Yonathan is an Arabic-speaking Christian, the son of a pastor.
 
Telling me about his home in Cairo, there were fruit trees right outside his door. He reminds me that here in Dallas, they lack open spaces for soccer, except for the turf at school and parking lots at home. He is not upset though - he wins his soccer games no matter the terrain. His father continues to pastor a church in Egypt from afar as they get situated here in Dallas.
 
Every day in the Vickery Meadows neighborhood, kids are out playing tag and soccer. On Sundays, families are out doing laundry. And, on Thursdays in the Northwest Community Center, we are inside practicing reading. Yonathan is incredibly competitive and intelligent, and he is determined to learn. When I get distracted, he is quick to say, “Let’s get back to work!” We practice things like reading comprehension and English vocabulary. We also learn goal setting, how to stay motivated, and most importantly, about Jesus.
 
Most of the kids in Reading Circle are learning English on top of an additional one or two primary languages. This challenge, on top of the challenges they may face at home or school, can seem insurmountable without some help from a friend or mentor. As some of these students encounter God for the first time, having a one-on-one relationship with someone who cares about them is essential to unpacking these complex topics. Yonathan knows God, and already speaks very good English. It is a privilege to mentor him as he grows further in his understanding of the Gospel, and as he reconciles the customs of his new home with that of his old one.

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Another Christmas has come and gone. You may like me have lingering decorations up to hold onto the magic, or maybe you have quickly packed it all away to move onto all the new year has to bring. When you look back on the holidays and presents, were all your hopes and expectations met? Oftentimes the holidays can leave us with unmet expectations and disappointment if it doesn't live up to what we had hoped. Luckily that is not the case with the extraordinary gift of God’s grace which is clearly evident in the Christ-child lying in a manger: the gift that keeps on giving. Titus 2:11 says “for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…” Grace is God’s undeserved love for us. It is a gift that is freely and generously given. Christ, the son of God, taking on flesh was God’s greatest visible act of love to a fallen world. When we look at Jesus, born in a manger, living and dying for us, and being raised from the dead, we see the grace of God active for our salvation.

One of the greatest joys in my life is being able to share God’s love and our hope in Him with the children in the Reading Circle program. Seven years ago I began volunteering as a literacy mentor to a tiny and shy second grader named Bu Meh. While her stature was small, her heart was large. I had no idea how much my life was about to be enriched through my relationship with her, or how God would teach me about his grace and love for us through a weekly reading program.

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I am coming up on my 5th anniversary of serving with Refugee Resources, so now is the perfect time to look back and appreciate all the ways it has impacted me. I have been partnered with three students over the years, so I am thankful for the consistency. I has allowed me to really get to know the students and their families. But for the past two years I have been mentoring Parfait, my favorite person. 

Parfait is a 3rd grader and a ball of energy and humor. He regularly steals an older sibling's phone to call me at 11 pm just to tell me what he wants for his birthday (5 months early). He loves pranks and hiding in the same place every week to scare people. Parfait quickly forgave me when I accidentally spilled the beans about his Kindergarten crush to his older sister. His favorite joke is "Why did the couch go to the fridge? To get some milk." If anyone could explain that to me I would greatly appreciate it.Parfait is one of the most improved readers of the year! We started two years ago with the alphabet, struggling through "LMNOP", and now he is confidently reading words like "especially: and "suspicious". I sometimes doubt that he comprehends the stories, but when he correctly answers the questions at the end he says "easy peasy lemon squeezy."

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I met San Khin the day I started serving with Refugee Resources in June 2021. However, that was over a year before I became his mentor. He had another mentor and I had another student, but we were both showing up to Reading Circle on Tuesdays, occasionally in the same walking groups at the end of the night. Over that year there were two main things I learned about San: he was very quiet and he loved basketball. So when we got paired up in September of this year, I was determined to get him to open up. I was prepared to rattle off comments about Steph Curry’s jumper and give my hot takes in the Lebron vs MJ debate. I’ve learned an important lesson this fall: trust is earned, and it can take time.

