Coming and Going
     A couple weeks ago we were at the Boise Airport as part of a group who were welcoming a new family. This family came from Malaysia where they had lived for over 20 years. The father is Rohingya and the mother is from Indonesia, so you can imagine our joy of getting to welcome this new family. They have two daughters, ages 17 and 11 and the oldest speaks fairly good English. This is quite amazing since in Malaysia she was only allowed to go to school for 4 years and then she spent the last 5 teaching herself English. As you have heard from us before the Rohingya are one of the most oppressed people groups in the world today. This mass genocide of the Rohingya people is one of the major tragedies going on in this past year. Here is Nicholas Kristoff’s most recent article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/opinion/sunday/genocide-myanmar-rohingya-bangladesh.html
     In contrast to receiving this new family, we found ourselves at the airport the next day sending off a family from Cole Community to go live and serve overseas. This family has been get pr life overseas for several years in order be a light amongst a people in need. It was amongst lots of hugs and tears that we said goodbye with the anxious anticipation of how God will use them. As I thought about these two situations, I was in awe of what God is doing in this world. He is still taking workers overseas to be a part of the work in other nations but He is also continuing to bring the nations to our doorstep of Boise, Idaho, where we have the awesome opportunity to be a light to the nations here. Please continue to pray for the work of Glocal and for many more opportunities to meet and welcome those who have come as Refugees to our city. 

Thursday English 
     We have continued with English class this fall with an average of about 15-20 women along with an average of 10 children on Thursday mornings and over 20 volunteers who make it possible. Being the second year, there has been more opportunity to get to know the women a bit better as their English improves. The goal of this group has been to see improvements in their English but most of all to get them out of their homes and have time to socialize. Most of the women who come are stay at home Moms or older ladies who have very little opportunity to get out and about! During the last month of classes, with Thanksgiving and Christmas, we had some opportunities to describe these holidays from a Christian perspective. One of our volunteers was pleasantly surprised by the many questions the ladies in her small group had and so she was able to explain, in very simple English, much of the Christmas story and how Christ came for all people. It was definitely a blessed opportunity. One of the things we introduced to the ladies at our Christmas party was White Elephant Gift Exchange. We didn’t do true White Elephant gifts but we did have them pick a number and then have the opportunity to take a new present or steal from someone who already had a gift. Most didn’t want to steal but finally we had a lady get in there and take from another and then that started a whole bunch of laughing and excitement in the room. It definitely is one of those times that you wonder how much their own culture will play into whether an activity like this will go okay or not! 
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 and Baby Deliveries
Our last Baby Shower was for four of the women who were expecting from our English Class so that was a lot of fun to celebrate with them as a whole class. All four ladies have delivered healthy, beautiful children, 1 girl and three boys. I, Laura, had the extreme honor of getting to be there for the delivery of our friend’s daughter, the one girl out of the four. Our friend did so well and was such a trooper. Having had children overseas and without my parents, I have such respect for these ladies and the journey they are on. For this friend, her husband interpreted but we laughed when at one point she told him to interpret something and then said, you tell them exactly what I said or I will fire you and get another interpreter! After some intense labor, a precious little girl was born and we all just sat in awe, honoring all that it takes to bring a little one into the world! 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

Thanksgiving Peace Feast
     Once again we were blessed beyond measure by an amazing Thanksgiving Peace Feast. We had about 300 people who filed through the doors of Cole Community Church and ate a meal together on Sunday, November 19th. We never know how many will show up or if there will be enough food and we probably worry way too much about that but once again God provided the right amount of food and we had an amazing group of volunteers who kept everything moving along. We were also blessed by some entertainment: The German Baptist Brethren Youth Choir sang 3 beautiful hymns, Lubna from Syria recited a poem and Elivice (yes, pronounced like the famous Elvis) from Congo wowed us with his vocals. It was a great time of breaking bread together and getting to know our fellow Treasure Valley friends.
A video about the Peace Catalyst and the work we do with them is found here: https://www.facebook.com/peacecatalyst/videos/vb.198979116785605/1965765760106923/?type=2&theater&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&notif_id=1514564545150008

Looking Forward
This year, as we continue on with the work of Glocal Community Partners, we feel a bit discouraged as the numbers of refugees to be resettled in Boise is probably going to only be around 150, due to the current administration’s lowering the overall number allowed into the U.S. to 45,000, but most projections point to it being as low as 15,000. We are doing our best to continue advocating for refugee resettlement along with finding creative ways to continue engaging the church with people who are already here by walking alongside those who still need encouragement and support. We will attend the Idaho Office for Refugees yearly conference and plan to present again about how best to engage with our Muslim neighbors. We also look forward to many Peace Feasts through out the year and Glocal Garden picnics this summer.

Thankfulness
All of us here at Glocal want to say again how thankful we are to be in this ministry and to have opportunity to rub shoulders with people who have come as refugees as well as many people from through out the Treasure Valley. God has blessed us abundantly! We continue to learn and grow with each passing year!