3ABN Today

Refugee Ministry

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: TDY

Program Code: TDY190009A


00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people
00:13 I want to spend my life
00:19 Removing pain
00:24 Lord, let my words
00:30 Heal a heart that hurts
00:35 I want to spend my life
00:41 Mending broken people
00:46 I want to spend my life
00:52 Mending broken people
01:12 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today.
01:14 We are so glad that you are joining us.
01:17 And I am just so fascinated
01:18 by the four wonderful Christians
01:20 who are here with us today,
01:22 who are reaching out in such a special way
01:26 and doing special things for the glory of God.
01:30 Let me introduce you to our special guests.
01:34 We have with us, Joe Allison.
01:38 And, Joe, you are the superintendent of education
01:41 for the Iowa-Missouri Conference
01:44 of Seventh-day Adventist Church.
01:46 That's correct. Right?
01:47 Yes, that's correct.
01:48 That's a mouthful. Yes, it is.
01:50 Thank you for being here. Thank you.
01:51 And we have Julie Olson.
01:53 And, Julie, you are a principal and also a teacher
01:58 for the Andrews Christian Academy.
02:01 Yeah. Right?
02:03 Yeah. Karma.
02:04 And Karma Roberts.
02:06 I'll get my tongue untangled here in a second.
02:08 You are the principal and teacher
02:12 for the Des Moines Seventh-day Adventist School.
02:15 Yes.
02:17 And then we have with us Leah Ishimwa.
02:23 Ishimwe. Ishimwa.
02:24 Ishimwe.
02:26 Ishimwe? Yeah.
02:27 We got it.
02:28 Okay.
02:30 And, Leah,
02:31 you are a former student of these schools,
02:33 but now you're a junior in high school, right?
02:35 Yeah.
02:36 Well, we're so glad that you have joined us.
02:38 And we're going to hear their story
02:40 and what they're doing for God in just a minute.
02:42 But I wanted to read you a couple of scriptures
02:46 from Deuteronomy.
02:47 Did you know that God loves the aliens?
02:51 He loves the fugitives in the country,
02:53 the strangers in our midst.
02:55 And, in fact,
02:56 in Deuteronomy 10:19,
03:01 this is God speaking.
03:02 He says, "Therefore, love the stranger,
03:06 for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."
03:11 Now let's flip over to Deuteronomy 31.
03:14 And I had something there to mark it, but I moved it.
03:18 So Deuteronomy 31:12.
03:23 It says, "Gather the people together,
03:25 men and women and little ones,
03:27 and the stranger who is within your gates,
03:31 that they may hear and that they may learn
03:34 to fear the Lord your God
03:36 and carefully observe all the words of this law."
03:40 God loves the alien.
03:43 And we are going to talk about
03:46 what the Iowa-Missouri Conference is doing.
03:50 To reach out to fugitives to educate,
03:55 give Christian education to fugitives,
03:58 and we're gonna talk about
03:59 how it's impacting their church.
04:02 But before we do,
04:03 we have such a lovely group of young ladies with us,
04:06 they're called "Message of Mercy"
04:09 is the title of their singing group.
04:11 And they are going to sing "Where You Belong."
04:40 Leave your worry lose the shame
04:43 Leave your doubt and all the blame
04:47 It's time to sing a different song
04:53 Conviction like a burning flame
04:57 Heaven's calling out your name
05:00 Come to the place where you belong
05:05 Come to the place
05:09 Where you belong
05:12 Where the weak become strong
05:18 And weary eyes can see
05:21 There is grace for every need
05:27 Jesus has waited
05:30 So long
05:35 Come to the place where you belong
05:52 God is love and He is light
05:55 He is your shelter in the night
05:58 And He has been there all along
06:05 He knows your heart He feels the pain
06:09 Let His love flow through your veins
06:12 Come to the place where you belong
06:17 Come to the place
06:21 Where you belong
06:24 Where the weak become strong
06:30 And weary eyes can see
06:33 And there is grace for every need
06:39 Jesus has waited
06:42 So long
06:47 Come to the place where you belong
06:53 And leave your history behind
06:57 There's a better life to find
07:01 Pray until your fear is gone
07:07 It doesn't matter where you've been
07:11 It doesn't matter what you've done
07:14 Come to the place where you belong
07:21 Your love reminds
07:24 The more of the devil's lies
07:27 This world will only betray you
07:34 And don't hesitate
07:38 Don't you walk away
07:41 From the God who lives to save you
08:02 Come to the place
08:05 Where you belong
08:09 Where the weak become strong
08:15 And weary eyes can see
08:18 There is grace for every need
08:24 Jesus has waited
08:26 So long
08:31 Come to the place where you belong
08:38 Come to the place
08:41 where you belong
09:05 Now we want to thank Message of Mercy.
