Chicagoland
Life Across Borders: What Does the Bible Say About Immigration?
Immigration, mass displacement and refugee resettlement are complex issues. At the heart of these issues, though, are women, men and children who are made in the image of God and long to live flourishing lives. In this monthly series from World Relief, gain a global and a biblical perspective on the subject of immigration, diving into current policies and practices and sharing stories of our collective human experience.
Tune in to our latest episode where youâll hear Matthew Soerens dive into the facts about immigration and explore what the Bible has to say about God’s heart and the Church’s response.
Listen to the podcast on – Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts – or where ever you listen to podcasts.
Welcome begins with you.
“For I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” â Matthew 25
Welcome begins with you.
Join us.
Original Music â The Brilliance Music
Rebuilding Dreams
Meet Medina! Sheâs 17, has learned four languages, and her dream is to be an English teacher. Her family is from the Afar people group of East Africa, and they were forcibly displaced from Eritrea to Ethiopia when Medina was a little girl. When she arrived in the U.S. in 2018, it was the second time she started learning a new country and new language.
âWhen I went from Eretria to Ethiopia, it was a different life. And now itâs a different life in the USA,â says Medina with a soft smile. âIn Eritrea I used to speak Tigrinya, because thatâs the language most of the people speak there. And when I came to Ethiopia, I completely forgot Tigrinya and I learned Amharic. Now in the U.S.A. Iâm kind of forgetting some Amharic, and Iâm learning English. My family speaks Afar, and I will never forget that language because we always speak it in the house and everywhere.â (Read Medina’s longer story here.)
When COVID hit and schools went virtual in March 2020, e-learning posed new challenges to Medinaâs progress with English.
âLearning on the computer is really hard, she says, âI go to Mather High School, and we are still not going in-person. The hardest part is sometimes the internet cuts off. Sometimes the computer is not working. Sometimes you just want to sleep. It goes from 8am to 3:15pm. You get tired of sitting all day.â
In the summer of 2020, a World Relief volunteer named Jenny began meeting online with Medina each week to provide extra learning support. (Read about Jennyâs path from interested to engaged here).
âJennyâs really nice. She lives in Indiana. She helps me with everything,â says Medina. âWe tell about ourselves. She tells me her story and I tell her my story. She told me about her family, and how sheâs going to university. Sheâs from Korea, and lives with her mother and father and brother, and has some family in Korea. Jennyâs dream job is to be a doctor, and my dream job is to be an English teacher. English is not easy, but if you try and never give up it gets better and better.â
As a volunteer in our Youth Program, you get to learn with and from determined young people like Medina as they continue their journey from one language and culture to the next and lay a foundation for their familyâs life in the United States.
Photos by Rachel Wassink | Writing and interview by Jacob Mau
H.O.M.E. Program
Through the H.O.M.E. Program, we at World Relief are partnering together with you â the church and community â to come along side asylum seekers by providing housing and community support. The programâs priorities are in the name: Housing, Opportunity, Mutuality, and Empowerment. Join us on Thursday June 3rd to learn more about the program and how you can get involved.
Thursday June 3rd from 12:00 â 1:00 p.m.
HERE TO WELCOME SERIES Part 2 – Rebuild of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program.
On May 18th, World Relief Chicagoland continued a two-part series, âHere to Welcomeâ! You can watch the replay above about the rebuild of the U.S. refugee resettlement program. After bearing the cost of being forced to leave their homes, refugees encounter a rigorous and lengthy security process often lasting years. With the previous refugee admission ceiling at the historic low of 15,000, the length of that process was extended for many. With the recent increase to 62,500, World Relief is here to guide you as we rebuild communities of love and welcome together.
HERE TO WELCOME SERIES Part 1 – Asylum Seekers and the Crisis at the Border.
On May 11th, World Relief Chicagoland started a two-part series, âHere to Welcomeâ! Watch the replay above to hear an update about the migration crisis at the U.S./Mexico border from World Reliefâs Matthew Soerens. Youâll also learn how you and your church can connect with asylum seekers, refugees, and other immigrants right here in Chicagoland in the panel discussion that follows. Join us for part two of the series on May 18 at noon to learn about the rebuild of the U.S. refugee resettlement program. Register for this free virtual event here!
Mother’s Day
This Motherâs Day, we want to wish all of our mothers, in all stages of life, a Happy Motherâs Day. We know that motherhood is a blessing, but itâs not without its trials. For many of our families, mothers have made immense sacrifices for their children. Today, we honor and thank you for all that you do.
Seeta is a mother of four. When her family left Afghanistan, however, only three children boarded the plane with her and her husband, Noor.