After weeks of continuing to show up, he did start to open up. What could have felt like weeks of mundane consistency were actually building a foundation of trust in a child whose life story looks entirely different than mine. And I have learned so much more about San in this time. He is still quiet and reserved, but it is a quietness that is rooted in confidence. He maintains a steadiness that is self-assured enough to not be the loudest in the room. San is also mature beyond his years. While his peers engage in child-like shenanigans, he prefers to sit back and shake his head with a smile on his face. San is extremely close to his older brother, whom he looks up to and loves to watch basketball and play video games with. While he does love basketball, he is especially passionate about soccer. He plays midfield for the A-team at his school, which allows him to utilize his versatile skill set which combines defensive tenacity with a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net. He is also excelling in his reading comprehension and math skills!

I have so many memories during my time serving at Reading Circle. Moments of growth and triumph in a student’s reading ability. Vulnerable conversations that reveal a newfound trust. Hearing a student repeat a horrific, profanity-filled phrase he had heard at school and didn’t understand (teaching moment!). But none has been more impactful than this recent experience:

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“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:14 ESV

“Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 ESV

As a newly retired teacher, I was looking to use my gifts and share my faith while volunteering. My children and I had served with Alysa Marx in a kid’s club for refugees at the Ivy Apartments 10+ years earlier. Our paths crossed again this year when our two churches united. I learned from Alysa about Refuge Resources Ministry which she directs, and I decided to attend a training. I went not planning to make a regular commitment but to consider being a substitute in the Reading Circle. Alysa shared about the world refugee crisis, which according to the UNHCR the number of people forced to flee due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations has reached more than 100 million people. This means that 1 in every 78 people on earth has been forced to flee. (unhcr.org) As Alysa shared specifically her vision and heart for the refugee children arriving in Dallas and living right here at the Ivy and Sunchase Apartments, my own heart and mind were changed. I signed up and started as a mentor the very next night.

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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.

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I started volunteering at Reading Circle in October 2020. I learned about Reading Circle from my wife, who has worked with the program for almost 4 years. At the time, I was hesitant to join because I was traveling weekly for work and found it difficult to commit to week-day activities. Despite my schedule, I was encouraged by the stories of the children that my wife would share with me and wanted to get involved.

My own family’s background was particularly influential in my decision to join Reading Circle. My parents did not arrive in the United States as refugees, but came as immigrants from China, hoping to achieve the American Dream and provide opportunities to my sister and me. Along the way, they encountered many friendly people who shared Jesus with them, taught them English, invited them into their homes, and connected them with the Christian Chinese community. I couldn’t help but see parallels between my family’s story and the stories of the many children that attend Reading Circle.

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What a joy it is for me to introduce to you our Summer Intern, Prava Pokhrel. Please welcome back our sweet friend.

Alysa:

Hi Prava, we are so thrilled to have you serve with us as a summer intern. Would you share a little bit about yourself?

Prava:

Hello! My name is Prava Pokhrel, and I am an 11th grader currently in the collegiate academy at Conrad High School in the Health Pathway program. I was born in Nepal at a Bhutanese Refugee Camp on March 23, 2006 and was resettled with my family to the USA in February of 2010. I started Reading Circle in 2013 and participated for 7 years. Some of my fondest memories are from my time in the program. I met a lot of people along the way, made many new friends, and became a better and more fluent English reader and writer. I still remember sitting at a table filled with friends and mentors as we made up stories to write down in our journals. It was fun to see what amazing things we could imagine and conjure into our writings. Serving as an intern now with Refugee Resources, Inc, I look forward to creating new memories as well as reminiscing on the times I spent here. It is exciting to see how much the Reading Circle has grown and to get to be a part of that growth!

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I started volunteering at Preschool Circle at the beginning of 2022 after hearing about Refugee Resources for months, through our church and through friends who were volunteering at Reading Circle. I couldn’t give a night during the week, but Alysa mentioned how Preschool Circle meets during the day and I could bring my 3 year old son, Levi, with me as a helper/participant. My husband and I had been looking for ways to engage with and serve the refugee population that lives so close to us here in Dallas. This was an answer to prayer, a perfect opportunity! Every Wednesday for an hour we get to share about the one true God, while preparing preschool age refugee kids to enter the elementary school system here in America. We read stories, sing songs, and make crafts while teaching them English and other essential skills. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch them learn. To watch them go from shy and timid, to listening and participating, it’s worth every minute I give. Not only that, but my son is growing in love for others who are different from him. I just love it. I am thankful for the exposure Levi and I get to a world outside of our own, to others, created by God in His image who look different than we do and speak different languages. What a great picture of the kingdom of God!

