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While a huge goal at Asha’s Refuge is sharing the love of Christ with those who have never heard, we also have an awesome opportunity to love believers who have been persecuted for their faith. We serve dear Christian families from Nepal, Rwanda, Congo, and Burundi who have endured hardship and danger for the sake of Jesus. They have found refuge here in our community and it is our privilege to love, serve and encourage them. If you can spend Thursday mornings with Asha’s Refuge, God can use you in simple yet powerful ways. Please pray and let us hear from you.

Today we have a guest writer, my husband, Gary. Here’s what he has to say about using driving to serve others in a special way.

 Some of the volunteer drivers who help pick up students for the American Life and Language classes offered by Asha’s Refuge. The men, women and children have been rescued from Somalia, Bhutan, Burundi, the Congo, Ethiopia, Nepal, Rwanda, Eritrea, Kenya, and other war torn parts of the globe and legally brought to the United States. Every Thursday morning, between 9:30 and 11:30, they are lovingly taught and coached in life skills by volunteers from eight or more local churches in space provided by Highland Heights Baptist Church. While a Church van is pictured, most volunteer drivers provide their own vehicles and make multiple trips to three locations to gather the students. When you do the math, more drivers would mean less trips, more locations and students, and more study time. Total Cost per driver: Four hours once a week (less than two hours actually driving time). For any of my friends in the Memphis area who feel the call to serve, this is a most special opportunity and Blessing. The Nations are here. 

  
  Here’s my fabulous husband sporting his new Asha’s Refuge shirt. While looking pretty cool, he can share the Love message of Jesus, increase awareness of the needs of refugees, and support Asha’s Refuge. That’s a great deal for $20 and the shirts are very nice. If you’d like your own “Love Never Fails” shirt, please drop us a comment here or send a message to Jamie or Deborah @ashasrefuge.org. If you need your shirts mailed, please include $5 for postage. Send checks to Asha’s Refuge, 1035 Winchester, Ste.A216, Collierville TN 38017. We appreciate your support. 

Just like schools have several bus routes to pick up students in different neighborhoods, Asha’s Refuge has students in four locations that we need to pick up every Thursday for classes. To get everyone to class on time, we only have a 30 minute window, so we need several drivers to supplement the Church bus from Highland Heights Baptist Church. While we wait expectantly for God to provide a van for some of our needs, we sure could use three or four more drivers with vehicles that can hold 5-8 passengers to help us get everyone to classes. Our numbers are growing and it breaks our hearts to turn anyone away. Right now we have to say no to a whole apartment complex because we don’t have enough transportation to pick up at a 4th location. Please step out if God is calling you to help in this important way. We’d love to hear from you. Training will be provided on the routes and an experienced volunteer will assist til new drivers are comfortable with both the route and passengers. If you have questions, we’d love to connect you with a couple of our experienced drivers who can share how God uses them as drivers and how they have been blessed by this opportunity.  

We need a 15 passenger Minibus! We have been borrowing a van and a kind driver from a very generous church (Highland Heights Baptist). While we are certainly appreciative, this van is not set up for what we really need.
   

 The church van has bench style seating which makes it difficult for us to climb over and lock in our preschoolers into their booster seats. It also does not work for our clients that have special needs or are elderly. This is exactly the group of people that we serve! 

We have researched the type of Minibus that we feel is most suitable for what we need and does not require a commercial license. Phase 1 of our Place of Hope Fundraiser is for us to raise the $35,000 for this Minibus. This amount will help us cover the cost of a used vehicle, title and licensing and the increased insurance amount. 
We will post pictures of the type Minibus we are looking for. Having this vehicle will help us to transport our refugee clients to and from American Life and Language Classes, transport groups to various places for job skills training and will assist us in helping families get to their doctor appointments.
With a new Minibus, we will also be looking for Volunteer Drivers. Our drivers need to be flexible with their time, like minded with our Asha’s Refuge vision and of course have a good driving record. 
PLEASE HELP US RAISE THE FUNDS WE NEED FOR THE MINIBUS. THANKS!

Tomorrow will be a joyful and exciting day for volunteers and students alike as we restart our weekly classes at Asha’s Refuge. The hallways and classrooms will be filled with hugs and laughter that demonstrate how much we love each other. We ask for your prayers as we prepare and live out this ministry. Here are some ways you can pray for us, particularly tomorrow, a special day.

•That the Holy Spirit will cover the whole morning with His peace and love; and fill us to overflowing so His Love for each person is evident in every way. 

•That all volunteers and students will be protected during travel to, from and during class;

•That the learning that is needed takes place; 

•That new students easily transition into class and feel safe and cared for there;

•That there are adequate transportation and volunteers for the unknown number of students who come. 

We are so thankful for all your support, and your prayers are the most important blessing you can give us. 

Now that all the donated backpacks are distributed so the kids are all set for school to start next Monday, it’s time to get the adults and preschoolers back to school as well. We heard from so many of them how ready they are to get back to their own learning. Tomorrow at 9:30 our wonderful volunteer staff will meet at HHBC to get everything ready for our fall launch of American Life and Language classes on August 13. 

HHBC has generously provided some expansion space so we are moving our adult classes into new rooms that are more spacious to better accommodate our growth. Teachers will be working tomorrow to organize, plan and prepare to welcome students next Thursday, August 13. 

Our team members are so excited to see all our students again, and also to see each other after our summer break. There’s still time to be a part of this wonderful ministry. If you are interested in joining us in serving refugees with the love of Jesus, please drop us a comment here. We’d love to talk to you about how you can help. 

It’s tomorrow!!! All those backpacks and school supplies you all have donated will get sorted and stuffed into a backpack then delivered to some excited children who are waiting for them and for school to start! It’s neat how appreciative they are to have an opportunity now to be educated. And it’s even more neat to me how we get an opportunity to love on them and tell them about Jesus! Come to church with us at 10:15 at 1035 Winchester, Collierville, TN at The Church at Schilling Farms, grab a quick sandwich and then help us with the backpacks back at the church at 12:30!! (((Please)))

We are in our final week of collecting backpacks and school supplies for the refugee children we serve. Thank you to The Church at Schilling Farms plus TCSF VBS Children, Collierville Bible Church, The Calibration Project and many others who have helped us fulfill this need. We will sort the supplies and deliver Sunday, August 2 starting at 12:30. Come to 1035 Wichester Blvd. (TCSF) if you want to volunteer that day to help.  

$20 bucks buys you a Cool T-shirt which will also help to spread the love message of Jesus AND help raise awareness and funds for our Asha’s Refuge future Place of Hope! Check it out!! Let us know what size you want by: contacting us here through our contact page, emailing jamie@ashasrefuge.org, deborah@ashasrefuge.org, erica@ashasrefuge.org, texting Jamie at 901-292-3101! Send your Tshirt money to: Asha’s Refuge, 1035 Winchester Blvd., Suite A216, Collierville, TN 38017.