09:07 They've come all the way up
09:08 from Collegedale, Tennessee to record.
09:11 And I think it would be just fun
09:13 to have five friends getting together to do this
09:16 for the glory of the Lord.
09:18 If you're joining us just a little late,
09:20 we welcome you
09:21 and thank you for your prayers
09:22 and financial support of 3ABN.
09:24 And we're gonna go back through
09:26 and kind of talk to each one of our guests
09:28 before we jump
09:29 into what the Iowa-Missouri Conference is doing.
09:34 It's a program that is changing lives.
09:37 It's changing lives outside the church,
09:40 inside the church.
09:42 It's amazing. So, Joe, let's begin with you.
09:45 Tell us a little...
09:47 Just give us the Reader's Digest version.
09:49 Did you grow up in a Christian home?
09:52 When did it become real for you
09:53 a personal relationship with the Lord?
09:55 Sure.
09:56 I was born in an Adventist Christian home.
10:00 But really didn't...
10:02 Basically, through the influence
10:04 of my grandparents and the churches
10:05 that I attended in high school
10:07 began to make things more personal for me.
10:10 And that process was finished off
10:12 when I went to Union college
10:13 and participated in programs in there, so...
10:17 So as superintendent of education
10:20 for the Iowa-Missouri Conference,
10:21 how long have you been in education?
10:23 This is my 40th year and...
10:25 Wonderful.
10:26 I've been in the Iowa-Missouri Conference since 2009.
10:28 Okay. But it's an exciting job.
10:31 Travel a lot of miles.
10:33 We have 4 schools in Iowa and 10 in Missouri.
10:36 So I put a lot of miles on.
10:37 I'll bet you do.
10:39 Well, we thank you for your service
10:40 for the glory of God.
10:42 Now, Julie,
10:43 you are a principal and a teacher,
10:46 tell us a little bit about how you grew up.
10:49 Well, I grew up in Adventist home,
10:51 Adventist Christian home,
10:53 and I just always remember loving Jesus in my heart
10:57 from a little girl on.
10:58 Praise God.
11:00 But it probably became really more real to me
11:01 when I was in high school
11:02 and just studying the scriptures
11:04 more for myself.
11:07 So you were one of those who was just kind of brought up
11:10 on the straight and narrow and always stayed that way?
11:14 There were a few little twists and turns along the way.
11:16 Okay, thank you for being honest.
11:18 But I wasn't too rebellious.
11:19 Okay, thank you so much.
11:21 And, Karma, how about you?
11:23 I grew up in a Christian home.
11:26 We went to Sunday school, church.
11:30 It wasn't until I was...
11:32 Well, summer camp helped me really
11:33 develop my relationship with Jesus.
11:36 But I didn't learn about the Adventist Church
11:38 until after I was married.
11:40 And my husband said,
11:41 "We're going to go to Adventist church."
11:43 So I said, "Okay, no problem,
11:44 as long as they teach about Jesus, I'm happy."
11:47 And it was probably five, six years later
11:49 before I joined the church.
11:50 And now you are serving as a principal and teacher
11:54 and you came from...
11:55 How many years in New York?
11:57 In New York, we lived there 30 years.
11:59 Thirty years.
12:00 And how long have you been with Iowa-Missouri now?
12:03 About eight, nine years.
12:04 Okay, well, we're adding all of this up
12:06 and trying to figure out how old you are.
12:07 How old I am.
12:09 Just kidding.
12:10 And, Leah, boy,
12:12 you've got the story, young lady,
12:13 where were you born?
12:14 I was born in Zambia.
12:16 And my parents were born in Rwanda.
12:20 And I have an older brother who's born in Tanzania.
12:23 Okay, were you born in a refugee camp?
12:25 I was.
12:27 How old were you when your parents came here?
12:30 I was two and a half.
12:32 Two and a half years old. Yeah.
12:34 Explain why you were in a refugee camp.
12:37 So in 1994, the Rwandan genocide happened.
12:42 And my mom was almost, she had three more months
12:47 until my brother was about to be born.
12:49 And it started then.
12:50 And so after the genocide finished,
12:54 I think it was in April,
12:56 they went to Tanzania,
12:59 and that's where my brother was born.
13:01 And that's where the first refugee camp was.
13:05 And then after that, they moved to Zambia.
13:07 And that's where my sister was born
13:08 in that refugee camp in Zambia.
13:10 And then I was born in that refugee camp as well.
13:13 And then a year later,
13:15 they went to live in the city.
13:18 And that's where they started signing up
13:20 to come to the US.
