The flickering candle

In the United States, it’s sometimes easy to distance ourselves from the terrorism and violence taking place around the world. Here is a story of how it got personal for us here in Nashville. 

As many of you know, earlier this month, over 250 Iraqi citizens were killed during a bombing in Baghdad. One of the refugee students we have gotten to know is from Iraq and had family members killed in the attack. This high school student organized a candlelight vigil at a prominent park in Midtown Nashville to honor those who were killed or missing as a result of the bombings. She invited us to attend.

Since six or seven of her peers from the refugee high school program wanted to attend, we brought them along as well. Gathered on a street corner, lit candles in hand, we circled up to pray. Muslims, Christians, Iraqi, Congolese, Burundian, Burmese, and American- united in our humanity and our desire for peace, hope, and comfort. Our hearts were both broken and joyful over this experience as we saw people from different cultures and religious backgrounds united together in support of those affected by such tragedy, yet knowing that some of them are seeking hope, comfort, and peace from a god who is not able to offer these things. 

Oh that they may know the One True God who offers peace that passes understanding, is near to the brokenhearted, and brings hope to the most difficult of circumstances! Please join us in praying that the Lord would use this tragedy to draw our Muslim friends to Himself.

-Courtney

Smiling faces, tired feet, and dirty hands

This week Courtney and I had the privilege of going with some of our Karen refugee girls to Camp Wings. At camp we had Bible study where the girls asked tons of spiritual questions and even had two girls who had recently given their lives to the Lord wanted to be baptized. 

Two of the girls who attended are Buddhist, and this allowed us to share about who God really is and what He is like. At camp, the girls experienced many new things for the first time. They got to go fishing, swimming, horseback riding, blackberry picking, build bonfires, and build birdhouses. Many of those who went are girls Courtney and I have been ministering to all summer and it has been amazing to see how God is working in their lives and growing them. Courtney and I really saw the importance of building strong relationships with these girls. To have someone listen to them and even tell them for the first time ‘I’m proud of you’ or ‘you’re doing a great job’.

Please pray for the two young Buddhist girls that they would see and know who the one true God is and that their families would know Him too. Also, for all the girls in general as they are experiencing a lot of spiritual warfare and are learning to trust God and giving Him their fears.

-Grace

Prayer Warriors

When we realize that the random wonderful acts of God that we see in our lives are not random, but answers to the prayer of the saints, our faith in God will increase, and we will better understand the need for and power of prayer. We recently saw a young man from Congo surrender his life to Christ, and while we rejoiced in what seemed to be a random act of God, we were unaware of the pleads for his soul coming from other believers. Two days after we saw this young man saved, we learned from some local friends that the night prior to his salvation they were in prayer to God for his soul. Often times we do not see an answer to our prayers, but that is because it is not for us but rather for the kingdom of God. So let us preemptively praise God for the answers to our prayers that we do not see, and let us doubly rejoice when do see a great working of God because we know that it is not only a mighty act of the King but also a gracious answer to the cry of a saint.

-Noah

Refugee Day

This past June 20^th, people around the world celebrated World Refugee Day in honor of all the individuals who have had to flee their home country due to persecution of some sort. The city of Nashville hosts a World Refugee Day Celebration each year to encourage the people in the community to celebrate the thousands of refugees in their community. We canvassed several of the refugee apartment complexes to help people get on the bus to go to Coleman Park and participate in the celebration. There were cultural performances throughout the day, such as African dancers, the Children’s Freedom Choir, a Chinese zither-player, and more! Also, many of the refugees brought ethnic food to share with all of the attendees. This was Nashville’s biggest World Refugee Day Celebration yet, and we were thankful for the opportunity to participate in the event and share in the cultures of our refugee friends.

-Courtney

Womens Bible study

This week Country and Grace helped with another VBS, but in a different fashion. We were a part of the refugee ladies group. Each day we would go through a different Bible story and discuss what it meant to them. Each lady in the class is the mother of at least one child at the VBS. The moms learned the same stories as the kids, so when they went home the mothers could answer questions or just discuss what they were learning about the Lord. Also, they had the opportunity to learned how to journal, decorate cookies, make jewelry, and go through health and safety classes. Each of these ladies are so precious and kind in every way.  

