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Welcoming the stranger: working with global communities, locally.
"...when did we see you a stranger and welcome you in? Truly, i say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." Matthew 25:38, 40
The Rohingya People
Almost 3 1/2 years ago I (Laura) was sitting in the kitchen of our friends, Hazara and Ali. I watched Hazara make tea for us as well as wash the dishes as we chatted away about her life here in the U.S. Her hand movements, the use of the water and wiping the plates down, adding sugar to the hot, brown liquid in a clear glass reminded me so much of Indonesia and a deep wave of homesickness washed over me. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Hazara was Indonesian but she isn’t. She, her husband and youngest son are Rohingya and had come to the U.S. as refugees. They were originally from Myanmar/Burma and had fled to Malaysia in the 90’s to flee the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya at that time. This family was our first introduction to the Rohingya, a stateless people who have been persecuted and abused by a government and country that does not want them anymore.
Over approximately three weeks in September, 500,000 Rohingya (the number is now up to 600,000) have been forced to flee their homes and villages in Myanmar because of unrest and violence against them. They have lost their livelihood, their homes etc., without much hope of ever being able to return to the country that does not consider them a part of their citizenship. There are 7 Rohingya families here in Boise that we have grown to love and consider close friends. We met with them a few weeks ago and the heartache and sorrow they expressed was palpable. Several had families who had fled or were on the trail walking toward Bangladesh in the hopes of being able to reach a refugee camp there. As you can well imagine, Bangladesh is not a place well equipped to absorb that many people in such a short amount of time. Please be in prayer for this people group. It is looking very much like a mass genocide aimed at this specific group of people who have called Myanmar their home for centuries!
New Additions to the Team
We are so excited to welcome two new amazing women onto our Glocal Team. Carolyn Landley is a native to the Boise area. She is an agriculturalist but has been working with refugees through friendship for several years. We also have Berna Bone joining us and she comes with over 43 years of cross-cultural experience and most recently 4 1/2 years in Malaysia working with Rohingya Refugees. Please pray for all five of us (Nick, Laura, Michelle, Carolyn and Berna) that we will work well together and seek God’s continual guidance in all we do. Picture above...next time we'll get a picture with Berna in it!
English Thursdays:
The Women’s English Program is up and running again after the summer break. We have between 15 to 20 women and about 10 children who come every Thursday morning to learn and practice English. This program would not be possible without the serving hearts of volunteers who help drive and teach and love on these ladies. The women come from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan as well as Rohingya ladies. On Thursday morning the volunteers drive from various areas of Boise to pick up the women and children and bring them to Heritage Bible Church where class is held. Many of these women are very isolated and don’t have many opportunities to get out of the house because of transportation issues. So, to see these women gather and have an opportunity to meet and greet one another is a sight to behold. Sometimes it hard to get them to move into the English lesson for the day. Please continue to pray for trusting relationships to develop with these women and for opportunities to share the hope that is within us.
Baby Showers:
Last month we were able to bless three new babies and their mothers with a baby shower. Two beautiful women from the Congo and one from Syria recently had two girls and a boy who joined us at the shower. The showers are usually hosted in someone’s home and we were blessed by Jennifer Rush opening her home for this past one. We were so thankful to bless these women through gifts, laughter and helping hold babies while the mom’s enjoyed a light brunch. These showers are all dependent on donations from cupcakes, fruit and vegetable plate to gift donations of crocheted blankets, flannel quilts, strollers, play pens, diapers and clothes. In the month of November we will have another shower for four additional women that will be having babies before the end of 2017. Diapers (newborn and size 1), clothes (size NB and 3 mos), toys, books as well as financial donations are a great help to keep this ministry going. Please contact Michelle Larson, mmmlarson@gmail.com if you want to help in anyway to love on these new Americans being born here in Boise.
Trainings:
As of October, 2017, Glocal officially trained their 1000th person in the Treasure Valley area (see photo above right). That has happened over the past 3 years which is amazing to think about. We are excited that people are still interested in learning and understanding Refugee Resettlement and desiring to walk alongside people who have come as refugees!
In contrast to this exciting news, is the experience Laura and Nick had in Northern Idaho when they were asked to do a training there. If you know the history of Northern Idaho, then you might know that it is an area in the U.S. known for it’s neo- Nazi leanings and white supremacist attitudes. We were invited to share our training by two retired pastors living in the area who knew people interested in learning about refugee resettlement. Unfortunately, because of social media, the training was picked up by the Alt-Right who rallied the forces and showed up to the training. Over 175 people were in this small community hall and at least 150 of them were very anti-refugee resettlement. For an hour, Nick and Laura tried to do the training while being yelled at, being called “liars”, “the enemy” and being accused of being part of a larger conspiracy. It was one of the most discouraging and frightening experiences to go through and not one we care to repeat. We learned a lot thorough this and gained a huge awareness of how hateful people can be when they come in numbers. Please thank the Lord for helping us walk through this situation and pray for bridges of understanding to be built.
Prayer Requests: *Pray for our Glocal Team: unity, wisdom, building strong relationships with our friends who are refugees.
*Pray for Nov. 19 when Glocal will be hosting the annual Thanksgiving Peace Feast. Last year we had 300 people come - Boiseans, People who came as refugees, Muslims, Christians, many nationalities represented. Pray for the organization of this event and good, outcomes of better friendships built.
*Pray for The Shed Project: In conjunction with the Islamic Center of Boise. We have a shed full of goods that were donated and will be used to help those in need. Pray for our organizing of this: How to best serve, who to serve, and how to get the goods to those in need.
*Continue to pray for open hearts and for opportunities to share the hope within us!
*Pray for the Armstrong’s support and for the many needs listed above!
