Category: Uncategorized

Refugees are often immunized against various diseases and illnesses in their own country.  I hear that they are immunized again before entering into the United States once they have been approved as a refugee.   After they are in the US they are often immunized again!  I’m not sure how this all works out or what I am missing in my understanding of all the immunizations they must receive but for some of my refugee friends, they are tired of painful immunization shots.  Children who are about to enter into American Schools are sometimes immunized with vaccinations that are different from what they may have received overseas.  So sometimes, I guess it makes sense that they receive additional shots.

A couple of days ago, I took a family of three to receive more immunization shots.  I had to take a mother and her two small children.  I am usually seen as the fun friend that comes over to play, educate and have fun.  Once we got into the doctor’s office and the nurses were about to give the three-year old little boy his shot I began to feel sad.  I didn’t want to have to help hold this smiling little man down for his shots.  He was so happy-go-lucky and giggly with me and so was his sister.  We were all buddies.  I suddenly had an idea and it was just in time.  Just before the nurse readied herself to give the shot, I decided to get the little boy to focus on the book I was reading.  With the little girl, we focused on looking out the window for a fancy red car to pass by in the street.  The nurse gave the shots and the children hardly cried at all!  Yes, it worked!!

My trick?  Well, when I was younger I was terrified of shots too!  I remembered crawling beneath the tables and running out the door to make my parents and the nurses chase me down to give me a shot.  But, one time, I had a brilliant doctor that seemed to feel sorry for me.  He asked me to sit up and look out the window to look for a pink elephant that he saw.  I was bare bottomed but didn’t care as I kneeled up on the doctors table to peer out the window in search for a big fat pink elephant.  I never saw it.  And I never felt that shot in my backside either!  I was hoping this same tactic would work with my little refugee friends and it did!  The children received their shots and I was still the cool fun friend.

The New Year is approaching! I wonder who I will get to meet. Each new year brings new friends. It excites me. I enjoy meeting new people. I especially enjoy meeting new people from other countries. It is a learning experience for me to get to chat with others who have different cultural backgrounds and it’s interesting to me.

I would love to learn another language but I don’t feel smart enough to buckle down nor do I feel I have the time on my hands to study enough to learn one.

If I could, however, I think I should learn Arabic because it seems to be the language that is most widely used with the groups of people I work with. Then again, I have encircled myself with a lot of Somali friends. I think they would like it if I learned their language.
Perhaps I can begin to learn some of it so that I can enjoy communicating and relating to my friends a little more. (I actually know several Somali phrases.)

People always ask me how I am able to communicate with my friends from other countries when I cannot speak their language. It’s quite interesting but I manage to do it. I like to believe that their is a friendly, caring, love language that I believe the Lord gives me to help communicate whatever is needed. I have to play charades a lot, draw pictures at times and make a lot of facial expressions. I’m silly looking sometimes and I often make my friends laugh.

I encourage my friends not to give up on me if I don’t understand something they are trying to say, but to keep trying to express themselves. When our refugee friends are very new to the US they are often shy about trying to force communication. It isn’t long after they meet me that I am able to entice them into making small statements in broken English. I love it when they step out of their comfort zone and trust me or Deborah (my coworker) to work hard to try to understand them.

I must say, it’s hardest to understand my refugee friends on the telephone. Sometimes texting with them helps. Deborah has gotten good at crossing language barriers too. We try to be very patient with our friends, especially our new friends. Carefully watching their body language and listening to them is key. Secretly, I think Deborah and I enjoy the challenge.

It’s Christmas Eve and I cannot help but wonder what some of my refugee friends are doing tonight and what they will be doing tomorrow.  I’m sure they will spend time with their families as they usually do, but most of them probably will not be opening presents and celebrating Christmas.  It’s interesting to me, because my father didn’t allow my family to celebrate Christmas when I was growing up.  That’s a whole other story but it gives me a little of an understanding of what it would be like if I didn’t wake up to celebrate the birth of Jesus tomorrow morning when all the rest of the world around me was busy celebrating. 

There has been a lot of cultural learning around this holiday season for my friends.  It is interesting what some of my friends have shared about what they have heard about Christmas and other holidays that we celebrate in America.  My heart yearns to tell them more about the real reason I want to recognize and celebrate Christmas and so I do.  They seem to be okay with the idea that I love Jesus and seek to follow Him.  Many of my friends who practice Islam question so much about Jesus.  They do not deny that He was a good man and say He was a prophet.  There is much clarity that needs to come to us, but the time may not be yet.  There is much for me to learn.  And, I’m trusting that He will give me the words when the time is right.

