Merry Christmas friends! Unto us a child is born, we shall not be afraid but live our lives going freely into all the world to tell of what we have seen and experienced. How wonderful is the name of Jesus whom we can fully trust!

Baby Jesus came to all the world to show love to not one of us but to ALL of us regardless of skin color, gender, nationality, family origin, social status, political status, wealth, educational giftedness, physical health or religious belief system. Jesus himself said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18 & 19) He is one for ALL.

What a blessing we have through Asha’s Refuge to be able to connect with other people who are not just like us. What a blessing we have to help restore sight to those who have not seen or heard of Him. What a blessing we have that we can be a part of helping to free and give hope to those with little hope. The story of baby Jesus is of great, unfailing, never ending and all forgiving love. He is the good news!

Many blessings of love today to you my friends. And, Merry Christmas to ALL.

A refugee family from Uganda got an unexpected blessing with a visit from an American family with a heart to give. Thank you sweet family for offering your time today to meet with me to get to know better and encourage a family in need. Thank you for sharing some blessings that God has given you by taking a family shopping for some items they were much in need of. God continues to surprise me with the ways He chooses to show love and provide for people.

The Ugandan family of four I visited again today has now been in America for about 3 weeks. There are two adorable and fun boys, one age 3 and one only 10 months. Their home had accumulated a few necessities but they certainly needed a few additional things. The families refrigerator and pantry was pretty bare. I saw a few packs of spaghetti noodles, two frozen chickens, rice, a sack of potatoes, some apples, oranges and milk. There were some other groceries in the refrigerator but mostly it was bare. This family had received a stock pot with a few foods from a previous delivery from Asha’s Refuge and probably some initial food items from the resettlement agency. The dish soap bottle on the kitchen sink was empty. The living room was mostly empty except for an old tv, a couple of very broken wooden kitchen table chairs and a couch that was severely old and torn. The bedrooms did have beds with at least one blanket on each bed. There was not really any other furniture in the house that I can recall. The closets had a few clothes in them but there were little to no warm clothes and no warm coats. The three year old boy had on shoes with no shoestrings and no socks and his shoes kept falling off. He didn’t have a coat either but somehow he had a little black dress suit jacket and looked pretty sharp prancing around in it as we all headed for the car.

The moms one request was a toilet brush to help clean her toilets which she requested to me through a little game of Charades. The father wanted an antenna for his TV. The children had almost no toys at all and kept trying to run out the door which immediately leads to the parking lot. (An exercise toy saucer was donated previously for the 10 month old which he enjoys. That’s about the only toy that was in the house.)

After introducing this sweet refugee family to my American friends (another father and mother but with two little girls) they were all eager to hop into the car and go shopping together. The little American girls were wide eyed as they watched their mom and dad lovingly invite new people into their life. They excitedly jumped and giggled as they tried to help their parents with the little boys. I helped to buckle up the children in car seats and watched as they all cheerfully drove out of the apartment complex. How wonderful God is to have shaped a family with a very big heart compelled to spend their Christmas holiday time taking a family in need shopping! How wonderful it was for me to get to be a part of making this connection.

I’m not sure but I’m willing to bet that this young American family gave up some of their own Christmas gifts to share with a family they felt was in more need than they. I pray a very special blessing tonight for both families that God would continue to protect and grow them both closer to Himself and that through their experience tonight they would each come to know Him all the more. May His good and perfect will be done.

I’m exhausted. It’s a good kind of exhaustion though. Today I was able to bless many refugee families because of the love shown through supporters like you. I delivered the remainder of the stock pots filled with vegetables, rice and potatoes to a few new refugee families. I also delivered more warm fuzzy socks. And…I had extra sweet deliveries to make today…teddy bears and blankets donated by the first grade classes at Central Church Day School of Collierville, TN.

When I think about the tragic and unspeakable happenings of the children, teachers and staff at the school in Newtown, CT I weep. It reminds me again that I want nothing else in my life more than to share the love of Jesus with those who are alive now who may not truly know of His love. The donations over the holiday season and the Cookies for a Cause Awareness Fundraiser have truly helped the volunteers and staff at Asha’s Refuge to make a continued impact of love and kindness towards vulnerable refugees in our city. Who am I to get the blessing of passing over your gifts of love?! What a humbling experience this has been for me to be able to tell each person in need that the Lord has lovingly provided through others for their very need and because of Him we can freely give.

