I have been blessed with the opportunity to be part of a club on campus called Keep It Real that tutors students who have resettled in the United States from all over the world and now attend Arsenal Middle School. Last year the club asked students to share their experiences and put the stories into a book. Since I was gone last semester, I had not seen the book until yesterday and I can't get the stories out of my mind, so I would like to share two with you. The first is from a girl named Asia whom I work with every week. The second story is from a young man named Daler whose story broke my heart. Both reminded me of the overwhelming need for God's peace and true love to be shown in this world.
"My name is Asia H. and now I live in America. But I didn't always. I was born in Somalia, but moved to America because Somalia was a scary place to live. In the middle of the night Somalis would come into people houses and steal their clothes, food, and even kill people. They would also kill people during the day if you didn't give them what they wanted. My uncles died because of this. We were sad, mad, angry, and scared. We needed to go some place safe. My family decided to walk to Kenya because it was safer, but it took ten days. On the way my brother got lost, but he made it to Kenya by himself. We built our own house and it was safer, but we still wanted to go to America. After about a year my families name was on the list to go to America! We were so happy and excited but we had to leave my grandma, my aunts, and my uncle behind. I was sad but excited to go to America. I have been in America many years and have lived in Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. But my grandma, aunt and uncle and cousins are still in Somalia, and I miss them very much."-- Asia
"I came to America because my people were killed, and we had to move to the refugee camps. We move from Myanmar to the camp in Thailand slowly, through the forest so we wouldn't get caught. The Buddhists and the Christians believe in peace but they still kill. This doesn't make sense to me." --Daler
I've realized in the last year that one of the most powerful things I can do is share other stories and see where people are led as a result. My prayer is that your eyes may be opened to the need in this world and compassion would flow from your life.
