This evening I met two girls from Thailand. Their names are Dolly and Malee (not their real names for privacy purposes), ages 12 and 13. Fleeing persecution in their country, they arrived to America five years ago as refugees.
Their English was good, and their faces lit with eager friendship when I prompted conversation. "What are your favorite things to do in the summer?" I asked.
"We like going to camp! It's a Christian camp. We like growing closer to God."
Intrigued that they seemed familiar with the Bible, I asked, "What is your favorite Bible story?"
Dolly thought for a moment. "Job," she said. "Job went through many hard things. My family also goes through hard things. The story of Job encourages me."
Impressed by Dolly's insight, I wanted to ask her about her family's story, but decided against it. I had not earned that right of friendship with her yet. That's one thing I've learned in the past weeks as I've immersed myself in refugee culture: be careful about asking their stories, about what brought them to America.
Refugees come here because of extreme civil unrest in their home places. Many of them have seen things too horrible for me to imagine. Unlike immigrants, they don't choose to leave their country to pursue opportunity. They arrive to America fighting the trauma of tragic loss. Then they have to learn the language, culture, and job skills, and become self-supporting in foreign country 4-7 months. It's nearly impossible. Suicide rate is high among refugees.
This is a ripe opportunity for us to speak into their lives, loving them in word and deed, and leading them to the hope of people like Job.
(The pictures below are not of Dolly or Malee, but of other children I interacted with tonight.)
Listening to Bible stories...
No comments:
Post a Comment