Teddy bear after teddy bear today, the faces of refugee children lit up as they snuggled and squeezed their new friend. Each refugee child I met today was truly comforted by a Teddy Bear gift that was given to them because of another child or families heart to give. A child giving to a child. This is the sweetest concept to me and something we adults could learn from. Children are so giving if we let them and encourage them to think of ways to do so. We cannot thank you enough Central Day School First Grade Classes, Mrs. Daws and Mrs. Stone!

Please know that Asha’s Refuge and our refugee friends thank you ALL for your kind and generous donations and help with our Cookie Awareness Fundraiser (we raised about $750 by the way). Your help has allowed us to connect to and help more refugee families which means we still very much and even more now need that van. We are thankful for your financial and prayer support and trust that the Lord will continue to provide as He sees fit.

With permission from these two families I’ll share a couple of pictures I captured today:

Good morning Asha’s Refuge Cookies for a Cause Volunteers, Bakers and Consumers. Here are some important reminders:

Swap Volunteers: You are encouraged to come help by 8:45 but we appreciate your help anytime during the day as needed. We aren’t sure what to expect today so thank you for your flexibility. Dress in casual Christmas attire and comfy shoes if you’d like! We will provide a sandwich lunch. After clean up we hope to be finished by 4:30 today.

Bakers: Don’t forget your recipe!! Email it to me or drop it off with your cookies. One copy is all we need! (Jamie@ashasrefuge.org)

Drop off Cookies: 9am to 11am today at The Church at Schilling Farms, 1035 Winchester in Collierville.

Pick Up Cookie Preorders: Anytime after 12:30 to about 4 today! Same place as drop off.

New Orders: Thank you! WE NEED YOUR ORDERS!! Purchase a Dozen+ Gift Wrapped Assorted Homemade Mystery Cookies & Pick Them Up- Anytime today from 2-4. (Suggested Donation is $10 per container.)

Tomorrow Dec., 16 from 12-2 you may purchase any gift wrapped cookies we didn’t sell today or pick up your preorders if you haven’t already.

Notice!!! Cookies are NOT peanut, gluten or other food allergy free!! Do not consume if you have any food allergies.

Our Cookies for a Cause Awareness Fundraiser is coming to a head this Saturday. I am looking forward to watching God move as an expected 1,000 cookies make their way into the doors of my church. These cookies are being prepared by loving hearts willing to give their time, resources and energy to support refugees through Asha’s Refuge. We want to thank our talented and humble bakers!

Here is some important info you may want to know:

Okay cookie bakers…Saturday Dec. 15th morning is almost here! Please remember to bring your homemade goodies from 9-11am at The Church at ScFhilling Farms at 1035 Winchester Road, Colllierville, TN. Don’t worry about the packaging…we will do that part when we swap the cookies and prepare an assortment to be gift wrapped.

If you have preorders, you may pick them up from about 1:30-4pm the same day (December 15th) and place. You may also pick them up Sunday, December 16 from 12 to 1:30pm.

If you want to purchase a gift box of cookies to support our cause, it’s not too late! Each box is a suggested donation of $10.

Today I delivered more stock pots to refugee families in need. It was exciting to get to revisit some of the Bhutanese/Napalise families I use to get to work more with when I volunteered at the resettlement agency. Unfortunately, many of the Asian families I served by tutoring English are not able to participate in the Asha’s Refuge ALL classes (American Life and Language) or work with us too much. It’s not really that they are not able to it is that our buses fill up with African Refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Burundi, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon and the Asian refugees just seem to think our program is not something offered to them. Another words, they think we serve the African refugees and are not designed to help them. That makes me sad. Because we don’t have a great system to pick up the Asian refugee families for classes nor enough time in our days to volunteer hours to go to additional doctor appointments, grocery stores, offer job skills and American life understanding…this group feels left out.

I know there are a few churches in the area of Memphis where the Bhutanese families are getting some assistance but I am curious how many are feeling afraid and unsure. I’ve met more and more Iraqi refugees who need assistance as well. I pray that the future of Asha’s Refuge is so great that God willing it will be able to impact so many with a hopeful knowledge of Jesus. This requires continued funding, land, a building, partnerships with those organizations who are like minded, cooperation with the resettlement agencies, collaboration and prayer from churches willing to come together, training, volunteers and so much more. I am biting off way more than I can chew! If I look at the task before me I can easily want to give up, but because I pray to be moved out of the way I can trust that God will make a way. He’s a big God and does big things! I am certain He has a plan I couldn’t even begin to imagine. Please pray with me for the future of the Nations and how Asha’s Refuge may be just a little part in Gods big plan.

