have lived longer. I can’t say as I disagree!

I cannot let this post end by not sharing something else. In our American culture, our men typically respect women. For the most part, men open doors for women when going into stores, they allow women to be first, men carry heavy things for women, etc. In cultures like Mr. Mohammad grew up in men do not always respect or esteem their women. Mr. Lloyd genuinely noticed a refugee woman struggling to carry something heavy perhaps up some stairs of her apartment. He nudged a younger refugee gentleman and said, “let’s go help her”. Mr. Lloyd was now being an example to this other culture and a truly neat thing was happening! (Tears fill my eyes as I type this… God is at work here.). Mr. Lloyd is being used in a very wonderful way by God! His (sorry Lloyd) a little older age is allowing him to be a leader in the refugee community to the refugee men and teach them by example! I am certain Jesus will prevail!! My prayers are strong in this area of your servanthood Mr. Lloyd and Mary Lou. You both can be a huge example and make an impact like I don’t think you would have ever dreamed to the kingdom… to Gods glory and not our own.

Dear Jesus, I want to pray for Mr. Lloyd and Mary Lou and also for the other a little older people that are serving (and younger and middle age ones too, but esp. the older today) at Asha’s Refuge. May they know that they are never too old to serve. Help their creaky backs and bones and achy stiff places to function with flexibility and energy like they were youthful and strong ready and willing to serve the least of these. Please keep the, safe and eyes wide ready with wisdom but with no pride as they share from their life of experiences. Help them to remain humble and to walk one foot in front of the other only by your Spirits lead. Please give them hope and help them to forgive themself. I thank you that you created them and you set them here for this very day to put in their life all that you have so they are ready for this day to help love and serve as they do. Please bless them full fold and give them double portions of your Holy Spirit. Thank you. Amen.

(I’ll post a picture soon.)