Serving our refugee friends today along side of 14 to 15 volunteers was such a beautiful thing today. Asha’s Refuge had a trial run for our typical English Conversation Class in what may become our new meeting location at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Germantown, TN. We have prayerfully connected to this church in hopes of finding the best ways to serve our refugee friends. We feel like the Lord has been up to something and is working for a greater plan than even we may realize. The needs are beginning to be met and creative ideas on how we may be able to meet more challenging needs are floating in the hearts of many of the volunteers. Our Fridays are sweet times with many refugee women and children who would otherwise be at home bored, sometimes afraid and lonely.

Today we had so many volunteers that we were able to have just about one on one English conversation, reading and tutoring. This was so much more personal and relational. Our preschoolers and infants had a clean, spacious and teachable learning area with hearts ready to care for and love them. A nurse friend and staff volunteer, Heather, came and taught a class on healthy habits as we approach the cold and flu season. This information was so valuable to our friends. Heather did a great job. We enjoyed a yummy sweet snack together and chatted (in broken English) in a large fellowship hall around large circle tables. We even had a big clean bus with a precious gentleman driver! The Lord thought of everything for us. We couldn’t have put this all together more beautifully ourselves. And, it was in His timing with His chosen people.

I would envision some really neat relationships happening in the days, weeks and months ahead between the volunteers and our refugee friends. The blessing of N.B. Missionary Church space allows us to be able to invite more volunteers to help us and that gives each refugee some much needed attention. Thank you church!

We are praying about how we should keep moving as we provide training and orientation for volunteers who are eager to get involved and serve in this area. We are praying about our new connection with N.B. Missionary Church and how our hearts will align under the authority of Christ. We are praying about our Thanksgiving and Christmas project where we are collecting red and green bens filled with toiletries, a Kroger gift card and other needed household items (for more information on how you can help with this click on the “refugee needs” tab at the top of our website). We are praying about God’s love message through His Son being spoken about as we work. We are praying for God’s way and not our own. We are thankful, oh, so thankful for the help and love that was in the air today. God is showing each of us, refugee or American volunteer, His love on a very personal level and reaching for us one at a time. He wants to show His love to us one by one and intimately one to one. To Him be the glory.

Sometimes the difficulties in life makes one feel like quitting. Giving
up. Throwing in the towel. Running away from things. I have realized that many people tend to quit just when things are about to get better, but because they quit they often miss out.

It seems that when life gets the hardest, when trials are the toughest, when roads seem to lead to no where, when our efforts are exhausted and we are physically, mentally and emotionally drained…we are faced with a choice. Give up the task or keep pushing forward.

In church I hear the term “give up” used two different ways. The first is TO give up as in to surrender ones own desires unto Jesus…let go and let God. The second is to NOT give up…don’t stop pressing forward and keep reaching for what God has asked of you or what He may want to show you. Which of these is appropriate? I believe it is both.

Asha’s Refuge has been a challenging organization to startup. The dynamics of working within the inner city poverty, alongside of the resettlement, other refugee agencies, underneath churches and among the ways of the world have certainly challenged and offered growth to us. There have been days when it seemed not many were interested in the direct hearts and needs of the people but entangled with trying to complete the day to day reports, requirements and tasks. At times I have felt tired of fighting and standing for what seemed obvious and right in my eyes and heart because I have felt I was too little to be able to make a difference in the bigness of the world of refugee needs. I have thought I was in over my head many times, but the Spirit of the Lord keeps telling me to “give up” my efforts in trying to box this organization into the way I think it should develop and let God lead us. At the same time, God has told me to NOT “give up”, but to keep on keeping on even when it feels dark, a bit lonely and hard.

Any time one sets out their heart to follow Jesus they can be assured that they will be tried by the enemy. Every since I have taken this leap to start an organization to help out the least of the least of these and share Jesus as I go I have been met with real difficulties. I won’t go into the details but I really believe that all around me, including within my family, Satan has been poking at me as He has tried to cause me to quit. I have weighed the thoughts of quitting, but I just CANNOT. I am compelled by the spirit, love and uplifted by His right hand to keep on keeping on. I have seen…and I can’t ignore.

Asha’s Refuge hasn’t had the building space to hold it’s English conversation classes in for a little while. It doesn’t stop us from making visits and encouraging our friends within their homes. Just as we may have felt like giving up, we haven’t. And…I believe the Lord will provide for us in our faithfulness. We will continue serving where He has called us to serve.

I believe God is showing glimpses that He is with us and will provide all that we need in His right time. We have a beautiful request from a church in the suburbs of Memphis to visit their property and consider them as a support church for our refugee initiatives with Asha’s Refuge and for space to meet on Fridays. They even have two buses AND drivers ready and willing to help transport our friends back and forth to our classes at their church. They have a place for our preschoolers to meet, play and learn. We also have commitments from another large church with volunteer ladies who are ready to serve. In addition, we have recently had real opportunities to share specifics about the Father with our friends. The Lord has a plan.