Today’s my birthday. I know, I know…I’m sort of putting it out there. But I want to strangely ask for something for my birthday…bunches of FUZZY WARM SOCKS that I can give my refugee friends. This week and last week I saw so many (women especially) with cold little warn feet. I stopped by a store to pick up a few pairs myself and found that warm fuzzy socks were about $3-4 a pair. It’d cost me about $600 to get all those socks myself but if we work together in love I pray God will help us provide these. I need piles and piles of them for the refugee families we serve. Both men (do they make fuzzy socks for men) and women and girls and boys! If you are able to pick up some socks to help out, thank you and that would be a blessing to me and our friends. I especially am saddened when I see older women with cold feet. You may deliver them to my door if you want, email me for address: jamie@ashasrefuge.org. I cannot thank you enough…I apologize for asking so boldly…I pray you understand my heart.

Yesterday I visited an Iraqi refugee lady in her mid 60s. I was thankful to have had a cooking pot filled with some foods I thought she’d enjoy to hand her. My gift was really a gift from someone in my church body…it was a sweet gift from God. For privacy and safety reasons, let’s call my friend Hadiyah (an Iraqi name that means guide to righteous, calm).

Hadiyah was not at all calm when I met her. She was frazzled, frustrated, angry, hurt and fearful. A while back my friend that was a dentist was able to do some much needed free dental work for Hadiyah. It’s been a little while since I have had time to visit with Hadiyah but I’m glad I made the time yesterday. When I arrived she quickly pulled out the tray of sweet foods she had prepared for me. Two pieces of Baklava, several chocolate chip cookies, a large piece of chocolate cake and an orange Fanta to drink. I am always overwhelmed with the hospitality of the women I meet. I’m learning from them a generous and loving habit that I’d like to adopt.

I nibbled on the chocolate chip cookies and Hadiyah calmly began to share with me more of her story. Her son received honorary awards from the US government and military for his informational assistance in helping us find Suddam Hussein. He and his mother had a lot of fancy property and riches in Iraq and because of their vocal acknowledgments of disapproval for the oppressive and evil government ways, they were targeted by the terrorist to kill. Her son ran from the government and was protected by our US military. Hadiyah was then targeted and was put in prison for several years (I forgot how many) awaiting the day she would be hung. While she was in prison she helped many people. “So many were wrongly accused” she explained. From what I understand, her son wrote a letter of desperation to the US President and other officials to ask for help getting his mother out of prison and it worked. Hadiyah was thrown out of prison and onto the streets of Iraq with nothing but the clothes on her back. She was too fearful to go back to her home or any of her businesses because of terrorist. She lived on the streets for some time and picked and ate out of the garbage cans she said. She lost all her dignity there.
Despite her riches, she was now poor. In an instant everything she had, including her son was gone. (She lost her husband while three months pregnant. He passed away unexpectedly.)

After some time her son was able to get the US to help bring his mother into America as a refugee under a protection agreement. Hadiyah came to America like all other refugees do. With nothing but a small bag or suitcase. When she got here, there was not really a workable or helpful plan for her. After a few months of assistance, she was back on the streets only this time in America. The very country she and her son had nearly lost their lives for to protect was now, in her view and in her words, “putting her on the street to die”. My heart is broken for Hadiyah. Maybe I don’t understand her story. Maybe I have misunderstood something. Surely this isn’t happening to this poor woman.

Hadiyah showed me copies of the US award letters to her son. She expressed her thanks for the little laundry store across the street that she was able to work at after begging the owner. Her little job helps her to pay her rent and she has become a favorite to many of the customers she does laundry for. She showed me all the things in her apartment that she had collected and cleaned up from right out of the trash here in America. She’s familiar with having to pull things together from the trash or curbside to make a place for her to call home. She gave me a huge smile when she toured me around her apartment. She was proud of all the colorful plastic flowers, broken but slightly repaired furniture, used kitchen dishes and pinned up material she found for curtains. She exclaimed, “And it was all free Jamie!” Hadiyah sees that God is taking care of her. She credits Him for what she has been given and what she has not been given with sweet praises and sincere thanks.

Hadiyah has been taking in stray kittens. She cannot help herself. I think they remind her of herself on the street. She doesn’t want to keep them all but she is compelled to care for them. She wants to give them away to good homes. If anyone reading wants one, it would mean a lot to her if she knew they went to a good home.

