The Joy of Participating in God's Kingdom Work

As a full-time nursing student in an accelerated program, I felt that my focus was mainly on myself. I had just graduated from Texas A&M where I had a relatively light class load and was able to spend a huge majority of my time serving in ministry. I found that I had been missing the joy that stems from serving the Lord. In the fall of last year, the Lord kindly reminded me of our call as believers to serve and to be actively sharing the gospel with His kids. After searching for ministries to serve at in Dallas, I found Refugee Resources and felt called to become a volunteer at Reading Circle. It was hard at times, showing up knowing I had a big test the next day, but God, week after week, blew me away at Monday night Reading Circle.
 
I was paired with my mentee, Deborah, in November and it has been one of the greatest blessings of this past year. Deborah has taught me far more than I could ever teach her. Some of our sweetest times together have come from being in the Word each Monday night. Deborah’s curiosity reminds me that our God loves our questions and gets to delight in us learning more of Him. She asks things that I had never thought to ask and it is such a blessing to be able to figure things out together. I also admire Deborah’s eagerness to memorize scripture- it encourages me that these students are actively writing the truth on their hearts!
 
My most favorite thing about spending time with Deborah is her child-like joy. She is gentle and kind and shows me what it looks like to live freely in her joy. I remember going to Summit Climbing and her pure excitement to be able rock climb. Her best friend Yatanar was there as well, and I loved that I was able to watch Deborah encourage her as they fought the fear that comes with climbing. She had a smile on her face the entire time and her gratitude was such a reminder of how kind God is to give us good gifts.
 
Deborah’s family is originally from Burma whereupon they fled to safety in Malaysia, claimed refugee status and began the process of being thoroughly vetted before being resettled to the US. Deborah has lived in the U.S.  since she was three years old. She lives with her parents and siblings in an apartment near all her cousins. Deborah is the oldest sibling and does such a good job of taking care of her younger siblings, specifically, she always is saving some of her snacks for them. Sadly, Deborah and her family just moved to Richardson so she will no longer be attending Reading Circle. Although I am so sad to no longer be her mentee, I feel excited to make a more intentional effort to spend time with Deborah to foster our relationship and encourage her in her relationship with Christ.
 
In this upcoming school year, I will be mentoring a new student named Nabintu. Nabintu is an incredibly sweet,  spunky, and vivacious little 6-year-old girl from the DRC. Her previous mentor shared how it may take a while for Nabintu to let down her walls, however, I am eager to see the ways the Lord will move this year. I am reminded that the Lord supplies every need of ours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
 
I am so thankful for Reading Circle and that I get to see God’s heart for his people of all nations. I love getting to be a part of work for the Kingdom and getting a front row seat to our friends increasing their literacy as well as their love for and knowledge of the Father.

Written by: Sophia Harlan

Creative photography by: Miles Hearne