Taking a Leap of Faith

I first started serving with Refugee Resources in September of 2021. My husband and I were attending Eastside Community Church where Refugee Resources had a table set up after service. The Lord had put a desire on my heart to serve and get involved, but I did not know what that would look like until I talked with the mentors at the table. They shared stories about the students they work with every week, and I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of the program. However, I was a little hesitant due to the long commute I would have to make from Frisco to Dallas in the middle of the rush hour every week. Instead of committing to mentor a specific student every week, I signed up to be a substitute mentor as needed. But the Lord had more in store for me than I realized.
 
I graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Education and currently teach 6th-grade math in Frisco. I have a passion for teaching, mentoring, and serving. It is such a rewarding experience to watch students grow and do things they never thought they could do. Throughout college, I volunteered at the local Boys & Girls Club where I read with students after school. I really missed building one-on-one relationships with students outside of the school setting, so finding Refugee Resources was a perfect fit. I had very little knowledge of refugees or that there was a large population of refugees in Dallas. God used this as an opportunity to open my eyes.
 
When I arrived at Refugee Resources for my first day, Alysa said there were a lot of new students who did not have a mentor. She asked if any of the substitute mentors wanted to become weekly mentors. At that moment, I realized my fear of commitment and the unknown was holding me back from what God was calling me to. I took a leap of faith and decided not to just be a substitute, but to invest in the life of a little girl named Nwe Nwe.
 
I met Nwe Nwe when she was in 2nd grade. Her family is from Myanmar (Burma), and they moved here when she was young. She doesn’t remember much about what life was like over there. She has two loving parents, an older brother who was also in Reading Circle, and a baby sister. Her family is Buddhist, but she and her brother have learned about Jesus through Reading Circle.
 
Nwe Nwe has grown and matured so much over the past two years. When I first started working with her, she had a sassy personality. For example, she called me “George” instead of Jordyn because she said they sounded similar, and she thought it was funny. She was skeptical of me at first, always saying “You’re here again” when I would show up week after week. Over time, her walls began to come down and she began to trust me. It was such a joy to see her sweet, caring, and generous side start to show. Her positive attitude, persistence, and consistency have led to great growth and success in Reading Circle.
 
I was pleasantly surprised by Nwe Nwe’s knowledge of English from the beginning. Fluency is one of her strengths, so we focus more on building her comprehension skills and learning new vocabulary each week. In addition to working on her literacy skills, we also get to spend time in God’s word. We started off with The Jesus Storybook Bible which explains popular Bible stories in a simplified, easy-to-understand way. However, her reading level has improved so much over the past few years that we have recently moved to the Kids Visual Study Bible. We take turns reading the Bible out loud and discuss what we learned about God from the passage. With the Kids Visual Study Bible, she has been able to explore how the Bible is organized into books, chapters, and verses. I have loved watching her gain a deeper understanding of God’s word as she continues to ask more thought provoking questions about Jesus.
 
She is not the only one learning more about God through this program. Together we have memorized scriptures, shared prayer requests with one another, and celebrated God’s blessings in our lives. The most meaningful thing I’ve realized with Nwe Nwe is that sharing God’s word doesn’t need to be complicated. In the past, I was hesitant to share the Gospel because I was fearful that I wouldn’t convey it in the perfect way. This experience has proven to me that God’s word easily speaks for itself! As I help Nwe Nwe understand the deep lessons of the Bible in a simplified way, I realize that they touch my heart just as much as they touch hers. Nothing complicated about it!
 
From a hesitant substitute volunteer to a committed weekly mentor, it’s clear that God has used Refugee Resources to help me grow in so many ways. I’m grateful that the Holy Spirit gave me the courage to take the leap and experience the joy that comes from serving God’s kingdom.
 
 Written by: Jordyn Rupprecht