I didn’t realize that there are hundreds of international refugees living within 25 minutes of my home. A friend of mine from church has made it her life’s work to help these people. The majority of them are Buddhist or Muslim. Our goal is as we begin building relationships with these families, providing for their very basic needs & teach them how to assimilate into our country; that they will see the love of Jesus. Most of them flee their persecuted countries with nothing but the clothes on their backs. There is an apartment complex in Dallas, where the government is providing them a roof over their head, but that is all they have. In most cases they have no furniture, household items, clothes, shoes or even diapers for their babies.
Yesterday, Mom, Angie & I with several others from our church went to the apartment complex and helped pass out shoes, clothes & laundry baskets full of toiletries & kitchen essentials. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. We were in the clubhouse of the apartment complex and had to lock the door and let a few families in at a time, because they were desperate to get anything. They stood in line in the heat waiting to come in to come in and get a pair of used shoes. And in some cases there weren’t any in their specific sizes. I saw one boy in a pair of pink crocs that were at least 4 sizes too small. We also tried to fit each child with a pair of shorts or pants that they can wear to school. The school that they will be going to is mandatory uniforms, which really limits an already tiny wardrobe. And if the child was able to find a pair of pants to fit them, we would remind them to keep them hung up so the roaches wouldn’t get in their clothes.
We left there hot, sweaty, stinky and more thankful than ever that we had nice homes to go home to. My stomach literally ached when I thought of how little they have.
The school uniforms that the kids have to wear are khaki or navy pants or shorts and white or navy polo style shirts and a belt. If anyone has any of those items in their closets that they aren’t wearing or that your children have out-grown, I’d be honored to donate them to these refugees, who so desperately need them. Norma also collects other household items and clothes & shoes as well. They don’t need women’s clothes, as they only wear their “native dress” but any size childrens clothing and shoes are always needed!
If you have anything to donate, please post a message & I’ll email you and coordinate a time to pick it up. (obviously this is for the DFW readers)
Thanks so much!
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