On the first night of reading circle, about a year and a half ago, I was introduced to this timid girl from Burma. Juliana warmed up throughout the night, telling story after story about her life between each reading activity. Over time, she has not changed; she remains an excellent storyteller. Each week, every Tuesday night, I look forward to hearing tales from the past week whether it is a story about school, her family, or something funny that happened to her and her friends.
Rewind the clock back almost three years, and my life looked a lot different. I had just heard about the Reading Circle, a program that served the refugee students in Vickery Meadows through a literacy mentorship program. I was excited to use my education background and share the love of Christ with my refugee neighbors. What I didn’t realize at the time, was the cost of my comfort, time, and energy. Yet I also didn’t realize how much my life would be radically transformed for the best by the relationships I’ve formed.
Read MoreRain is one of the happiest, friendliest kids you will ever meet. Every Monday I get the opportunity to spend time with him and it is one of the highlights of my week. Without fail when I arrive at Reading Circle, Rain will rush towards me and want to play games, show me his art, or see how far I can lift him. It is such a joy to be Rain's mentor. You would never tell by these interactions that Rain is actually a refugee from Myanmar - formerly Burma, that has come to the US with the hope of a better life for him and his family.
Read MoreWatching the news a few years ago, I was ashamed when I watched a local story about some angry people planning to head to DFW Airport to protest against a few refugee families being brought by the federal government to settle here as part of a larger resettlement program. Many who had already traveled through multiple unwelcoming countries in their search for a peaceful refuge from their war-torn countries had settled in cities to our north. I was stunned. I thought the story was going to focus on welcoming them after all they’d been through. My heart broke when I imagined that instead of open arms and kind faces, they would experience more of what they were already escaping.
Read MoreFor the past two and a half years, I’ve had the gift of serving as a mentor in the Reading Circle program through Refugee Resources Inc. The organization is set in Vickery Meadow, a beautifully diverse refugee community in Dallas. While it’s only a few minutes away from my apartment, it feels like another part of the world. The neighborhood is made of people from many different ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds, and it has a sense of community that is rare to find.
Read MoreMy favorite characteristic about Tika is that he is a kid. Not only in age, but in excitement and character.
Tika and his family are from Bhutan and came to the United States for a better life through a refugee resettlement organization. Tika was naturally guarded when first meeting him. Any question I asked was quickly responded with an “I don’t know” in a way to shrug off an interaction. The spark of being a 5th-grade boy was missing. He was compliant and quiet, most likely attending because of his parent’s hope for his literacy to improve.
Read MoreI will always remember the evening I was introduced to my quiet and wide-eyed mentee. He was a small little boy who seemed to be shy, although after moving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States, a young child like himself had every reason to be watchful as he learned the ropes in this new place. Maybe it was because he hadn’t ever interacted closely with a white adult female, maybe he had a traumatic past haunting him, or maybe it was just because he only knew a few words in English. Coincidentally, I had just moved to the new, shiny, fast-paced Dallas, TX (although my move was not as much of a culture shock as his) and I was grateful for my new little friend.
Read MoreHey family and friends! I want to introduce you to my new friend Snow White. (Or as I call her, Snow!) But first, here’s a little bit of a backstory for ya!
My friend Rebekah Yates told me about a ministry she served with called Reading Circle. She explained that volunteers are paired with a refugee student to read with them to help them become literate in English and share the love of Christ. At first I was unsure, but little did I know that God had an awesome plan up his sleeve. After praying and thinking about it for a few months, I was ready to jump into what the Lord had planned!
It’s Tuesday night in Dallas.
The Mavericks are playing at the AAC, there’s a concert in Deep Ellum, Uptown is hopping, and lives are being transformed at the corner of Holly Hill and Pineland in Vickery Meadow.
About forty people have gathered together in the same room, but nothing could be more different about this group. We’re from different hemispheres, we speak different languages, but we all look forward to Reading Circle.
I have been serving with Reading Circle since May 2015. I think most people who meet Alysa Marx end up serving in some capacity, because her passion for the refugee community and her resolve to partner with them is magnetic and hard to resist. It’s easy to see that she’s a part of something bigger than herself and that she wants to bring you into that as well. I loved Reading Circle for a variety of reasons – it checked so many of my boxes I had when looking for volunteer opportunities.
Read MoreOver two years ago, I felt distant and disconnected from the people and places in Africa I love and longed for. I had always wanted and planned to live serve in east Africa. A series of health problems and complications rendered this impossible for me. I was heart broken.
Sick and stuck in Dallas, I started searching for pocket of the world in my neighborhood that I could give my heart to.
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