Posts by chicagoland
Finally, I’m Home: Raphael’s Story of 8 Years Waiting for Resettlement
“Anything can happen and your future is over…after years of war, it was hopeless.”
Meet Raphael
Growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Raphael was the youngest brother of five older sisters. Together with his family of sisters and a single mother, Raphael was constantly uncertain about the future. Conflict in their homeland, instability, and poverty are the things that he says he doesn’t want to remember.
Waiting for Resettlement
Eventually, Raphael fled to seek a better life. He found himself in a refugee settlement in Namibia, where he applied for asylum again and again in different countries. Just waiting to find a place to call home. Waiting for resettlement.
“The thought of saying one day I wish I could be an American…I could not even dream of it because it was impossible. It couldn’t come to be, so why dream of it? And then, all of a sudden, there is this new door that is just opened for you.”
Raphael, a refugee who was granted entry to the U.S. in 2018
After eight years of waiting, Raphael was granted entry into the United States in May 2018. With World Relief, he set out to begin a new life.
Watch the video below to hear Raphael share about his experience of being a refugee and gaining the opportunity to come to the United States… building relationships with staff and volunteers along the way.
Resettling Refugees for More than 40 Years
For more than 40 years, World Relief has partnered with volunteers from the community to welcome and serve immigrants and refugees across the Chicago area. Together, we have helped thousands of refugees like Raphael achieve stability and work toward a future they may not have dreamed was possible.
You can help welcome refugees like Raphael by applying to volunteer with World Relief Chicagoland today. Take the next step toward building relationships and being part of “welcome” for another refugee like Raphael.
Watch other stories of transformation on World Relief Chicagoland’s YouTube channel!
More like this:
New Opportunity in the U.S.: Jenny’s Story
I Was No Longer Safe in My Country: Yomardy’s Story of Seeking Asylum
Watch this Family Reunite After 9 Years Apart
Why Family Reunification is Needed
Can you imagine fleeing your home? And not just leaving behind your community. Becoming separated from your family too.
Sadly, the circumstances that push refugees from their homes often separate families. And this creates countless hardships. Sometimes there are tragic consequences. The loss has a lasting emotional impact that affects other areas of life. In other words, it can prevent families from integrating into their new communities.
Thankfully, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) sees family as a primary community, for every person. Because of that, UNHCR prioritizes family. Together, UNHCR and organizations like World Relief work to reunite husbands and wives, bring together parents and children, and connect children with their siblings. Above all, to restore relationships.
UNHCR promotes family reunification to protect and preserve the unity of this fundamental unit of society, to restore basic dignity to a refugee’s life, and especially to provide protection for children…
UNHCR
The Barriers to Reunification
However, the journey can be long. And it’s challenging. There is often an extensive waiting period after someone submits their application. Loss of formal documents can make it difficult for families to prove their relationships. Additionally, it can be expensive. Airfares, legal fees, and other costs add up. It can end up being thousands of dollars that families can’t afford. Beyond those costs, it can be hard to find affordable legal advice. Because of that, too many families go years without seeing each other.
But there is hope.
How World Relief Reunites Families
Every year, World Relief works to bring families back together. By providing free or affordable legal help, staff walk families through the whole process. First, staff can evaluate the case for reunification. Then help with submitting the application. They can sift through the required documentation. Then case managers can help with resettlement details. Finally, World Relief volunteers can even provide a ride to the airport. All of this can take years!
But it’s worth it to bring families back together.
Then when they are, it’s always an emotional experience.
Watch the video below to see one family’s emotional reunion at the airport.
Watch more videos of hope on World Relief Chicagoland’s YouTube channel!
More like this:
New Opportunity in the U.S.: Jenny’s Story
I Was No Longer Safe in My Country: Yomardy’s Story of Seeking Asylum
Three Stories of Welcoming Refugees Across the U.S.
Did you know that World Relief Chicagoland is just one office location among 17 other U.S. offices of World Relief? As we welcome refugees and serve immigrants throughout the Chicago area, we know that across the country, other offices are doing their part to welcome new arrivals to their cities! Each shares a vision for creating communities where immigrants and refugees thrive. And each has powerful stories to share of the people who come to the U.S. after leaving their home country.
The three stories below are from World Relief offices in Washington state, Memphis, Tennessee, and North Texas. Each features a courageous and resilient family. Each family experienced a tragedy that forced them to flee. And yet each story also shows evidence of hope and a future ahead.
