World Relief Minnesota

Come and support Refugee Life Ministries with a night of laughter!

April 28, 2012 at  7 p.m.

     Grace Church of Roseville
     1310 West County Road B2, Roseville, MN 55113

     Tickets are $10 and can be ordered through the secure link below
Order tickets here

Find out more about Refugee Life Ministires

We are happy to welcome two new Directors to the World Relief Minnesota Team as we respond to the growing opportunities to serve the burgeoning refugee population in Minnesota and empower churches to reach out and welcome them in the name of Jesus.

Laura Svoboda, Director of Arrival Services.  Laura will oversee our Reception and  Placement (R&P) and Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) programs and staff — the largest component of World Relief Minnesota’s ministry to refugees. Laura will work closely with our Refugee Life Ministry program through which congregations adopt a refugee family and surround them with help and support during their first year in America.

Laura joins World Relief from a background in both Occupational Therapy and Social Work.  She has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Minnesota; was a Resettlement Case Manager MSW Intern at World Relief in 2008-2009; has volunteered in areas as diverse as food shelf administration and distribution to advocating for children in child protection services as a Guardian ad Litem; and comes to us from CommonBond Communities as a Service Coordinator to three senior affordable housing communities.  Laura and her family attend the Upper Room congregation in St. Louis Park.  Laura will be training in with Sarah Hesch, our current Director of Arrival Services, who will transitioning out of World Relief in advance of a cross-country move.

Mark Hinton, Director of Community Programs.  Mark will oversee our Community and Church-based programs and staff, including our friendship ESL Somali Adult Literacy Training (SALT)program; our church-based Somali RAJO Hope Ministries outreach program; our Refugee Life Ministry program where churches “adopted” new refugee families during their initial entry into Minnesota; and our Refugee Community Gardening program which matches refugee farmers with churches, community groups and community gardening plots.

Mark joins the World Relief team following decades of faithful missionary and cross-cultural service in Kenya and Sudan.  Among his 30 years of ministry experience, he was formerly Field Director for World Relief-South Sudan; Deputy Country Director for Samaritan’s Purse in North Sudan; Executive Director of SOMSERV which ministered to the immigrant Somali Community in Minnesota; and developed and launched a B.A. program at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya.  Mark and his wife attend Central Mission Church, in St. Paul.

Please join us in welcoming Laura Svoboda and Mark Hinton to the to the leadership team at World Relief Minnesota.

Merry Christmas!

Thank you for blessing the ministry of World Relief Minnesota and for helping us to bless the lives of refugees this Christmas and throughout the year.  In this season of all seasons, where we celebrate God’s best gift, Jesus Christ, we are keenly reminded that part of the Christmas narrative is the story of Jesus and his parents fleeing to Egypt as refugees.

Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Matthew 2:13

Like our Savior, today’s refugees have been persecuted. They have witnessed horrific tragedies. They have lived through unimaginable upheaval, turmoil and loss. Yet, God has brought them “out of Egypt” to now be our neighbors, colleagues, friends and recipients with us of all of God’s promises.

This December we are resettling another two dozen new refugee arrivals. Throughout the year, some 2,000 refugees annually come to Minnesota looking to you and me for hope. They come pursuing safety. They come escaping hurt, war and persecution. They are the ones whose lives and futures are being transformed because you have joined hands with us to make a difference. Thank you!

Your gifts are helping us this Christmas to:

• purchase, collect and distribute hundreds of items of warm winter clothing and boots
• run ESL and citizenship classes in eight metro locations
• provide training and coordination to 17 area churches as they serve newly arrived families
• organize several hundred volunteers who tutor, run sewing projects, befriend and encourage our refugee neighbors

Finally, please rejoice with us as we have received 85 mattresses, box springs and bed frames from Slumberland as a Christmas blessing to new arrivals. So, whether it is donations from individuals, churches or businesses; whether it is thousands of volunteer hours; whether is our partner churches setting up community-based programs…these are all acts of worship to Jesus, the one who
we worship, adore and serve this Christmas.

The vision of World Relief Minnesota is to see the lives of refugees and the church holistically transformed through loving service to one another.  In pursuit of this vision, WRM manages programs and ministries which provide a path for the church to live out our God’s call to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, and share the Gospel through loving relationship.  We also partner with local refugee communities to ensure we humbly welcome individuals and families at our doorstep with dignity and respect. To be effective in these efforts, we need your support.