Please pray that these Burmese women continue to dig deep into God’s word and that they would live their lives in a manner that their children would desire to know God as well.

-Grace

He is our song

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God” Psalm 40:3. 

We all have the opportunity to live our lives as songs unto the Lord, songs of praise- continuing to worship the one true God day by day. We get the privilege of being used by the great composer and conductor, to be a part of a grand song, something far beyond anything we could ever do on our own. 

This week, we assisted with the Children’s Freedom Choir. We listened to children all week make a beautiful sound unto the Lord and observed them “dance like David”. The kids learned various things throughout the week such as drums, hand bells, dances, and songs. At the end of the week the children performed for parents and friends and for World Refugee Day Celebration on Saturday.

Also this week, as our team was on a quest to find food one night, we stumbled upon some Muslim women breaking fast. They were kind and generous insisting that we eat with them. Before leaving we chatted a bit with one of the ladies and prayed with her before we departed. We believe this to be an amazing opportunity to share the gospel as we build a relationship with this family. It is pretty cool how God will bring us into others’ lives. We learned that we should always keep our eyes and ears open to anyone that God might bring into our lives at any point of the day.

Please be in prayer for the Muslim families we encounter that God would soften their hearts and open their eyes and ears to the Word. 
Also, pray that our team would continue to be intentional with those we come in contact with and would share the love of Christ with them regardless of what might be going on internally and externally.

-Grace

Steadfast to the Calling

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24

As teams are about halfway through their ministry time for the summer, pray they would have a renewed focus and a steadfastness to God's calling.

Team of the Day

P52 - Nashville

Country of the Day

United States

Taking the walk day by day

This week our team was presented many opportunities to share the gospel, leading some to respond with faith in Christ. For the whole week our local church had VBS, and 23 kids surrendered their lives to the Lord. Also, many seeds were planted while driving kids to and from church and to events. It was so cool to see how God is working in the lives of young children and how He gives us understanding of the mystery of His word.

One evening, Noah and Courtney took six high school refugee students to a worship service where one of the teens surrendered his life to the Lord. In our Journey program this week, they were discussing joy, which led this teen to want that joy, the true joy that never fades. They got to share the gospel of grace with one of the other students, as well, who expressed that he wants to be saved but doesn’t feel that he is good enough yet.

Also, another opportunity arose when making a house call to a Pakistani family. The family is Muslim and had many questions about Jesus, God, and the assurance we have in our salvation. They have invited Grace back to further discuss the Bible and why Christians believe the way we do and why we act the way we act. Something I thought was rather awesome was the family did not have hot water for three weeks. So we made calls, getting a hold of no one, so all Grace did was pray that somehow this family could shower. A few hours later a man came to fix the problem. The family was so excited thinking we had done this which really we got a hold of no one. Grace’s response was it was simply God and they found it so interesting that God answered my prayer and wished their god would listen to them like that.

Please keep praying that God would give us open doors to share with all walks of life and that they see that He is actively pursuing them out of His great love for them.

-Grace

kidz club

Every Saturday our team gets to have kidz club where local children can come and hear the word of God, play fun games, and make crafts. We have had a small group of children come due to lack of transportation to the church.

We are asking that you pray that we would be able to transport more kids and that they would have a burning desire to hear more about God.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” -Ephesians 3:20-21

-Grace

A world within another world

This week marked the official beginning of our internships with World Relief. World Relief is a multifaceted refugee resettlement agency that helps refugees with everything from setting up their apartment before they arrive in the United States to enrolling them in insurance programs to providing them with employment services. Once refugees arrive in the United States they work tireless to help these refugees become self-sufficient as quickly as possible. We will each spend four days a week interning with World Relief in our respective departments. Here is a little about what each of us will be doing:

Grace is primarily working in the resettlement department of World Relief. She will be helping a caseworker make home visits to clients, deliver important mail to refugees (insurance cards, social security cards, etc.), and take clients to doctor’s appointments. In just a couple of days, Grace has already seen the heartache and struggle that comes with being a refugee as spends time with her clients and lends her ear to their stories. Please pray that God would use Grace to show the hope and love of Christ to her clients as she helps with their physical and practical needs.