Amira admits, “I never expected to be a refugee.“
For Amira, life felt almost perfect… then the United States invaded Iraq and her life changed forever. She started as a top student studying linguistics. Her work and research made her a university professor. She was surrounded by family. Even after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Amira stayed for three years. She wanted to rebuild her country. But then it became too dangerous to stay…
Read Amira’s story of coming to the U.S. from Iraq as a refugee and about how today, she speaks up as an advocate for refugees and caseworker with World Relief Tri-Cities in Washington state.
Nazia worries for her friends and family in Afghanistan. “It’s not one person, two people, not even one hundred—it’s more like a million people.”
When Nazia, her husband, and three children arrived in Memphis in 2019, they came with the hope of providing a safe future for their daughters and son. Because Nazia’s husband worked on special projects for the U.S. and Nazia worked for Western media, their whole family had been at risk in Afghanistan. Threats from the Taliban forced the family from their home. Seeking safety, the family sold their belongings and traveled to the U.S. on Special Immigrant Visas. In 2019, they arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, where the long work of rebuilding their lives began.
Read Nazia’s story about how World Relief Memphis is helping her family as they dream of their future in the United States…while mourning and praying for their home country of Afghanistan.
David says that the most important thing to know about Afghans is that “Whenever a guest comes to our house, we’re happy for it. We say that guest is not only our guest, it’s God’s guest that came to our house.”
At World Relief North Texas, David practices his culture’s value of hospitality. As an Afghan immigrant, he uses his knowledge of both U.S. and Afghan culture to help the World Relief North Texas team welcome the influx of people arriving from Afghanistan. David and his family escaped Afghanistan in August, so he easily recalls the rush to flee to safety. And he remembers World Relief’s welcome to his family just a few months ago.
Read David’s story of how his experience working with Americans in Afghanistan as a translator is helping welcome other new arrivals to the U.S. through cultural orientation while his own family adjusts to life in Texas.
Read More Stories of Hope
María’s Story: Letter from a New U.S. Citizen
Jerome’s Story: Becoming A U.S. Citizen After Escaping Violence
New Opportunity in the U.S.: Jenny’s Story
“Life in the Congo…was just good. It’s one of the most friendly places and a community of togetherness.”
This is how Jenny began her story. Describing what life looked like before. Before she was forced to flee. Before members of her family died. And before she left the home that she loved.
“It became a different place,” Jenny told us. And at the age of 13 years old, Jenny left the Democratic Republic of Congo to become a refugee, living in a Namibia refugee settlement for seven years before coming to the United States.
And though there were bright spots, like the chance of a quality education, Jenny and her family faced immense challenges too. She saw people acting out of desperation. Doing terrible things simply to put food on the table.
“I had all these hopes and dreams that I keep talking about. I think I was nineteen years old…so all of my dreams are just shattered.”
Jenny, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo
How did Jenny’s story change from that of a young woman questing for education and a better life to someone seizing that brighter future? Watch the video below to see Jenny share her story of taking a chance and receiving new opportunity.
Refugee Resettlement
For more than 40 years, World Relief has welcomed refugees like Jenny into community across Chicagoland. You can help young women like Jenny achieve their biggest dreams by joining our mission to welcome. Become a volunteer with World Relief Chicagoland. Whether by offering friendship, serving as an English language tutor, or helping set up homes for new refugee arrivals, you can make a life-changing impact for someone like Jenny. Someone who has risked at all at the chance of a better life.
Learn about World Relief Chicagoland’s work resettling refugees here and watch other videos of hope on our YouTube channel!
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Volunteer Impact Video: Abdul and Yao
An Update on How the H.O.M.E. Program Is Serving Asylum Seekers Throughout Chicagoland
The following update is from Hannah Thompson, World Relief Chicagoland’s Immigrant Family Services Volunteer Coordinator who works with staff and community volunteers in the H.O.M.E. program for asylum seekers.
What is H.O.M.E.?
World Relief Chicagoland created the H.O.M.E. program with the knowledge that asylum seekers are among the most vulnerable immigrants. Like refugees, asylum seekers have left their homes because of threats to their safety and well-being. And yet they do not have financial support that refugees have, and must wait for the U.S. to make a legal decision about their request for asylum. Without a way to support themselves during that months- or years-long waiting process, asylum seekers are socially, financially, and legally vulnerable.
Thanks to generous partners and volunteers, the H.O.M.E. program provides Housing, Opportunity, Mutuality (Transformative relationships), and Empowerment for asylum seekers throughout the Chicago area. By providing rental assistance and social support, World Relief Chicagoland helps asylum-seeking families rebuild their lives during the long, stressful asylum process.
