I’m pretty excited to finally share this!
One of the most popular arguments that I received about why I should not go to Sudan was that there are plenty of opportunities to minster to people right here in the United States. Though that was merely my family speaking out of fear about me going so far away, and it obviously did not stop me from following God to Sudan, they were absolutely right. There are millions of people right here in our nation who need God’s love and someone to advocate for them.
If you remember, our involvement with our church’s homeless ministry kind of kicked off this whole “I need to serve Christ in a really BIG way” thing. The needs of the homeless still resonate with me in a big way, because of the experiences that I have had with them; fortunately for the homeless (unfortunately for us), the ministry is really popular and so we do not get to go out as often as we would like, though we still like to go whenever there is a spot open!
This past spring, we started praying again about ways that God can use us here at home in a much more frequent and personal way. Not coincidentally, at the time I was still devouring any and all books I could lay my hands on about Sudan, the Southern Sudanese, and the “lost boys” because I was preparing to go serve them. I wanted to know as much as possible about their culture, their country, and their experiences as refugees and internally displaced people before I headed over there. God really began to lay it on my heart to minister to incoming refugees. All of the books that I had read up to that point featured “lost boys” who had been resettled in the United States, and while it would seem that coming here would be an end to their fears and struggles, for most of them it was merely the beginning of a new set of struggles. Living here is really, really hard if all you have ever known are refugee camps, war, mud huts, and food rations. Because refugees are usually not permitted to work in their host countries, they have no or very few skills which make them job-ready; they have never paid electric, water, and gas bills; and they have lived in what we would consider deplorable, overcrowded conditions for years with little health care or education.
So, I made contact with a local refugee organization, Exodus Refugee Immigration, and began inquiring about their various volunteer positions. God’s timing would actually have me wait until after my trip to begin volunteering, but what a blessing that was because of how much I saw and experienced overseas! Anyway, I went to orientation in August and then began helping out with an Iraqi family last month and this month…which was ah-maz-ing…but left me eager to get my own family.
We received a phone call last week that we have officially been matched with a permanent family…who I will be from now on referring to as “our” and “my” family!! I am SOOOO excited to meet them!
For the sake of protecting their privacy, I will not be sharing names or specific information; however, I will tell you that they are not even in the U.S. yet! Blaise and I will be meeting them at the airport one evening VERY soon, and we will be the welcoming committee to the United States. They are coming from a refugee camp in Thailand, and they are Karenni people from Burma/Myanmar (it’s actually referred to by both names). It is a small family of four, and I believe that they speak very little or no English…so this will be an adventure for sure! Though Exodus is not religiously affiliated, to us this is our opportunity to love on people who have literally been completely displaced and stripped of many basic human rights, and dignity in many cases.
What will we be doing? We will be mentors. We will help them learn how to live successfully in the United States by teaching them about our customs, how to go grocery shopping and use public transportation, what junk mail is, and so on. Basically, we signed up for a six-month commitment to be their friends and someone they can depend upon to help them navigate this crazy American society!
Please pray for Blaise and I as we prepare to mentor this family, who have likely seen some true horrors in their lives and will be very overwhelmed by our fast-paced, modern, ladder-climbing society. Pray that God gives us the right language to just love them right where they are…because that, in the end, is what it’s all about!