Noah is interning with the Journey program of World Relief. Journey is a daily program for refugee and immigrant high school students. During the school year, the program is more academically focused, but now that it’s summer time, the program is more relaxed and the students get to play sports, attend breakout sessions to learn creative skills like woodworking, painting, or even rapping, and have lunch together. Each morning, Noah will pick up a bus load of students, spend the day hanging out and getting to know them, and lead them in a Bible study every afternoon. Please pray that God would guide Noah and give him favor with these students as he seeks to build relationships and share the truth of Christ with them.

Courtney is working most closely with the administrative assistant. Before a refugee comes to the United States, there is a pile of paperwork that must be processed and prepared for their arrival. She has been learning about these processes, helping to put together case files, and preparing paperwork for when newly arrived refugees attend their first appointment at World Relief. Every Wednesday and Thursday is ‘intake day’ at World Relief, and this is when newly arrived refugees come in for their first appointment where they receive cultural orientation, get enrolled in insurance, sign up for a cash assistance program and more. On these days, Courtney will be spending time with the children of these refugee families while their parents fill out paperwork. Please pray that Courtney would demonstrate Christ’s love in word and deed through her work at the office.

-Courtney

Experencing a different life

We ended this week by taking newly arrived refugees to the library in downtown Nashville. Almost all the interns were given a client, and we were responsible for picking them up from their apartments and then walking with them to the nearest bus stop. The reason behind this is to show the refugees how to access transportation. Upon our arrival to the library, they were shown all the different parts of the library. This was just to show the them books that they can use to learn or improve their English. Please be in prayer for these new families as they find their way around the city and are trying to learn English.

Saturday, Courtney and Grace put together our first Kidz Club at one of the local churches. We only had three kids come, but we happily put crafts together, told them the creation story, and ate popsicles with them. We also had the opportunity to speak with some ladies from our church and discuss how we could draw more kids to come. Be in prayer that many kids will come and that we will have the ability to transport the kids to and from Kidz Club. Also pray that none of the children would become dehydrated due to high temperatures and for those who are fasting at this time for Ramadan.

-Grace

Walking in different shoes

To begin our training with World Relief, we participated in a refugee simulation called “Walk in our Shoes”. During the simulation, we assumed the identity of a refugee, dressed up in traditional ethnic clothing, and got to choose three items to take with us. Then, we were dropped off at a refugee family’s house where we spent the night. The next day, we had to learn how to use public transportation to navigate the city of Nashville to find several locations around the city that a refugee would need to go to (post office, library, health department, etc.).

Here is more about Noah’s experience: A Walk in our Shoes gave fresh insight into the life of refugees. The program brought me into an Iraqi home, where I was able to see Middle Eastern culture first hand. I was stunned by the love and hospitality they showed. In spite of the stigma held about the Middle East, these refugees are just as human and caring as the nicest of natural born Americans. But the definite conclusion from the intern-immersion program is that the souls are in no less need of Christ as we are, and we must love them by sharing Christ with them.

Here is more about Grace and Courtney’s experience: Our simulation began with us entering the home of a Congolese family who spoke entirely in Swahili, with the exception of a handful of English and French words. They graciously welcomed us into their home with love and acceptance, feeding us traditional African food for dinner (twice), taking us to the market, and introducing us to their neighbors and family. Through this experience we saw that even though refugees consider themselves fortunate to have come to the United States, they face many challenges once they get here. We now have a greater understanding of what refugees experience and have a deeper compassion for these precious people, and most importantly a greater desire for them to know the hope and salvation found in the Lord.

-Courtney and Noah

Meet the Team: P52 Nashville

Starting out is our fearless team leader, Noah. He leads by keeping other’s opinions in mind, governing our different capabilities. 

Courtney is fun loving, intuitive, and is excellent at analyzing situations. 

Then there is Grace, myself. I am more laid back, excited to do anything and everything. I feel that with our organizing skills, problem solving abilities, and adaptable personalities we will balance each other out very well.

It is amazing how God forms teams and how He uses unique people to work together. I believe I can speak on the behalf of the whole team in saying that we are all expectant of the wondrous things God will do. Using small things to create a ripple that will change the world. Please pray for fruitful ministry partnerships and opportunities to build relationships with internationals in our community.

- Grace