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If anyone knows what it means to walk alongside #MomAndBaby to promote healthy living and reduce mortality rates in children under 5, it’s Alexia. She is 40 years old and a mother of five children. She and her husband, Joseph, are farmers in Burundi.

Five years ago, Alexia joined a World Relief-initiated Care Group, where she and other women would meet to discuss nutrition, hygiene and disease prevention to support the health of their children. Now, she is taking what she learned and teaching it to other vulnerable women in her community as a volunteer.

“I want to be an example for others,” said Alexia. She is one of nearly 90,000 volunteers trained every year by World Relief to deliver life-saving health education in their communities. This year, over 1.2 million mothers were impacted with education and skills to help their children not only survive beyond age 5, but live full, healthy and vibrant lives.

Alexia has big dreams for her own children, too. “I want my kids to be healthy. I want them to go to school, university and then to have a job. They can become teachers, doctors, or even farmers with land…”

Empowering women to properly care for vulnerable children doesn’t just affect a community’s physical well-being: it breaks down communication barriers and allows community members to rise up and care for one another in love. Since becoming a volunteer, Alexia says she has learned what it truly means to love others through the consistent prayer and the Biblical foundation of the groups. She used to avoid some people and households in her community. “Now,” she said, “I will go everywhere. I will discuss with anyone.”

Today, we celebrate America’s leadership in reducing child mortality around the world. However, we at World Relief know this wouldn’t be possible without women like Alexia who belong to the community and are empowered to STAND on their own.

When Covenant College junior Megan Wetselaar signed up to participate in World Relief Atlanta’s Walk in My Shoes program during spring break, she wasn’t thinking about refugees; she was thinking about fulfilling a course requirement. When this volunteer opportunity presented itself, she reluctantly decided to pursue it.  She didn’t really know anything about refugees. She didn’t really want to spend a week with strangers in Clarkston, GA. She wasn’t even sure why God was leading her down this path. Early in the week Megan realized why she was there; she wasn’t there to help, she wasn’t there to fulfill a school requirement; she was there to learn. Walking in the shoes of a refugee brought light to some of the harsh realities of refugee life. Displacement. Persecution. Separation of families. Fleeing your country to save your life. While these experiences were physically temporary for Megan, she quickly became overwhelmed and knew this would have a lasting impact on her life. Throughout the week she met and interacted with several different refugees. While their interactions and stories were different, one thing remained the same; their happiness and joy in Christ.

Megan met one man who not only left everything behind, including his job and his family, in his home country, but also spent several months in prison before safely arriving in the US. Instead of being angry and disgruntled about having to start his life over in a new country, he was happy. How could he be happy? He told Megan that when he worries, he can’t be happy so he simply gave all of his worries to God, trusting Him and finding his joy in Christ. She was immediately convicted. She realized that instead of complaining to God about our daily situations, we should be praising Him, no matter what!

Another encounter occurred while Megan was walking through the town of Clarkston.  As she was walking with two other program participants, a refugee woman approached them, stopping them to share her testimony.  She suffered from sickle cell anemia, her whole life appearing to be one struggle after another. Yet through it all she continued to praise and glorify God. Everything she did was to serve Him.  Again Megan had met someone who had reason to be angry and complain, yet chose to find joy in Christ and praise him in all circumstances.

Throughout the course of the week Megan heard story after story from refugees who have experienced God’s faithfulness in good times and in bad. She realized that despite any problem or trial you face, no matter what the circumstance, we are all called to praise God. Her interactions with the refugees taught her that no matter where we are from or what language we speak, we are all part of the body of Christ and called to love as He loves. As she wrapped up the week, she felt there was still so much to learn from these refugees, her brothers and sisters in Christ, and looks forward a reunion with them in our eternal home, where no one will be forced to flee.

For more information on volunteers opportunities, please contact your local World Relief office.

In 2000, when cargo ships from Hong Kong docked in Seattle after a 16-day sail, stowaways were discovered inside of squalid containers within the holds of the ships. For more than two weeks, they hadn’t seen sunlight, breathed fresh air, or eaten more than a few bites of food. Some did not even survive the journey. They had hoped for a fresh start in the United States, but soon after their arrival, the Chinese stowaways found themselves in an immigrant detention center. After their difficult and risky journey, they faced deportation right back into the situation from which they fled. When World Relief Seattle employee Cal Uomoto heard the story of the Chinese travelers, he had been developing a relationship with the office of Immigration and Naturalization Services for several years. When the stowaways were found, the INS quickly contacted him, and he was moved to care for them in detention. With the support of church volunteers and local Chinese religious leaders, the visits turned into weekly worship services in Chinese. From within the jail, many detainees came to faith in Jesus. This was the beginning of a groundbreaking ministry, which was made official and grew tremendously in 2004 when the detention center moved outside of Seattle to Tacoma.