Please continue praying about how we may move forward and how you may be able to be involved. We are pressing on and giving up to our ways at the same time. Expect the unexpected.

(PS – I think this principle fits into my life too! I must give up my own ideas and ways but not give up in what the Lord has entrusted me with because it gets too hard and scary.)

A couple of weeks ago I was invited by a refugee friend to a reception celebrating the baptism of her youngest child. The beautiful fall Sunday afternoon brought crystal blue skies and gorgeous autumn leaves on the huge trees sheltering the backyard where we gathered. The reception was hosted by friends at Christ Methodist Church who love and care for this precious refugee family. Their love was evident through the hospitality, good food, happy conversation and prayers. Adults visited and ate while the children rushed through their food to spend time on the trampoline and playset. There was beautiful music provided by African drummers, and several of the girls and women who sang African hymns together. I had opportunities to visit with my friend and most of her sweet children, and to meet many of her other friends.  Under that crystal blue fall sky, Christian brothers and sisters bridged cultures and languages to celebrate God’s gift of a child. Our time together concluded with heartfelt prayers. First one of the men prayed in English asking God’s continued blessing on the child and his family. Then the child’s father prayed in Kurundi, the language of Burundi, thanking God for all His blessings to his family in their new country and for all the friends who love and encourage them and rejoice with them. It was a beautiful experience. So if you are ever invited to a Burundi baptismal celebration, by all means GO! You wouldn’t want to miss it.

Asha’s Refuge is prayerfully looking for building space to meet in.  We are in need of space within the Binghampton community to serve about 20-30 refugee ladies during our English Conversation and Crafts Classes.  We are hopeful that this space will also have 2-3 smaller rooms off to the side  where we could break the large group into smaller groups for additional learning opportunities and conversation.  We will also need space that would allow for us to provide a Kindergarten Readiness program to about 10-15 preschoolers (and occasionally care for 2-3 infants) whose mothers are in our conversation classes.  Three small areas of office space would also be important for us to have.  A small kitchen area would be a great bonus.

We are currently meeting in the  homes of our refugee friends but are outgrowing the apartment spaces we are in.  In addition, the homes do not offer the best set up for working with our preschoolers.  We would appreciate any leads on building space and prayer from our supporters.  For we know that the plans that the Lord has for us are for good, we believe He will complete what He has started  and we trust that He will provide in due time.

Yesterday was my first day back visiting with my refugee friends after my trip to Indonesia. I was so ready to see them. It was sweet to get to see Asha (it’s okay, I’ll use her name) and all the other ladies. Seeing them reassures my heart that I should be doing exactly what I am doing. With the heart of my trip in mind, it simply sets me even more on fire to press forward with showing and sharing the love of Christ to so many of my refugee friends who do not know what they are missing by not knowing Him. If I can travel the three long days to get to Indonesia to share my heart for Jesus to others there then I can certainly and will certainly do it right here in my city to those people who have traveled here from far away countries-especially those who have traveled here who do not know Him! I am free to lovingly do it boldly. This excites me! God have your way in me.

We baked my families favorite chocolate chip cookies with Asha, Jenna Rose, Anna Lisa and Deborah. Deborah and I decided to try and teach our friends how to make an American style cookie. We had measuring spoons and such and were explaining how to use those. The way they awkwardly used them I began to wonder if they really ever measured anything when cooking in their culture.

It was interesting to see their faces when we added sugar! Asha let Deborah and I taste a Somalian cake she recently made. We wondered if it had any sugar in it at all. She said it did…just a couple of teaspoons as opposed to our cup of granulated sugar and 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Before my trip to Indonesia I would have claimed that America used a lot more sugar in their recipes than all the other countries but I think Indonesians top Americans with the sugars in their drinks. My teas and coffees always had 1/2 of a mug full of thick sweetened condensed milk, 1/4 cup of coffee grounds or tea and then 1/4 cup of water. The mixture was a thick consistency sort of like syrup. I never could stomach a whole cup.

Our chocolate chip cookies ended up baking well and tasting even better. It seemed like the ladies were very excited about learning to make these cookies for their families. I think their children have been exposed to cookies like this at their schools and have been begging their moms to learn to make them at home. I know that Asha’s girls always want Asha to learn to make American pizza as well.

The cooking time yesterday provided a lot of good conversation time. Two of our friends sang. We also enjoyed tea prepared by Asha’s brother and met two of his friends. While we were all chatting, I couldn’t help but wish that Asha’s Refuge could encourage more Christian men to get involved with the refugee men. These men are so sweet and could use some good American friends to mentor and encourage them
as they try to resettle here. I am very prayerful that this could happen in the future. I am thankful for my time with my friends Friday and look forward to visiting with them more. I enjoyed our conversations Friday that danced around interesting cultural topics and even more on prayer. God is so good how He works. He gives me the words at just the right times. I look forward to what He may be up to in the future with Asha’s Refuge. I’m willing to wait until He moves. I’m willing to go as He goes. I’m ready.