Aysha, their youngest daughter at less than a year old, was forced to stay behind as her family left in search of safety in America. Having served the U.S. military as a journalist, the Habibs could no longer stay in Afghanistan for fear of retaliation from the Taliban.
âI was working with the U.S. military as a journalist, and she was working with USAID (United State Agency for International Development) and United Nations, so it was very dangerous for us because the Taliban did not accept people who worked for foreigners,â Noor explained. âWe were not safe in our country, so in order to seek safety we came here.â
Consequently, Noor and his family were offered Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) from the U.S. government as a way to not only thank them but also to protect them.
But at the time the visa paperwork was issued, Aysha had not been born. As a result, her paperwork was filed separately, and Noor and Seeta were forced to leave her behind with other family members.
âIt was a hard time because we didnât have any choice,â said Noor, who recently found work with Amazon. âWe thought if we lost that chance, we wouldnât find it again. Because of that, we left our baby there. We came here. If we had cancelled our visas, maybe we wouldnât have been able to get [them] back.â
Instead, Seeta and her husband arrived in Memphis in October 2020 with their eight-, six- and five-year-old children. It wasnât until two months later that they received news about Ayshaâs visa, but, for her to come, Seeta risked not being able to return to the U.S. because her green card had not arrived.
Determined to be reunited with her daughter, Seeta and her Good Neighbor Team began looking for a way to make it possible alongside World Relief Memphis staff. After speaking with the State Department, they discovered that her green card had been misplaced, but that she could go to Afghanistan with her current visa knowing that it was coming.
Yet when she arrived in Afghanistan, she was greeted by a baby who didnât recognize her. The months apart had created distance, but Seeta was patient.
âIt was emotional, and she didnât want to come with me for one day or night, like maybe she [had] forgotten me,â Seeta said. âThen she realized who I am, and now sheâs not leaving me for one minute.â
Finally, Seeta brought her daughter home. Her family was together, and they could begin to rebuild their lives in safety.
Today, she works for Shelby County, helping connect others in her community with the resources they need in the wake of the pandemic. After advocating for women and childrenâs safety in Afghanistan for many years, Seeta seeks to empower women in the workplace.
Similarly, Aysha is flourishing.
âSheâs very happy with us now. When she came, she was sad and keeping calm,â Noor said. âBut now, sheâs come back better than ever and is very active.â
When asked if they had hopes and dreams for the future, Noor and Seeta immediately responded.
âFor sure, thatâs why we are here. We are here because of these. We try to do all our best for all our children.âÂ
*This story was originally shared by our World Relief Memphis office.
I was Only Thinking of My Kids
Four years ago, Maryam and her kids were in a much different situation than today. The family left their home in Dahok, Iraq the year ISIS took over Mosul (50 miles to the south) and killed thousands of Yazidi people in Sinjar (a hundred miles to the west). Maryam didnât share the details of their departure or why her husband did not flee with them. But it was clearly a dangerous region for Assyrian Christians like them, or any other religious minorities…
Maryamâwho preferred not to be photographedâhad three-year-old Jseeka (pictured above), two-year-old Danyal, and was five months pregnant when they left for Turkey. Hereâs what she had to say about that time:
âHere in America, we have a lot of things we want to do. We are going a step at a time. For example, we want to study, buy a car, learn how to drive, work. But in Turkey, there was nothing. We were just in transit. My kids didnât go to school. We were just waiting for the paperwork to come to America. Just sitting at home waiting for the processing. I was counting the time hour by hour.â
âI was always thinking about what I was going to do, how to survive, what to do with these kids. I was nervous and kind of depressed. But I was only thinking of my kids, and they gave me power to keep going. I was thinking, âI am here only for them. I have to be a strong woman for my kids.ââ
After two years and four months in Turkey, the family came to the United States through the refugee resettlement program. They joined Maryamâs parents, two sisters, and other relatives. Now they live a block from their neighborhood school. The extended family helps care for the kids. And twice a week Jseeka and Danyal attend a World Relief after school program hosted by a local church.Â
When you help refugees rebuild their lives, you give more than materials and services for kids like Jseeka and Danyal. You provide something immaterial: the sense of stability and growth that was lost in displacement. You walk with families as they move from displacement to belonging, retaining parts of their culture and adopting parts of American culture.