News from the H.O.M.E. Front
As we closed out the year in December 2021, there were so many exciting developments with families in the H.O.M.E. program! And this is in large part thanks to the faithful partnership of churches and H.O.M.E. volunteer teams. By providing rent assistance, these partners ensure that families seeking asylum have a safe place to live.
One story that stands out focuses on a pivotal moment in the asylum process.
One asylum seeker recently received his Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). This is after months of waiting! Finally, this husband and father could open his first bank account and start a new job. This was such a joyous moment! Not long after receiving the EADs, World Relief volunteers helped him open a bank account. He is working hard in a new job while actively looking for a better position that will allow him to support his family.
You Can Welcome Families H.O.M.E.
It is all thanks to volunteer teams and financial supporters that asylum seeking families can reach important milestones like these. And that they can achieve these goals without worrying about how to pay rent or being at risk of homelessness.
World Relief Chicagoland needs more partners like this who can help us reach more asylum seekers. Whether by volunteering, giving rent assistance, or both, you can make the difference and help welcome families “home.”
Learn More
If you’re interested in learning more about the H.O.M.E. Program and how you can get involved, contact Hannah Thompson, at hthompson@wr.org. Together, we can support the well-being of asylum seekers as they seek safety.
Reflections on 2021 from Executive Director Susan Sperry
The following letter is from Susan Sperry, World Relief Chicagoland’s Executive Director, who oversees World Relief’s work across three offices in Aurora, Chicago (Albany Park), and DuPage County (Carol Stream) and shared her leadership reflections at the close of 2021. Read more of Susan’s thoughts by following her on Twitter!
To all of World Relief Chicagoland’s generous supporters, partners, volunteers, and advocates,
As I reflect on 2021, I want to share my heartfelt thanks for each of you. I am continuously inspired and amazed by how you, a community of faithful volunteers, partners, supporters, and advocates, show up to love our immigrant and refugee neighbors well. You give your time, talent, material resources, and of yourselves.
Our Shared Calling
In Matthew 25, Jesus directly links himself with people in vulnerable situations. He tells the disciples that when they welcome the stranger, they welcome Him. For those of us who follow Jesus, this call is for us to recognize the image of God in all people. It asks us to see that when we welcome refugees and other immigrants in tangible ways, we welcome Jesus.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Matthew 25:35 (ESV)
You Answered the Call in 2021
In 2021, we saw you answer this call again and again.
- You helped World Relief Chicagoland welcome more new arrivals than in the previous two years combined. Together, we began new relationships that will continue as we walk with families for years to come.
- You mobilized family members, churches, and workplaces to generously share the essentials that newly-arrived refugee families need when they start to rebuild their lives.
- You volunteered – showing up on Zoom calls, in church gymnasiums, at apartment complexes, and to airport pickups. And by showing up, you offered friendship to our new neighbors and contributed to creating a community of welcome.
This year, the Abadi* family arrived in the U.S. unsure of how they would be received. They knew that in many ways, their home country, religion, and ethnicity would set them apart from their new neighbors. And yet you showed up to welcome them. You provided furniture, household essentials, and helped set up their new apartment. When the Abadis went to take a tour of the school their children would attend, students walked up to greet their new classmates. The teachers welcomed them warmly.
These small actions of students and teachers walking alongside the Abadi family reflected the power of community and of coming together to welcome and help one another.
Though rebuilding a life in a new country is never easy, the Abadis marveled, “We never expected a welcome like this.”
Thank You
In these and so many other ways, we saw you give generously. You brought your creative ideas to the table. You committed to welcoming immigrants and refugees in Chicagoland and beyond.
I am humbled by the ways that you have joined World Relief Chicagoland to serve families in vulnerable situations. And I am abundantly grateful to partner together with you in this work. Thank you. As we move forward together into 2022, I pray that we continue stepping into many opportunities to love and serve our neighbors. And that we can receive and reflect God’s love in vitally important ways.
Along with the entire staff of World Relief Chicagoland, I wish you and your loved ones a peace-filled season and new year.
Susan Sperry, Executive Director of World Relief Chicagoland
*The name of the family in this story was changed to protect their privacy.
The Christmas Story and Asylum-Seekers
After the wise men left, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Jesus and Mary, his mother. Why? Because Herod was searching for the newborn to kill him (Matthew 2:1-23). The story of Christ’s birth gives us a picture of the holy family fleeing, hiding, and seeking refuge. It provides a glimpse into what our refugee, immigrant, and asylum-seeking neighbors experience.
Over 80 million people across the globe are displaced from their homes. Many individuals have had to flee because of persecution, war, or violence and are seeking safety in a new country. In 2019, World Relief Chicagoland began providing case management and employment services to asylum-seekers at our Chicago office. We sat down with the Asylum Project creator, Angelica Barahona, to talk more about it.