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When I was in college, I took a class at my church called Perspectives. It was all about teaching Christians about God’s heart for all people and letting followers of Jesus know that they have been invited to participate with God in spreading the Gospel. The class emphasizes how Christians have been blessed to be a blessing (Genesis 12:1-3). God used Perspectives to change my whole view of what it means to be a follower of Jesus and to show me that God truly has a heart for everyone, not just people who look or talk like me.

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During my last semester of college, fall of 2019, I knew I was moving back to Dallas, which job I had accepted, who my roommate was going to be, the churches I wanted to visit, and my desire to serve in the local community. So much excitement and certainty around what I thought the beginning of adulthood would look like. I began my job in January of 2020, moved into my Uptown apartment in February, and the world shutdown due to COVID-19 restrictions in March. Although so much of what I had thought adulthood would entail had been stripped away, by the grace of God, during this season, I was able to spend more time with my family than I had ever anticipated, maintained a job that I loved, and became a member at Eastside Community Church. However, one of my deepest desires for my entrance into adulthood was missing, serving the DFW community.

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A new year has just begun and for many people, myself included, this is a time of reflection on the past year and goal setting for the future. In January of 2021, I listened to a sermon about our call to love and serve our neighbors in Dallas. I came away from that sermon feeling both convicted and inspired to get involved in my community. At the time, I was not sure how I wanted to be involved, but I knew that I did.

A few months later, I started a new job that came with a better work-life balance, and my new boss encouraged me to be more involved in my community. About that time, my friend Chase reached out and asked if I would be willing to serve as a substitute mentor at Reading Circle. I did some research about Reading Circle and the work that Refugee Resources does in Dallas and was drawn to their mission of empowering refugees through literacy. Several of my friends were also involved in Reading Circle and had great things to say about the impact it has on their lives. I told Chase I was in.

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Reflecting back on all that we encountered in 2021, it is evident that God’s hand continues to move through the work of Refugee Resources. While many students during the pandemic have been losing skills and struggling in their academic environments, our students, thanks to our unique one-to-one relational mentoring setting, have been gaining literacy skills in acquisition, fluency and comprehension.

Amid a crazy year of an ongoing pandemic, an outlandish winter storm that locked the power grid, and recently having to vacate our premises, we are not hopeless but hopeful. We are incredibly grateful for a temporary place nearby to continue to run our programs and share the hope of the gospel. Through all of this, the Lord has shown Himself to be faithful through His protection and covering over us. We have seen the resiliency of our students and families, the consistency and humble service of our mentors, and the abundant generosity of you, our donors. We wait in eager anticipation to see how the Lord will continue to make His glory known. It is a joy to serve with you, and humbly lead as the Lord directs our steps.

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The end of the year is here, what a year it has been! Society is still finding a new norm, recovering from the various losses and changes as a result of COVID 19. Christmas is almost a way of ending the year with a hug that says “You made it!”. We get to reflect upon what we have and what we are thankful for, but also what we can aspire for in the quickly nearing year. To me, Christmas this year means something a little more. I received a shocking (for me and doctors) kidney cancer diagnosis in March of 2021 at age 25. However, now, at the end of the year, I reflect not upon such a dismal diagnosis, but the ways I saw the Lord provide for me. The ways I saw the Lord’s love. The ways I saw the Lord’s blessings. The way I witnessed the Lord caring for me as the shepherd He is. In the eyes of the world, I had every reason to be spiteful and angry. To sit in bitterness and fear. Yes, there was anxiety when mentally preparing for my partial nephrectomy. Yes, there was fear waiting to hear details about what my long term prognosis would be. But yet, there was peace. The Prince of Peace met me in those moments and “led me beside still waters”. God is so good and I am humbled to say I am now cancer-free and after a long period of rest and recovery was able to successfully complete another semester of graduate school, participate in my best friend’s wedding, and now count down the days to celebrate my sister’s wedding as well.

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A few years ago, my wife was working with young refugee children. When I would arrive at home later that day, she seemed to be energized with the children she taught that day. After some time, she mentioned that Refugee Resources conducts evening sessions teaching reading to refugees working with older children and thought I might be interested. It seemed like a good opportunity for which I had been searching, so I agreed and began to attempt to learn how to become a mentor. Little did I know that the real teachers were the children that we met each week.

