This line got me, it's why I'm not sleeping---
'I know what he’s thinking: “If I hadn’t been able to do anything — I wouldn’t have been able to bear it.” If I hadn’t been able to do something to help bear other’s burdens — I wouldn’t have been able to bear living."'-Ann Voskamp
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I should be in bed...well, I am in bed, but I should be sleeping because tomorrow is a big day (our first GED students are graduating!) but I am up with a racing mind.
'I know what he’s thinking: “If I hadn’t been able to do anything — I wouldn’t have been able to bear it.” If I hadn’t been able to do something to help bear other’s burdens — I wouldn’t have been able to bear living."'-Ann Voskamp
~~~~~~.
I should be in bed...well, I am in bed, but I should be sleeping because tomorrow is a big day (our first GED students are graduating!) but I am up with a racing mind.
It tosses me around thinking about all that our GED students have overcome to get to this day. You don't even know, people, the stories I can't tell you- but trust me, these kids are inspiring. They are so much more than the visible and invisible scars of their circumstances and past mistakes. These young American adults who, with the help of community, have reached this milestone- this victory- that is just the beginning for moving away from their past and towards hope.
My mind also is tossed around by the grief I feel thinking about what our ESOL students have had to overcome just to breath free. You don't even know people, the stories I can't tell you, but trust me these families are inspiring and they are so much more than the wars and horror they have fled. What I can tell you is this- by definition a refugee has survived torture or trauma, and while some scars are visible others are revealed only after time and trust, born from consistent love, give room for them. It is just the beginning of moving away from the past and making room for hope.
This blog by Ann Voskamp could have been about any one of the dozens of our volunteers who love and live with our international students (I am uncomfortable calling them refugees unless it is necessary- they are so much more than that).
It's not just Brian and me...it's dozens of ordinary people who feel just like us and could not turn away from loving our neighbors. And for those of us who are Christians it is because we love Jesus so much that we see Him in the faces of our students and we could not turn away from Him.
Any one of our volunteers has thought this.
I know what he’s thinking:
“If I hadn’t been able to do anything — I wouldn’t have been able to bear it.”
If I hadn’t been able to do something to help bear other’s burdens — I wouldn’t have been able to bear living.
I look into Fatin and Zaccharias’ faces — and they bear the image of God.
“Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not help you?” – Matt. 25:44
My mind also is tossed around by the grief I feel thinking about what our ESOL students have had to overcome just to breath free. You don't even know people, the stories I can't tell you, but trust me these families are inspiring and they are so much more than the wars and horror they have fled. What I can tell you is this- by definition a refugee has survived torture or trauma, and while some scars are visible others are revealed only after time and trust, born from consistent love, give room for them. It is just the beginning of moving away from the past and making room for hope.
It's not just Brian and me...it's dozens of ordinary people who feel just like us and could not turn away from loving our neighbors. And for those of us who are Christians it is because we love Jesus so much that we see Him in the faces of our students and we could not turn away from Him.
Any one of our volunteers has thought this.
I know what he’s thinking:
“If I hadn’t been able to do anything — I wouldn’t have been able to bear it.”
If I hadn’t been able to do something to help bear other’s burdens — I wouldn’t have been able to bear living.
I look into Fatin and Zaccharias’ faces — and they bear the image of God.
“Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not help you?” – Matt. 25:44
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