World Relief Minnesota will be participating in “Give to the Max Day”—a statewide Minnesota “give” together. On November 16, participants get 24 hours to donate to specific non-profits, with the goal of raising millions of dollars to ‘change our world’. The whole event is online, and totals will be displayed in real-time throughout the day.

What makes donating on Give to the Max Day any different than donating on any other day? Every hour a donator is randomly chosen to win the “Golden Ticket”: $1,000 to the non-profit of their choice. The last Golden Ticket given (11:59pm) will be $10,000! If supporters divide a single donation to give on every hour throughout the entire day, they have a chance to win up to $33,000 for World Relief Minnesota, for refugees and the church!  Additionally, organizations which receive the most participation from supporters are eligible for match grants of $1,000-15,000.

Together, we can achieve this vision of refugees and the church surviving and thriving in our local community. Spread the word to family, friends, and those who love the vulnerable whom our Father loves to support World Relief Minnesota on this day of solidarity in giving:

Follow the link below to give or get more information.

Karen Memorial Day and Wrist Tying Ceremony Events

Public Invited to 3-Day Karen Event Celebrated Worldwide

Saint Paul, MN – The Karen Celebration Days Committee (“KCDC”) and Karen Organization of Minnesota (“KOM”) invite the public to the Karen Memorial Day and Wrist Tying Ceremony events, on August 5, 2011 –August 7, 2011 at the Washington Technology Magnet School. This year the activities will include a three-day men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and men’s kato tournaments, a Karen Memorial Day event on Saturday, August 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and the Wrist Tying Ceremony events on Sunday, August 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Karen Memorial Day tells the history of the Karen struggle and honors the leaders who gave their lives in the name of freedom. The Wrist Tying Ceremony is an event celebrated by Karen all around the world and will include traditional Karen dancing and singing performances. All guests will be invited to participate in the non-religiously affiliated wrist tying by the Karen elders, which symbolizes unity and the Karen’s blessing of health and happiness for the next year.

These cultural events are an important part of Karen history and tradition.  This is also an opportunity for the Karen to raise awareness about the story of the Karen people, and to facilitate goodwill and mutual respect with our new friends and neighbors. The Karen community in Minnesota has been celebrating the Karen events since 2002 and thousands of Karen and non-Karen have attended.

“These events, which symbolize Karen unity and are celebrated by Karen around the world, are even more important to our people now, because we are living in exile outside of our homeland” said Nay Htoo, Karen community leader and chair of the Karen Celebration Days Committee.  “While we are working hard to adjust and integrate into our new community in Minnesota, we also want to invite all of our new friends and neighbors to come and learn about our history and heritage.”

The Washington Technology Magnet School is located at 1495 Rice Street, Saint Paul, Minnesota. All events will be free of charge, and Karen vendors will sell traditional Karen food throughout the event. Please contact KOM for more information.

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The Karen (ka-REN) are an ethnic minority from the mountainous regions of Burma and Thailand. The Karen have been persecuted by the Burmese military junta for decades and today, many Karen families who have fled their homes have resettled in Minnesota, which has the largest population of Karen outside of Southeast Asia.

The shutdown of State of Minnesota social service programs is scheduled to begin on Friday, July 1. The shutdown will continue until the Minnesota legislature reinstates funding for government services.

The shutdown does impact refugee social services provided by World Relief Minnesota. Read below to learn more about how these programs will be affected and who to contact at World Relief for assistance during this period:

• Immigration Legal Services
• Refugee Employment Services
• Refugee Cash Assistance
• Reception & Placement

Immigration Legal Services
Current World Relief immigration clients with whose cases need urgent attention (for example, clients who receive an I-797C Request for Evidence Letter from US Immigration) should contact Clarissa Robison, at crobison@wr.org or 612-243-2971 and give detailed information about their urgent need. Clients whose cases need urgent attention should also submit any mail or paperwork received from US Immigration to the World Relief office. Copies of letters from US Immigration can be submitted to World Relief either by dropping off a copy at our front desk during business hours (Monday –Thursday 9 am to 5 pm, and Friday 9 am to 12 pm) or by fax (fax #: 612-798-4314, Attn: Clarissa).

World Relief immigration staff will be checking email and voicemail weekly to respond to clients with urgent needs. Current clients are advised that only urgent case needs will receive a response during a shut down, and that World Relief immigration staff will use their discretion to decide which cases are high priority. Current clients with non-urgent needs are requested to wait until after a shut-down to contact the immigration department.