Tonight I thank God for Jesus.  I thank Him for sending Him to save me from myself.  I know and trust that He has me right where He wants me with Asha’s Refuge.  I pray I move as He moves and not a step too early or too far behind.  Jesus, hold my friends tonight as they rest in their homes.  Show up in their dreams tonight and let them know that you love them are really right there with them.  Merry Christmas friends.

Refugees are always looking for employment. Most have very little to no education or work experience while there are still many that are educated and have some work experience. The problem is that usually their experience and education in their countries are not enough for them to be successful to immediately work here in America. There are many expectations, cultural understandings and job specific requirements that are not equal in standard. A fluency in English is also expected.

Unfortunately I have seen highly educated men end up in entry level positions here in America. I actually know of one man who was a lawyer in his country who is now washing dishes. He would have to go to an American law school and start his education in law here all over again if he wanted to be a lawyer practicing in America. It’s kind of sad, but it’s the reality.

Many refugees are shell shocked when they discover the education they thought they had will not be enough to hold a job in the career they want or have previous experience in. It is hard for me to express to my refugee friends this fact. It crushes their pride and often their spirit.

Today I had a good day and a sad day all at the same time. It was full of challenges but also blessings. One of my refugee friends got a job but it’s not what she wants to do. She feels over qualified. She probably is but it’s kind of where she is for now. My friend may or may not accept this job offer. I’ll encourage her either way. It’s her choice and I want her to feel happy with her decision.

We also found out a lot of information about college opportunities for her and future refugees. We are excited that there is a local community college who is prepared to work with our friends. The Asha’s Refuge staff is always learning new things about our community and what kinds of things are available to help our friends. The Community College information was a a really good thing to learn about.

Today we held our second Asha’s Refuge Volunteer Orientation.  Our goal is to do this quarterly so that anyone interested in serving refugees can learn about the opportunities and challenges of this ministry and hopefully answer God’s call to serve alongside us in some way.  We are frequently asked about service opportunities, and this orientation affords a great way to share that information with anyone interested.

We were delighted to have eight ladies and one gentleman join us for the morning, representing five churches in our community.  It was so encouraging to share the story of Asha’s Refuge and our refugee friends, to hear heartfelt experiences of current volunteers, and to see the compassion of prospective volunteers.  We appreciate the support of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Central Church and our own Church at Schilling Farms in encouraging volunteers, praying for us and providing for many needs of this ministry.

We are  thankful that God continues to call His workers to care for these precious refugee families and grow this ministry for His purposes.  We are constantly meeting more refugees who need a friend to walk alongside them so more volunteers are certainly needed.  If you are interested in learning more about how you can serve, please contact Jamie or me using the information on the contact page of this site.  We would love to hear from you.  Also watch this blog for dates of future orientation events.  We love to share how God is working in Asha’s Refuge.

Today’s my birthday. I know it’s actually today because I have a birth certificate that says so and parents that remember the exact date. My birth certificate says I was born at 10:38PM therefore, I won’t actually turn another year older until this evening. In America we celebrate our birthdays but I wonder if this is a cultural thing. Many of my refugee friends have no idea when their actual birthday was.

The country of Somalia keeps poor records. Most of my refugee friends received a birthdate of January 1 and a best guess year stamped on their I9 cards by some government official during the processing of their arrival to the states. This date ends up as their permanent birthdate recognized legally. It seems some of my friends actually knew their birthdate but somehow were caught up in a long line of other struggling people being processed for refugee status that also didn’t speak the English language enough to communicate the real date which they were born. I suppose there is no time to wait for an appropriate translation process for refugees to state what they do know about themselves. Maybe document officials assume the person in front of them is just like most of the other thousands that really don’t know their birthdate so they don’t even bother to ask each individual. I don’t know, it’s weird to me and it seems very disconnected from all sensitivity and care for a person.

I know one lady that received an official birthday stamp marking that she was like ten years older than she really is. She’s like in her mid to late 20s and her birthdate shows she is near 40. She doesn’t like that her birthdate is so off her true birth year. It seems that this could cause her problems life. When she is 39 her birthdate will say she’s 49. I suppose she will always look young!

When a refugee has to prove their birthday or their child’s, they often have to have an affidavit written and signed by someone who witnessed the birth or can verify that they knew the refugee during the time and around the birth. It’s quite an ordeal for them. Many of our friends poke fun at the amount of paperwork and documentation that seems unnecessary to them. They usually have a difficult time organizing and keeping track of all the paperwork that is created for them here in the states. Asha’s Refuge volunteers try and teach them some organizational skills.

I’ve never seen a refugee celebrate their birthday. They do understand that we celebrate ours. I will have to research this. Birthday celebrations may be a cultural thing.