Q&A with Angelica, Asylum Project Creator
World Relief: Who is an asylum-seeker?
Angelica: An asylum-seeker is someone who enters the United States seeking protection from persecution. There could also be other factors harming them or their family. Asylum-seekers get to the United States in different ways and upon arrival they request asylum. When applying for asylum, one must have a credible fear of persecution. They need to also submit evidence of persecution in another country.
World Relief: What is the Asylum Project at World Relief?
Angelica: We have realized that asylum-seekers must go through a very lengthy application process. Throughout this journey, they have little to no support. Therefore, the purpose of the program is to provide case management services and employment services to asylum-seekers while they are going through the process. Usually, an asylum-seeker can wait up to five years for their case to be approved.
The process really is an uphill battle. World Relief Chicagoland helps asylum-seekers navigate the systems by building partnerships with legal providers, medical providers, and childcare services. Ultimately, the Asylum Project helps asylum-seekers receive the proper support. It also helps them figure out what it is they need and where they can go for help.
World Relief: Can you give some examples of World Relief’s asylum work?
Angelica: Most families reach out to us through a referral. In many cases, referrals are either made by a friend, family member, or another provider.
When they first get in contact with World Relief, I will always do an assessment with them. It’s really just talking with them about their life. I talk to them about what is going on, the different challenges they are facing, and the dreams they have. Next, we put together a set of goals we can achieve in the short term. It looks different for every family.
For some asylum-seekers, they will need to get their children in school and their house set up. For others, they may have been here for a long time and need employment authorization or a new job. Since starting this project, we have been able to serve over 120 families.
World Relief: How does this reflect God’s calling?
Angelica: I really think this work is right on in showing God’s heart and God’s mission from the moment Christ started his public ministry. He wants the world to be saved and wants people from across the nations to hear his Word. He came for that purpose.
There are commands in God’s word we cannot ignore. These commands are related to serving the poor in our community, serving the vulnerable, making room at the table, and being attentive to the foreigner. All of this is embedded in God’s Word. And this is what World Relief is doing coming alongside asylum-seekers, as well as other refugees and immigrants.
It requires for us to have a solid view of the Kingdom and the hope ahead. Whenever we are faced with pain and injustice like many of the families are (and we are, too, by listening to their stories), faith is what really empowers us. A lot of the people I work with share a deep faith. It is exciting to look ahead and think about the contributions each family will continue to make in our community. It is humbling how God can use so little in us to multiply his immense grace.
Creating change isn’t easy, it’s possible when we move together. To learn more about how you can get involved, visit here.
Holiday Gift Guide 2021
Welcome to World Relief Chicagoland’s first annual holiday gift guide! We’ve created a holiday gift guide that creates change with every gift you buy.
When you purchase a gift from the holiday gift guide, you’ll be a part of building welcoming communities for refugees and immigrants.
So, what are you waiting for? This holiday season, give a gift that gives back.
World Relief Box from Anchor of Hope Box
Send hope to a loved-one’s doorstep (or your own!) with our exclusive World Relief gift box. We’ve partnered with Anchor of Hope Box to create a unique gift featuring beautiful, handmade items crafted by refugees, survivors of trafficking and people experiencing displacement around the world. Each box provides hope in the form of dignified and sustainable employment to people in vulnerable situations.
Order by December 14th for boxes to arrive by Christmas.
Re:new
Shop beautifully created bags, accessories, and more at Re:new. Re:new offers free sewing classes to refugee women in Chicagoland and then whenever possible, hires the graduates of the program to work in their studio and sell their items through their store.
Endiro Coffee
For the coffee aficionado in your life, locally based Endiro Coffee have a coffee subscription that your loved one is sure to enjoy.
Whitney Winkler Calendar
Bring some art into the everyday with this limited-edition calendar from Memphis-based artist Whitney Winkler. 100% of profits support local World Relief efforts.
The Happy Givers Collection
A gift that does good and looks good. The Happy Givers World Relief Collection is quality apparel with a purpose — perfect for the person in your life who likes to make a statement.
Refugee Bath Co.
Love. Energy. Nourish. Soothe. These are just a few of the words used to describe the bath bombs from Refugee Bath Co. whose mission is to provide opportunities for refugees in Washington to thrive.
prettyinside. Facial Masks
For the woman (or man!) in your life who wants their outside to shine as brightly as their inside, pick up a few face masks from Musee Bath’s newest line.
Hawa Images
Mark a special moment in your life with a photo package from Hawa Images. Studio owner Roxanne Engstrom believes in the power of story to inspire people to empathy and action.