Now, World Relief Seattle staff and volunteers visit the Northwest Detention Center and conduct eight worship services each week in a variety of languages, including Korean, Japanese, and Russian to name a few. For detainees who are disconnected from their families and fearful about their future, the services offer comfort, community and strength. The volunteers, who come together from a wide variety of church denominations, are committed to sacrificing their Saturdays and Sundays to lead and translate the services. Most importantly, these volunteers are giving emotional support and sharing friendship with the detainees. The gatherings also provide an opportunity to equip some of those in detention to lead daily Bible studies at the center throughout the week.

This discipling work doesn’t end in the detention center, though. Recently hired Discipleship Coordinator Jose Luis Bonilla will begin to coordinate after-care and discipleship for those who have believed and accepted the gospel while in detention. He will coordinate volunteers for mid-week window visits and help connect former detainees with local churches, whether they remain in Seattle or return to their home countries.

Pastor Habtom Ghebru, who organizes the weekly worship services through World Relief, reports that hundreds are coming to know Jesus Christ through the ministry in the detention center. In a place associated with fear, uncertainty and isolation, the good news of Jesus is being joyfully received and shared. Pastor Ghebru said the services are attractive to believers and non-believers alike because people in the detention center are looking for fellowship and community during the long days spent in waiting.

For 35 years, World Relief Seattle has worked faithfully to serve refugees and immigrants through both resettlement efforts and the growth of community at the Northwest Detention Center. The power of the gospel that detainees experience during worship services is spreading beyond the walls of the center, resulting in forgiveness and reconciliation between detainees, and between detainees and their families. Through this ministry, God is redeeming a situation of fear and uncertainty, and is using the local church in Seattle to bring light to his loved ones.

Learn more about Refugee Resettlement at World Relief.

Eritrea is a small country in eastern Africa, bordering Ethiopia and Somalia. Ongoing violence, instability and oppression have forced millions of Eritreans, like Michael and Awet, to seek refuge in other countries. These men, arriving within 24 hours of one another, left their careers and families to start over completely in the United States. They ended up as roommates, and helped one another during their transition to life in America. For refugees entering the United States, community, language learning and employment are some of the most important factors for a successful transition. World Relief DuPage-Aurora was able to empower Awet and Michael in meeting these goals. With the help of job placement classes, both men found jobs and studied together to master English, growing in their independence and capacity to serve others.

When Awet and Michael first arrived in the United States, they relied on a carpool for transportation to work. Now, Awet is the one in the driver’s seat: he got his license and a car, which he received through the World Relief DuPage-Aurora car donation program. Every day, Awet is using his gifts to bless the refugee community by providing them with a way to get to work or to the store.

Although Michael and Awet had no idea what their futures would hold in the US, they found community, independence and a way to serve others with the help of World Relief DuPage-Aurora.

In 1975, World Relief was known throughout the world for its international relief and development efforts: its U.S. mission had yet to be realized. For twenty years, Grady and Evelyn Mangham had served in Vietnam with World Relief and the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) denomination as missionaries during the war. They returned to the United States when Vietnamese families began seeking refuge in North America. Grady approached the State Department to see if the C&MA could assist with resettlement. When the answer was “no,” Grady went back to work with the overseas ministry arm of the C&MA. By the fall of 1978, when the world was witnessing the mass exit of Vietnamese people, Grady considered again the possibility of assisting with resettlement. This time, the State Department called him and asked if the C&MA could assist with the arrivals since the denomination had been a major Church agency working in Vietnam. It became clear that the arrivals would require more than what one group could offer: they would need the coordinated efforts of several churches and denominations. In 1979, Grady contacted the National Association of Evangelicals, which directed him back to World Relief. With the Manghams’ one loan from the C&MA, World Relief’s commitment to refugee resettlement was born, with offices opening in Atlanta, Garden Grove, and Seattle that same year.

Grady returned to the State Department, eager to develop a strategy for World Relief. Instead, they sent him to learn from a Lutheran agency already doing resettlement ministry. The agency welcomed World Relief to the line of work and walked Grady through every step of the resettlement process, from understanding biographies to processing forms and recruiting sponsors. He took the information to World Relief’s small resettlement office and set up a similar system based on his observations.

Evelyn and two of her friends worked tirelessly to call NAE churches from across the country, giving them refugee profiles and encouraging them to become sponsors. When they ran out of churches from the NAE list, they called friends, pastors or churches they had heard of through word-of-mouth. Churches were extremely responsive and began requesting that more refugees be sent their way.

Grady began tracking the small travel loans the State Department had contributed to each refugee’s resettlement and developed a program so refugees could repay their loans. Money began flowing in steadily as refugees repaid their loans faster than those resettled by other agencies. Grady and his staff aimed to settle one thousand refugees in the first year, and within six months they met their goal.

When the Manghams retired in 1987, World Relief’s refugee resettlement program was firmly in place. It began in the Mangham’s small home, and has since expanded to 23 offices across the United States. In the past 35 years, World Relief has resettled over 250 thousand refugees from more than 80 nations. As we celebrate World Refugee Day this year, we reflect on our history and are so grateful for the faithfulness of the Manghams, our supporters, our staff and volunteers. World Relief has made many changes to the methods used and services provided, but one thing has remained the same: World Relief is committed to welcoming some of the world’s most vulnerable to a new life, steeped in opportunity, community and the love of Jesus Christ.