Hadiyah struggles to pay for the medicines she needs. She has high blood pressure and she’s a diabetic and must have the glucose needles and shots. For whatever reason, Medicaid has refused to help her. Asha’s refuge will research her healthcare benefits and hopes to be able to help her soon with that, but in the mean time, Hadiyah needs some financial assistance to help pay for her medicines. She isn’t one to ask for help but she’s the woman in her apartment complex that opens her door wide for the stranger in need.

Seriously, it was cold out but she kept her door open because she knows of several (a few are new refugees) who are afraid and in needy situations. She welcomes and helps them as she can with no expectations or questions. She told me a story of one refugee man who stood crying at her door afraid and embarrassed to ask her for help. He now comes over like a son to her and they help one another.

Hadiyah taught me something today: When a person is in need, ask them what they want and then if you have it give it to them with no questions asked. Don’t embarrass the person by asking why the person needs what they need or how they became in such need. If they want to open their heart and tell their story then let them. Just give freely with no questions asked. I think she’s learned this from experience. But her story reminds me of Jesus. He often asked those He served, “What do you want?” He didn’t bring to them the stuff He thought they should have (even though He would have perfectly known their need and knew their need was Himself), He waited for them to ask for or tell them what they needed.

I partnered with Hadiyah today to help her help the refugee people in need that she knew in her apartment. Most of them are Iraqi and a few are from Africa. Asha’s Refuge has a heart to help all refugee people but particularly those refugees who are at a greater disadvantage and need than most. This would include refugees who are elderly, single women/moms, large families, preschoolers, uneducated and/or disabled.

As I prepared to leave Hadiyah, she wanted to wrap up all the sweets I had not eaten and give them to me to take home. I expressed my thank you’s and how I do love chocolate cake. She then insisted I take home the entire cake she had in her refrigerator. I felt terrible taking all her cake, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. She also gave me a large bag of bubblegum for my kids. (Yes, she knows I have three kids because I shared some of my story with her too.) We hugged, encouraged one another and we accepted Gods will for one another to be well. As usual, I was the one blessed today.

We have delivered about 22 of these Veggie Meals in a Pot to Memphis Area Refugee Families in Need. We are excited; its the first week of our Thanksgiving/Christmas Project and we have already reached about half our goal. Thank you church families and friends for all your help. We look forward to the coming weeks as God continues to provide. Thank you for your generous gifts and selfless kind acts. It is heartwarming and encouraging to see how the body of Christ can come together to show love. Sweet times…

It’s neat to see American families get involved with Asha’s Refuge and want to welcome and offer help to families in need. The Rodell family of Collierville, TN is one family that has given much of their time, heart and energy towards encouraging us and offering additional help to the refugee families we serve. The Rodell’s have encouraged their church small group to get involved with helping refugees through Asha’s Refuge and even lead them to collect toys for a large refugee family with several children who had little to no toys to play with. Their family of four (mom, dad and two young girls) visited a new refugee family with me Saturday. It was so sweet to see just how brave they were to bring their entire family into an area of Memphis where so many suburban people might typically cringe at even a thought of driving by. Thank you Rodell Family for stepping out and helping us!

The new refugee family and other refugees we visited were warm and hospitable as they always are. I think they enjoyed receiving their special visit from the Rodell family as it probably comforted them to know that American’s value family too.

The new refugee family lived in an apartment that was still fairly empty. They did, however, have some used furniture already donated that seemed nice to me. I was thankful that the Rodell’s brought a large box filled with toiletries, detergent, towels and kitchen supplies. These items were really appreciated and needed by the new family. There were a set of dishes of exactly three. Three plates, three bowls, etc. The Rodell’s didn’t know ahead of time how many people were in the family they were going to meet. But, somehow God did!

The two teenagers were given backpacks filled with school supplies from Asha’s Refuge. Thank you to our supporters for helping us to be able to purchase those items and get them to these students so that they can jump right into their new school and have what they need for learning.

It’s good for us to have one or two toiletry boxes on hand as we need them for new families or for families who are struggling to keep toiletries and soaps on hand. Food stamps do not buy those items. It’s also good for us to have a few backpacks filled with supplies, liquid laundry detergent and some welcome baskets on hand. If you are interested in helping us provide these items, please look at our needs or volunteer page to find our more information. You may also contact me at jamie@ashasrefuge.org.

You know what is sweet?! The Rodell’s and their small group have now personally been invited to a thank you dinner hosted by the refugee family they helped. This will be a very special treat and one that will be truly humbling for the Rodell’s. I know…God is up to something sweet. It’s amazing how much you receive back when your hearts action was giving the way Jesus intended for it to.