Pen + Pillar Stationary
For the writer and kind-hearted giver in your life, shop owners Taylor and Justin have created a series of notebooks, greeting cards and art prints that your loved one is sure to enjoy.
Give the gift that keeps giving.
For the person in your life who is passionate about building welcoming communities for refugees and immigrants, gift a membership to Monthly Partners – World Relief Chicagoland’s monthly giving community.
Through their gifts each month, Monthly Partners partner with World Relief to create lasting change in Chicagoland for refugees and immigrants. Together, we equip immigrants and refugees to overcome barriers, achieve sustainable livelihoods, and seize a brighter future as they rebuild their lives in the United States.
Right now, their full first year will be matched dollar for dollar up to $50,000!
Gift Monthly Partners and spread the gift of lasting change.
Advent Prayer Guide: Taking Heart
We dwell in a world still racked with extreme poverty, violence, mass displacement, and suffering. Covid-19 continues to expose these realities of injustice in new and overwhelming ways, and it feels debilitating. Advent is a moment to enter in, hold these realities, bring the grief we carry, sit in the brokenness, and long together for restoration.
For those of us who follow the Christian faith, Advent reminds us of the hope we have. In the aching, longing, and waiting we are reminded that,
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5
That’s why this Advent season, we want to invite those of you who share our faith to pray with us. Let us pray for the heaviness we carry and the brokenness we see in our own lives and in the world around us.
Through this guide, you will join others in the World Relief community in daily prayer for our refugee and immigrant neighbors. Let this Advent season be filled with renewal, rest, and restoration as we offer up our prayers.
Advent Week One: November 28
Read: Isaiah 9:2-7
Reflect & Pray: Christmas time is full of lights. There are houses with lights on their roof or your Christmas tree that is filled with little light bulbs and sparkle. Could these lights be a reminder this Christmas season of the light that broke into the darkness? God sent the One who is light to come into the darkness so that we could live in a relationship with him. The light has come!
Advent Week Two: December 5
Read: Ephesian 2:14-18
Reflect & Pray: In the midst of chaos, Jesus entered into our midst. He would live the life we could not live, fulfilling God’s requirement. When he entered, he brought with him perfect peace. Peace that heals, peace that reconciles, peace that invites, peace that challenges, and peace that brings hope.
Advent Week Three: December 12
Read: John 13:34-35
Reflect & Pray: The distinguishing mark of Christ’s followers is love. We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our love compels us to serve sacrificially and welcome our neighbors whether they be natural-born or foreign-born.
Advent Week Four: December 19
Read: Luke 1:46-56
Reflect & Pray: Mary’s song is a hymn of praise. She expresses her confidence that God will be true to his promises to his people. We can have this same confidence that God will be faithful to what he is doing in us, in our communities, and in our world.
Continuing in Prayer: December 26
Read: Psalm 27:13-14
Reflect & Pray: We have celebrated the arrival of God’s Son coming into the world. This is how we know hope, peace, love, and joy. And now we remain in the Lord. We will see his goodness, we will wait, and we will take heart.
More ways to pray with World Relief:
4-Week Advent Devotional: An Invitation to Welcome
What is Advent?
Advent focuses on the season of expectation as those of us who are Christians anticipate the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth at Christmas. Throughout Church history, Christians have observed Advent, first to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, and then to look forward to someday when He will return.
Today, the four Sundays before Christmas are an opportunity for the Church to remember the birth of Christ, celebrate what His life and death meant for the world, and look forward to the day when He will come again.
We call this season Advent, when we reflect on the themes of hope, love, joy, and peace and acknowledge each as a good gift from God that can give us a unique way to think about our relationship to Him.
All four weeks of Advent lead up to the culmination on Christmas Day when Christians celebrate the gift of Jesus Christ’s arrival on earth!
Answering the Invitation
The Christmas season is special for Christians – because as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus Christ’s arrival on earth and welcome His presence, we have an opportunity to welcome our new neighbors – arriving immigrants and refugees.
Jesus said, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.”
Matthew 25:35
We believe that this verse and the season of Advent provide an opportunity.
It is a call for us to welcome strangers, including immigrants and refugees, the same way we would want to welcome Jesus!
Download the Advent Devotional: Invitation to Welcome
That is why we created this Advent devotional guide for you. It’s an invitation to join with your friends. Your loved ones. A small group. Or your family. Together, this is a guide for celebrating Advent in light of our Christian calling. Will you join us and learn about our calling to create just communities of love and welcome?
More Advent Resources from World Relief Chicagoland:
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