Refugee Employment Services
Current World Relief employment clients with whose cases need urgent attention (for example, clients who have an interview or start of work scheduled should contact Allison Morris, amorris@wr.org or 612-243-2954 and give detailed information about their urgent need. Clients whose cases need urgent attention can also stop by the front office and leave a detailed message with the receptionist during normal business hours.

World Relief employment staff will be checking email and voicemail daily to respond to clients with urgent needs. Current clients are advised that only urgent case needs will receive a response during a shut down, and that World Relief employment staff will use their discretion to decide which cases are high priority. Current clients with non-urgent needs should wait until after a shut-down to contact the employment department.

World Relief will not be taking any new employment cases during a government shut-down. New clients are requested to wait until after the shutdown to contact World Relief for an appointment.

Current clients who currently receive gas and bus card assistance can call and leave a message to schedule a time to pick up and sign for their assistance.
If you have an urgent job interview or start a new job, call Laura, the World Relief MN receptionist at 612-866-0462 and tell her when and where you need to be.

Refugee Cash Assistance
In the event of a state shutdown, the RCA office at World Relief Minnesota will be closed. However, existing RCA clients will still be able to pick up monthly checks from the receptionist on or after July 5. New RCA applications will be accepted in order to set an application date, but no eligibility interviews will be conducted until the RCA office reopens. If you have questions, please contact Laura, the receptionist at World Relief Minnesota at Minnesota@wr.org.

Reception and Placement
Our Reception and Placement program is federally funded allowing us to continue to welcome new refugees into the country during a state shutdown. Our refugees rely heavily on many of the services that will be paralyzed by a state shutdown. Newly arrived refugees will need additional financial, material and community support if social services are not available to them. Do you have time and resources to fill these gaps? If so, please contact Katie Day, kday@wr.org or 612.746.5634.

Imagine… living in fear of forced labor camps, debilitating taxation, no representation, and State sponsored physical and sexual abuse. Imagine… your family targeted because of your ethnicity. Now, ask yourself, “What would I do to protect my spouse, my children, myself from torture, persecution and death?”

This is the life of a refugee. This is the life many of the refugees coming to Minnesota have experienced. They have fled for their lives – leaving their homeland behind completely – their homes in Somalia, Laos, Burma, Liberia, Bhutan and many other places. And through the efforts of the UNHCR and the U.S. Deptarment of State they have been transplanted to Minnesota.

Nem Lam Din, a Karen women (an ethnic group in Burma) lived in a refugee camp in neighboring Thailand for many, many years. Her family was not allowed to leave the refugee camp – they couldn’t legally work, buy food or explore the countryside.

Last year, the United States welcomed Nem Lam Din, offering her family a safe haven – a new place to call home. Our government invited them to replant their lives here as legal residents.

Imagine… what refugees face as they arrive in America. They step off the plane with fear and trembling – as they walk down the long airport concourse with all of their possessions in one bag – they have no idea what awaits them. “Where will we live? What will we eat? Who will be our friend?”

Volunteers from a church made Din’s family welcome in their homes, in their neighborhood and in their church. In time, Nam began to ask questions: “What is this love that you are sharing with us? Where does it come from?” Volunteers were able to answer and tell her about a God who loves her and died for her – a God who empowered His Church to welcome strangers – to welcome refugees like Jesus, who was a refugee with his parents in the land of Egypt.

This is the story of the Church at work. This is the story of World Relief Minnesota partnering with that Church. Imagine… befriending a refugee.

Join World Relief Minnesota in Welcoming Somali Refugees

World Relief Minnesota will be resettling 100 Somali refugees in the Twin Cities between May and September 2010.

Continued need to resettle Somali refugees.
The three camps in Dadaab, Kenya, are home to more than 160,000 refugees and have housed refugees for over 15 years starting with the flight of refugees from Somalia in 1991. Many of the people living in the camps have lived in Dadaab for over a decade, unable to return to homes still embroiled in chaos.

In the past year, increased violence in Somalia has led to a sharp influx of new refugees, as many as 1,000 a day entering Kenya. And there will be more – clashes between government troops and Islamist insurgents have displaced more than 55,000 people from Mogadishu since the beginning of February. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are an estimated 1.4 million Somalis displaced and scattered across the country.

Somalis now arriving don’t have family or friends to assist them.
Most Somalis who now live in Minnesota came to the United States as refugees. About one-third of Minnesota’s Somali residents came directly from refugee camps; others settled first in another state and then relocated to Minnesota. Whereas in the past most refugees who resettled in Minnesota did so because of a connection to family or friends, World Relief Minnesota is now preparing to receive refugees who have no “U.S. ties” – they have no family or friends to join.