I’m back from Borneo, Indonesia.  I’ve got a whole new set of experiences and all new prospectives.  After journeying through the tough life styles of the village people in the jungles off of the Kapuas River, I look forward to working with my refugee friends with my renewed heart, eyes and spirit.  I thank God for yet another sweet vacation time with Him and how it will add to my story.  I hope to bring Him glory as I press forward in my life; it will require great perseverance and a steadfast heart for Jesus to continue my work with Memphis area refugees.  I could so easily see myself not wanting to jump back in to the difficulties of helping to resettle disadvantaged refugees in the Memphis area, but my heart and spirit tells me my work here is not finished yet.

I’m thankful for the leadership of Asha’s Refuge, my dear friends, who have kept our organization a float in my absence.  I hear there are some new challenges and some exciting things that may have happened.  As for me, I choose not to get sucked into the chaos and to stretch myself even more towards the peace and reassurance that Jesus offers me.  I’ll prayerfully continue to lead with Him always in my sight.  I’m rested.  I’m eager.  I’m renewed at least some, I think (we will see for sure after a few more days).  I’m thankful.  I’m full of joy and excitement for the future which promises to be good.  I’m happy to be home with my children, my husband, my family and friends and know that I am truly blessed.

A large refugee family recently moved into a new apartment.  The management of her new apartment complex makes monthly drop-ins to inspect the apartment homes for cleanliness, organization, drugs, pets and to do pest control.  It has been said by existing tenants that if the manager catches their apartment in unsatisfactory condition then she will ask them to immediately vacate the apartment.  The apartments are generally occupied by tenants who have little money, but to the management of this property, that is no excuse for uncleanliness, bugs or drugs.

The mother of this large refugee family is worried about keeping her apartment up to the clean standard that is expected of her.  She has a four bedroom apartment (which is nice and big compared to the apartment they just came out of) and 9 children.  The amount of clothing that she has to keep organized into closets is a little overwhelming for her.  Right now, the few closets that she has are stuffed with donated clothing that she needs to sort through to see if any of it even fits or would be worn by her children.  So many times people will donate clothes to a family (literally they will drop them off to the family in bags) and not seem to care if the clothes will fit or be something a person in the family will wear.  I once watched as a family received a large bag of old bikini swimwear.  There must have been 60 swimsuits in that bag.  Needless to say, my Muslim friends take very seriously covering their skin and they would not have any use for these skimpy bathing suits.

The problem is that my friends want to please the Americans who stop by to drop off donations.  When families are new, sometimes there are many groups of American people who will want to come by to visit them and then bring donations.  My friends always receive the donations with smiles and open arms, take pictures with the donors, offer them a seat, drink and a snack (as their culture of great hospitality requires) and then stuff the large bags in their closets (if they have room).  Asha’s Refuge is trying to work harder with donors to encourage them to look through their donations and seriously consider if the items are items that our refugees will use.  We are also working with our refugee friends to let them know that it is okay and still considered polite if they speak up and tell donors, “No Thank You”.  As hard as we try to teach them that it’s okay to say no, they hate to disappoint Americans.  In fact, they often try to hang on to the donations so that they aren’t caught throwing them in the garbage.  The homes of my friends can quickly get cluttered with stuff and they don’t like it or have the space to lose.

Asha’s Refuge will continue to work with donors and refugees to help them communicate better with one another about their needs.  We try to request specific items that are needed for reasons described in this post.  Check our list of needs on the menu bar at the top of your computer screen labeled “Refugee Needs”.  Many of the needs are ongoing, such as toiletries and kitchen items.  We are so grateful for all of our donations but may sometimes need to say, “No Thank You”.

Toiletries are not something that our refugee friends can purchase with their food stamp money allowance.  It seems that many of my friends never have soap or toilet paper in their bathrooms.  Many of them are not familiar with things like toilet paper and the need for hand soap for the continual washing of their hands.  They are often unsure what to do with other toiletries such as toothpaste or deodorant.

As a matter of fact, I recently was in a conversation with Nala (a refugee from Somalia who has been in our country for several years now), who informed me that there were many refugees still scrubbing their teeth with sticks.  This explains why I’ve seen new refugees walking around with sticks in their mouths!  Apparently, this is a practice commonly done in areas of Africa where toothbrushes and toothpaste were not available.  Nala said that if you break a stick in half, then rub the frayed end on your teeth that it would help to keep your teeth white, free from plaque and your breath to stay fresh.

I proceeded to inquire with Nala, “What type of stick should be used?”

She laughed and said, “Any stick will do”.

I wondered if the reason why so many of my African friends seem to have clean white beautiful teeth was because they stick brush their teeth!  If this is true, then I may need to begin this as well.  I’ll have to research this method of cleaning my teeth in addition to brushing with toothpaste and a toothbrush.

Asha’s Refuge will continue to work with our friends to teach them good hygiene habits such as brushing their teeth with toothpaste and a brush, washing their hands, using deodorant and using toilet paper.  We will need to help provide them with the necessary toiletries they will need to keep up with these habits while they are still looking for permanent jobs.  If you can help, please let us know.