âI want my kids to keep learning English and to learn how to be on time, like Americans,â said Maryam. âYou guys are very organized here. When you say four oâclock, itâs four oâclock. Not six or seven. At 8:30, they close the door to my kidsâ school. If you get there at 8:31, youâre late and you have to take your kids in through the office and explain why.â
Maryam laughed as she said these words, her smile alone expressing a range of emotions that couldnât be articulated in a short conversation across a language and culture gap. But among them, a few were clear: strength, pride on behalf of her kids, and hope for a future together with her loved ones.Â
As a community of World Relief donors, you have helped 400,000 refugees and immigrants like Maryam, Jseeka, and Danyal rebuild their lives. Continue your support this month.
Reyna’s Story
Your gift gives back
âAt the beginning of this pandemic, everything we were doing as an EMT became 10 times harder.â Twenty-six-year-old Reyna has been working as an EMT and front-line worker throughout the Covid-19 crisis. It is hard to imagine her small frame lifting grown men from a third-floor apartment down the stairs to the ambulance below, but as she tells stories of her job she beams with pride because she knows she is making a difference. She is passionate about serving her city.
And you gave her the support to help our city.
Originally from Mexico, she came to the United States when she was four years old. Her father brought her family across the border because he was having difficulties finding work to care for his family as a mechanic. They settled in Chicago and she has grown up here with her close-knit family.
She recalls not sharing her familyâs situation with many because of fear. But when she connected with World Reliefâs Immigration Legal Services team, opportunities were opened. She started the DACA application process right after high school and was approved in a matter of months. Reyna shares, âI could do so many new things. I was able to have job opportunities. I never really thought I would go to college and I do not think my family ever expected I would be able to go to college because I was undocumented. We never knew what we could and could not do.â
After receiving a scholarship for being in the top 10% of her high school class, Reyna began college studying Computer Science. After a year of studying, she realized what she really wanted to do was be a part of the medical community, so she became an EMT. Her goal now is to continue her studies to become a nurse and hopes to work in an emergency room.
You provided new possibilities. Reyna is providing her patients the very best.
She has gone above and beyond in her job even carrying a fanny pack with extra supplies like masks for people that do not have them because for her âbeing there for my patients is my job.â
Reyna is a vibrant and brave young woman who like many essential workers is risking her safety to serve others during this crisis in our nation.
âWhen people ask me if I am Hispanic or Mexican or American, I say that I feel Mexican-American. I am both and Chicago is home, and it is where I belong. I fell in love with this city. And I want to help Chicagoans.â
She beams with gratefulness because your support has opened more opportunities in her life, âI so appreciate World Reliefâs advice â it is one of those places you can definitely trust.â Â
What Can I do Now?
Empathy and Skill
âIâve never been a refugee,â says Jenny Park, “but I feel like we all have moments where you feel like you don’t belong anywhere. For me, it was feeling emotionally displaced sometimes while growing up as an immigrant.â
Jenny joined World Relief as a volunteer tutor in the summer of 2020. Having immigrated to central Indiana from Korea with her family as a Kindergartener, she felt well-equipped to empathize and support other young immigrants, including refugees and asylum-seekers.
âMy heart and the experiences Iâve had make me feel especially for young refugees,â she says. âThey soak in and pick up the language much faster. They come over and have to be a leader of the family. As an immigrant I went through some of that as well.â
In order to help her family with finances, Jenny began tutoring other Korean immigrants while in high school, working with up to 12 students at one point. Developing this skill prepared her for her work as a volunteer.
âI always knew I wanted to do something to help people,â she says. âWhen I was little, I was like, âOK, I’ll do something to help when I become a doctor.â But when I started volunteering with World Relief, I asked myself, âWell, what can I do now?â Since Iâve been tutoring so many years already, it was like I kind of had this program inside of me â like how to deal with students and lead the class. Thatâs how I decided to start tutoring with World Relief.â
Getting Connected
Jenny received training and support from World Relief staff, who connected her with Medina, a young woman from East Africa who speaks four languages and dreams to be an English teacher. Facing barriers related to e-learning during COVID-19, Medina was able to meet consistently with Jenny for extra English practice and homework support through the school year. (Read Medinaâs story here.)
âIt was rewarding that I was able to make this relationship with Medina,â says Jenny. âIt would have been almost impossible for us to meet if it wasn’t for this virtual world weâre all living in due to COVID…When you become a helper, it’s really easy to feel like itâs a weird, hierarchical position. But I feel like we’ve created a beautiful friendship...â
As a volunteer in World Reliefâs Youth Program, youâll be equipped to put your skills and life experience to use. Youâll have the opportunity to walk alongside young people like Medina as they lay a foundation for life in the United States. Most importantly, youâll be invited to become not just a helper, but a friend.
Writing and interview by Jacob Mau