World Relief is looking for churches and individuals to help welcome these families.
We believe this represents a unique opportunity for the church to provide a Christ-like welcome to families in a critical moment – when they first arrive. Coming alongside families and building friendships during this time can have a huge impact on these families’ adjustment and their futures. All-too-often, we meet Somalis who have been in the U.S. for ten or more years, speak English, but say they have never been in the home of an American or had an American friend.

We are inviting Twin Cities’ churches to provide a warm welcome to these new neighbors who are arriving with no family or fiends awaiting them. To find out more about the specific ways you, your church, or your small group can join World Relief Minnesota in welcoming these Somali families, visit our website and contact our Volunteer Coordinator at mnvolunteers@wr.org

Warehousing is the practice of confining refugees to camps for years or decades … this happens around the world … just ask refugees in the Twin Cities about their experience.

Can you imagine camping continuously for 15 years? And this isn’t the camping adventure from your childhood.

Dec. 24, 2009

The Gifts of the Refugees

By Douglas McGill

The McGill Report

ROCHESTER, MN – As usual for a human rights journalist, my e-mail inbox this morning is stuffed with radically, sadly, urgently un-Christmasy tidings.

So many people in this world are suffering.

I could describe one or two of these insistent, important messages. But with fresh snow flakes falling and warm family gatherings planned for the days just ahead, another kind of story – with a more uplifting holiday message — comes to mind.

Last week, I was at the Rochester International Airport one evening with a small group to greet a family of Iraqis who were soon to arrive from Jordan, where they’ve been living as refugees for the past two years.

As we waited, I chatted with an Iraqi man in his 30’s who has lived in the U.S. for only three months. He was forced to flee his Baghdad home because he worked for the Red Cross in Iraq, which made him a target for assassination by local militias.

He said he had a wife and three young children.

“Were you able to bring your family?” I asked.

“Oh yes,” he answered. “I would rather have died than leave my family.”

Christmas Gift

It’s not every day that you hear life, death and the family so matter-of-factly assumed – and acted upon — as equivalents. My Iraqi friend spoke with the authority of one who very recently made this calculation every morning as he got up, made his breakfast, sent his kids to school and went off to his perilous work.

Do I think of my own family in the same way? Do I touch base with them enough, both literally and in the sense of remembering and being grateful for them? Or do I just possibly take them for granted more than I should?

In any case, I’m thinking of my family much differently today than I did yesterday, thanks to my Iraqi friend, and I’m grateful.

I received his fresh perspective as a beautiful Christmas gift.

In its essence, I’ve always felt, working with immigrants and refugees is deeply spiritual work. Because it brings me face to face not just with others, but through others to myself at the ground-floor level of values, morals and ideals – to what really counts. Immigrants always, always show me high ideals to live up to.

Our Souls

Often a spiritually-rich confrontation comes via citizens who’ve lived longer in the U.S. – although not always that much longer – than newly-arrived refugees.

“We already have so many problems in this country,” the question goes. “Why don’t we fix those before we bring in more people with more problems?”

It’s wonderful when that question is sincerely asked, because it offers us a chance to mull it over. Especially, to ask that question of ourselves not just with our  intellects but within the space of our hearts, our souls and communities.

Can the newcomer, the stranger, perhaps help us to fix the problems we’re not doing so well at solving ourselves?

What gifts and wisdom does the stranger bring?

It’s the essence of spiritual work – and community work – to find that out.

And it is an absolute ton of wearying work. Every immigrant’s story is a cross-cultural epic and refugees, who often suffer the effects of war and psychological trauma, have that extra challenge.

Always, there are tears and exhaustion.

Only Love

But there is also a flip side, which happens when the tears and exhaustion suddenly resolve into a knowing with absolute certainty that no kind of work matters more in this world, than the work of welcoming strangers.

At this point there is a kind of lifting up, a second wind, a stiffening of the spine and a resolve to take up any burden against all of the injustice, ignorance, and hurt.

Only now it doesn’t feel like a burden any longer.

It simply feels like life’s right and proper work.

“It’s like a paradox,” another refugee social worker told me recently. “You give until it hurts a little bit. You give until it hurts and then you find there’s no hurt left, only love.”

When we help refugees resettle in this country, we help to give them a new life.

This Christmas, what I remember is that they also give us a new life in return.

Copyright @ 2009 The McGill Report

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