World Relief President & CEO Stephan Bauman provides insight on the hope to be found in Rwanda, even in the midst of painful remembrance.

World Relief: Rwanda 20 Years Later from World Relief on Vimeo.

We believe that hope for lasting change in Rwanda lies within the church as it empowers the hidden heroes: individuals selflessly serving the needs of their communities. And one household, one village at a time, more heroes will rise who will change the face of this nation.

Stand with the Rwandan church as it writes a new story for the future of the country and support our work in Rwanda that will contribute to its changing legacy.

Happy International Day of Families! One of the many ways we get to care for families around the world is through our Families for Life program in India. We empower local churches to serve their communities by strengthening marriages, protecting families, caring for those affected by AIDS and preventing the spread of HIV. Through couples-focused interventions, we aim to address to root cause of HIV/AIDS – broken relationships.
The local Church is at the heart of this mission. We equip the local Church and train church leaders with a curriculum to bring healing and reconciliation to broken families and communities. Once pastors and their wives have been trained, they take this program back to the members of their own communities.

Pastor John Duraisamy of Open Door Churuch brought the Families for Life curriculum to his church after hearing about it at a World Relief training meeting. He saw a need for marriage and family strengthening curriculum in his community. Now, he teaches couples in his church and his community about the importance of respect, communication and faithfulness in the preservation of marriage.

In the picture below, Pastor John leads couples in his congregation in a discussion about how their marriages have developed since their wedding.

After the seminar, one woman said, “I have learned that I should be a friend to my husband […] We should be more committed to one another.”

“We should talk more openly and intimately,” said another participant. “Discuss[ing] issues and [making] decisions together.”

We know that by strengthening vulnerable families around the world, we are empowering people to be heroes in their communities. Strengthened families can bring needed transformation to address larger issues of poverty, hunger and diseases like HIV/AIDS. Help us empower more families to be the heroes in their own communities.

World Relief empowers the local Church to establish savings groups in some of the world’s most vulnerable places. These groups meet regularly, sharing and loaning resources to one another in order to establish self-sufficiency. Eighty-six percent of savings group members are women, which is a beautiful statistic considering the particular vulnerability of women in impoverished communities.

Still, women are not the only people benefiting from the program. James Charo Muthiani (right) is the only man in his savings group that meets every Monday in Makueni, Kenya. James said he joined the group when he recognized his role as leader of his family. His business was not meeting all of his financial needs and he had a deep desire to better provide for his family. James’ sister encouraged him to join the group, and since joining, he has empowered his brother-in-law and another male neighbor with the skills he has learned.

“I cannot stay in problems when there is a solution for that problem,” he sad. “Even if I am the only man in this group, I am pleased because I have been helped. Other men need to stop looking down on such opportunities simply because they are laden with women. I have decided to help other men join such forums so that they can be helped the same way I have been helped.”

As we prepare to celebrate the resurrection this Easter weekend, we pause to remember the enormous sacrifice Christ paid for us on the cross. He paid the highest price, his life, to save us from a life of hopelessness and despair. This free gift God generously bestowed upon the world is rooted in hope, grace, and love. It is transformational, changing all those who accept it from the inside out. It is the greatest gift humanity has, and ever will, receive, and yet we ourselves paid nothing for it. For us, it is free.
Inna was a small girl when her family immigrated to the United States from Ukraine in 1989 during a time of great persecution in the country. Upon their arrival, the family was welcomed to their new home by a sponsor family through World Relief. Her parents were taught the basic necessities of life in America, including learning how to speak English, learning to drive, and finding employment to support Inna and her five siblings. They were also introduced to a group of Ukrainian Christians who lived in the area, providing them with yet another support system of people who cared about them and loved the Lord.

Through her childhood and adolescence, the one possession Inna held most dear was an illustrated children’s Bible she received when she was nine years old. She read this precious gift dozens of times, cover to cover, never noticing a small stamp on the first page that revealed where this Bible came from. All she knew was that for her, it was a life-changing free gift. A free gift, full of God’s promises of hope, grace, and love. A free gift, which she recently discovered had a small World Relief stamp on the first page and which she received through the generosity of the Church. A free gift, which she now reads to her 19-month-old son, blessing him with the same gift of hope, grace, and love she was blessed with some fifteen years ago.

Without the support of the Church, Inna would have never received her beloved Bible – a free gift – from World Relief. This Easter weekend, as we celebrate the resurrection we remember God’s generosity, giving us the ultimate free gift – eternal life through our salvation in Christ. As we remember His generosity, let us also reflect on ways in which we can be generous to others – the sick, the oppressed, the hurting, the hungry, the vulnerable – offering them hope in the name of Jesus.

Learn more about Refugee Resettlement at World Relief.