13:22 Wow, that's amazing. Yeah.
13:23 She gave birth to three babies in a refugee camp?
13:26 Yeah.
13:28 I cannot even fathom that.
13:30 But your mom
13:32 went to Christian school, right?
13:33 Yeah.
13:35 Well, she was a Seventh-day Adventist.
13:36 She did. Yeah, she was.
13:37 And so she was so determined. Very.
13:41 That you all would go to school.
13:43 Tell us how you ended up meeting this group.
13:46 So when we moved to the US,
13:48 they placed us in Denver, Colorado.
13:50 Okay.
13:51 And that's where we lived for a while.
13:53 My mom, especially, she tried to find
13:56 a Seventh-day Adventist Christian school.
14:00 And it was really, really expensive there.
14:03 So they decided to try to find somewhere else,
14:06 to find them a school that was affordable,
14:08 yet had values
14:09 that they wanted their kids to be taught.
14:11 And so they had some friends
14:14 who would come to the US earlier,
14:15 also refugees.
14:17 And they told us about a school in Cedar Rapids.
14:20 That was Seventh-day Adventist Christians,
14:23 and it was affordable
14:25 because the church helped a lot with the cost.
14:28 And so that's when we moved up here.
14:31 And I started in second grade.
14:33 Praise God that you've had
14:35 a determined Christian mother
14:37 who was going to grew you up in the way you should go.
14:40 Now would you please, Joe,
14:43 just tell us a little bit about this program?
14:46 And we are so appreciative of Dean Coridan,
14:49 who is the conference president
14:52 of the Iowa-Missouri Conference.
14:54 Tell us a little how the program began.
14:56 What was the vision and how is it going?
14:59 Well, in 2013, Dean came to us and said,
15:01 "You know, we're living out Mark 16:15 in reverse."
15:07 And we asked him what he meant.
15:08 He says, "Well, that's the verse
15:10 that tells us that we should go to all the world
15:11 and share the good news with the people."
15:14 We said, "The people are coming to us,
15:16 and we need to do something about it."
15:17 And what did he mean by that, the people?
15:19 Well, the refugees
15:21 that have either left their country
15:22 because of war, persecution, or famine,
15:26 who had refugee status
15:28 to the United States government.
15:30 And so he came up with the idea that we should raise funds.
15:34 Challenged people to give $10 a month,
15:37 hoping to get 1,000 people to give,
15:39 which would translate to $120,000 a year
15:42 that we could use to assist families
15:45 but also to provide scholarships
15:47 for the students
15:49 to attend elementary school.
15:51 And that was students,
15:52 whether they were Adventist or non-Adventist.
15:54 It didn't matter.
15:56 We felt we needed to impact the communities like that.
15:58 And what a beautiful vision you have.
15:59 The thing I like about this ministry,
16:01 and we have interviewed on this topic before,
16:05 but the thing I love about this ministry
16:08 is that you're reaching out to people
16:10 who sometimes have to learn English,
16:13 they are in a strange place,
16:16 they've been plucked up and deposited somewhere,
16:18 they don't know the culture.
16:20 You're reaching out,
16:21 and not only giving them the love
16:24 but you're giving them physical support
16:25 that they need.
16:27 But should the Lord take...
16:29 This ministry will
16:31 absolutely affect generation upon generation.
16:35 Great impact.
16:36 The interesting thing too is the fact
16:38 that we have refugees coming from countries
16:40 that we cannot go into legally...
16:42 Amen.
16:44 With the gospel, but we give it to them here,
16:47 and there are cell phones everywhere
16:48 so people back home are hearing about the great news of Jesus.
16:51 And so we're actually impacting the entire world
16:54 but not leaving the United States
16:56 through these refugee programs.
16:58 And how is it impacting your church?
16:59 I mean, you've got these people involved...
17:02 Well, let me jump to Julie real quick.
17:03 Tell us a little bit about what your church does.
17:07 I know that you had many programs going.
17:11 Yeah, our church...
17:12 When the first refugees came, it was probably about...
17:15 The first refugee family was about 20 years ago.
17:17 And when they came,
17:19 our church just really embraced them,
17:20 and they came in the winter time.
17:23 We got warm clothes for them,
17:25 food, and just introducing them to our culture
17:29 and helping them
17:31 along with what their needs were.
17:33 After that,
17:34 many more refugee families started coming,
17:37 and our church chose to embrace them,
17:39 and it's a huge ministry that we can do for them.
17:43 And like Joe said,
17:44 you know, we sent missionaries out,
17:47 but here they're coming to us, and we can't turn them away.
17:51 That's our evangelism right there.
17:55 And school, I love it because it's evangelism,
17:58 180 days a year.