After some time of learning how Refugee Resources teaches English and reading, and as a part of that message, teaches the story of the Bible, I was paired with Pujan, a 9-year-old boy from Nepal. To say that Pujan is energetic is an understatement. He has two speeds…fast and extremely fast. He loves to run, horse around and play with his friends. As a father of three grown men, I felt like this was going to be a piece of cake!!!! It seems that Pujan had other ideas and keeping his interest and focus was like trying to catch the wind. However, we continued working together and slowly, he began to show progress. In addition, I met his parents and was able to begin a basic communication with them.

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Mom and her two younger siblings were refugees of 1987, escaping the oppressive, communist government in Vietnam. My mom’s father/my grandfather/my grandmother’s husband died of alcoholism, leaving grandmother and her 10 kids to fend for themselves in rural Vietnam. Poverty is an understatement; in order to feed her large family, grandmother would buy discounted, expired groceries and constructed everyone’s wardrobe. Even then, her family still wasn’t the poorest in their village. A young, widowed woman of conservative, communist Vietnam, grandmother defied social norms. She was the primary provider, a father to her children, a clever saleswoman, and an ambitious individual; once she acknowledged the potential in the United States, she took the risk: smuggling her kids out of communist Vietnam. After years of frugal spending and food rationing, she finally scraped together enough gold to smuggle her three youngest, which included my mom, her brother, and her sister, to the United States by boat. Simply overnight, my 19-year-old mother filled the absent maternal role and became her siblings’ primary guardian.

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After scrolling through Facebook for a while one day, I stumbled upon a Facebook post mentioning that Refugees Resources was looking for volunteers. I had never heard of the organization before, but after reading just a few sentences about it, I felt called to volunteer and make a difference.

When I began volunteering, I expected to teach a young individual about Jesus and literacy. I never thought that a seven-year-old would teach me as many life lessons the way that Mubaraka has. When we first met, he was extremely shy and reserved. I could barely get a word out of him and was truly worried that we would not be able to build a relationship. As weeks went by, we continued learning more about the Gospel, practicing the alphabet, pronouncing sounds, and blending words together. Our relationship began one Tuesday night where I asked if I could pray for us. I closed my eyes to pray and in the middle of it, I was really curious if he was closing his eyes. I continued to pray, but I started to peak. As I looked with one eye slightly opened, I realized he was doing the same thing. We instantly started bursting out in laughter and our relationship forever changed that night.

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I started serving in the Reading Circle program in 2016, and it has consistently been a highlight of my week. I’ve enjoyed getting to know several students and their families over the years, but my most recent mentee, Ruksana, holds a special place in my heart.

Ruksana is a spunky 11-year-old from Myanmar who loves math, riddles, and her family. She is funny, brave, and smart, and I see so many leadership traits in her.

I’ll never forget meeting Ruksana for the first time. It happened to be the week for celebrating all January birthdays at Reading Circle, and I picked out a birthday gift for her before we had a chance to meet. After tearing into the present, Ruksana made it very clear that I completely missed the mark. I can now laugh about it with the realization that most ten-year-olds don’t share my enthusiasm for new books.

Despite our rocky first impressions, I slowly began to earn Ruksana’s trust and friendship. We met weekly for three months prior to Covid, and then we continued to meet virtually until we were able to regather safely during the fall. Week after week, our differences began to melt away and a friendship blossomed. It’s been a joy to witness how much Ruskana has grown in her reading skills, confidence, and desire to engage with the stories we read together.

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Several years ago, after returning home from a mission trip to Africa, my heart began to shift and stir. I had spent several years using my summers and vacation time traveling with different organizations teaching, serving, and sharing Jesus with people in various countries. But I knew that there was so much work to be done right here in my own city, so I began searching for a new way to serve locally. I came across Refugee Resources, an organization that was designed to empower refugee students through developing literacy skills and cultivating relationships. I was amazed at how the Lord led me to an organization in my own city that combined my vocation as a reading specialist and my passion for his people. Immediately, my eyes were open to the tremendous needs of this community and I fell in love with Vickery and how Refugee Resources faithfully and selflessly loved and served its people. Reading and sharing the Bible with these refugee students quickly became one of the best parts of my week!

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