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9 Ways You Can Help Afghan Refugees Today
I believe with all my heart that even though our situations and talents and experiences are different, we can still find ways to help others — no matter where we are physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially. Here are nine ways any of us can come to the aid of our Afghan sisters and brothers. 1. Pray Pray for those who are suffering in Afghanistan. Pray for those across the world with relatives in Afghanistan who are worrying about their family members’ safety. Pray that as many people as possible can get to safety. Pray for those unable to get out. Pray for our government and governments across the world to…
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Refugee Resettlement — We Must Do More
Can we talk about refugee resettlement? One of the most common arguments I hear against resettlement is that we should help people where they are rather than try to help them move to the U.S. This attitude is particularly concerning as the U.S. proposes to again cut refugee resettlement, this time to only 18,000 people in 2020. Only about 1% of refugees worldwide are resettled in a third country, although those are the refugees an American or European is most likely to have met. If the U.S. cuts its resettlement program again, it will have a noticeable impact on worldwide refugee resettlement in 2020, and that is very troubling.Most refugees…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Room in my Heart
In December 2016, two months after I began volunteering for Refugee Services of Texas, I saw an opening for a position teaching English to recently arrived refugees. I hadn’t worked outside the home in years, but felt teaching was part of God’s path for me. I never could have imagined how interacting with such an incredible group of people would change me. Making room in my heart for those who suffer unimaginable burdens has made a lasting impact on me, and I am forever grateful. A few days before class began, I received a list containing all my students’ names, ages, marital statuses, levels of education and countries of origin.…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Great, Spacious, Empty and Airborne
Recently, on an early spring evening, I found myself in the back of a van, craning my neck toward the dusty window to catch a final glimpse of a sprawling, hilly, mottled landscape. As the van spluttered and climbed the winding dirt road out of Cox’s Bazaar, the largest refugee camp in the world sheltering well over one million Rohingya, I glimpsed what our Bangladeshi humanitarian aid worker friends called the Tree of Hope. It stood alone on a knoll, a boney silhouette stretching its knobby arms over this hopeless panorama, this landscape of utter despair. REPURPOSING LEHI’S DREAM Lehi’s dream with its Tree of Life hovered close. (If you…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Privilege
In an email conversation with a friend earlier this year, she said, “Working with underprivileged groups should not make us ‘feel grateful and lucky for what I have.’ That is the typical, and wrong, reaction. Volunteering for underprivileged should make us feel angry in our souls for the situation that created their marginalization to begin with, and make us want to take action and do something about it.” When I read her words out loud to my children they said, “Yes! That’s is exactly!” We mentor a refugee family from Rwanda. They were torn from their homes, ripped from family members and suffered indignities, starvation and rape from their oppressors…
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Just Do What You Can
After the election, I was stuck in a very aimless funk. I’m a naturally upbeat and high-spirited person, and I could see that I was in a dark place emotionally. As I struggled to get out of it, I was having a very difficult time on my own. It wasn’t until my friend messaged me on Facebook and asked if I would be interested in this group of Mormon women who were worried about the state of our country that I began to feel hope. I read through the pinned post and could feel my heart beat faster in anticipation. When I joined the group, it was still a manageable…