18:00 Amen. And you can't beat that.
18:02 Yeah.
18:03 At your primary school or elementary school,
18:06 what percentage are refugees now?
18:09 We have 68% of our students are refugees.
18:12 Wow.
18:14 But I'll also add 26% are Haitian immigrants.
18:18 And, you know, our whole 100%,
18:22 it's immigrants, refugees, and single moms.
18:26 And they're all seeking Christian education.
18:29 And they couldn't afford it on their own.
18:30 They can't afford it.
18:32 No.
18:33 But now you...
18:35 I'm so fascinated,
18:36 I want to get to your food hour.
18:37 You have many different types of programs
18:40 that you're doing to help
18:41 meet their individual physical needs,
18:45 nutritional needs.
18:47 Tell us about it. Yeah.
18:48 We were finding, and we learn as we go,
18:50 we keep learning more needs that need to be met.
18:54 But nutritional needs for the children
18:57 at school was something
18:59 that we noticed that needed to improve.
19:02 And so we decided to plant our school garden.
19:06 And so they plant the garden with the children
19:08 and their families love that because in their home countries
19:11 they garden a lot.
19:12 So they like their children learning that process
19:14 how to grow food.
19:15 So it's a lot of fun gardening with the children
19:17 and we harvested in the fall.
19:19 And then, we had a family come to us
19:22 to the Collins family with a tower garden idea
19:26 so we can continue having healthy food
19:28 through the winter.
19:30 So we grow greens, lettuce, kale, spinach
19:33 in our tower garden,
19:34 and the kids can have salads a couple times a week
19:37 along with their meals.
19:39 And I tell you, when the kids grow it,
19:41 they eat it, they love it.
19:42 Nobody turns down salad.
19:44 I've never heard of the tower garden before.
19:47 So that's actually a place
19:48 you're growing it in that tower and it just starts coming...
19:50 Yes, water and nutrients.
19:52 That's amazing.
19:53 We pick out of that tower garden
19:55 every week,
19:56 big bowls of salad.
19:58 Wonderful.
19:59 And so the kids are getting actively involved,
20:02 they're learning nutrition,
20:03 they're learning the health message.
20:05 But then you also have social events
20:09 where the families come together.
20:11 Yeah.
20:14 We want to bring the cultures together
20:16 and become a community.
20:18 And so we have a lot of social events
20:20 for our school and church together.
20:22 We have barn parties at the beginning of the year
20:24 where everybody is invited,
20:26 even people from their community.
20:28 We've had the Reformation festival,
20:31 we have international festivals
20:32 so all the different cultures can bring their foods.
20:37 And so we try to do soup suppers,
20:39 movie nights, game nights,
20:41 things that we can interact together with them.
20:43 And then the church members are very actively involved
20:45 living with the parents
20:47 because you have what they call ESL classes,
20:49 which is English as a Second Language.
20:52 So your church members are actually teaching English?
20:54 Correct.
20:56 You know, that was another thing we noticed,
20:57 that was a huge need it was to get ESL,
20:59 so they could get citizenship.
21:01 And so the church is offering ESL classes
21:04 and a lot of our members are involved in teaching that.
21:07 Other members are involved in helping them
21:10 to get ready for their citizenship test.
21:12 And they transfer them to Des Moines
21:15 to get their test completed.
21:18 And the church has just come...
21:20 The church people in many different ways
21:22 have just come around to support.
21:24 Even for the school, we have church members,
21:26 transportation was a problem for these families,
21:29 and so we purchased a van
21:31 and church members drive the van
21:33 to go pick up students
21:34 who couldn't get there otherwise.
21:35 You know, what I love about this is
21:37 it becomes church wide ministry,
21:39 doesn't it? It does.
21:40 And then how is the church growing?
21:43 You know,
21:44 the refugee population is growing a lot.
21:46 And so our church,
21:49 it probably doubled in size with the refugee families.
21:51 Praise God.
21:53 And it's brought us together as a community
21:55 to work towards some common goals.
21:58 Ladies at the church are making hot lunches
22:00 for the children too
22:02 so they can have hot food during the day.
22:04 And I've just seen the community
22:07 come together.
22:08 And isn't that exciting?
22:10 'Cause when you start ministering together,
22:12 it creates that bond even among people who,
22:16 you know, you may have been going to church
22:17 with somebody for 20 years,
22:20 but you actually start ministering together
22:23 and it just strengthens that bond, doesn't it?
22:27 Yes. That's amazing.
22:28 So, Karma, tell us about what's going on
22:31 at your church and your school.
22:33 My school was one of the first schools
22:37 to get involved in the program
22:38 because we have a lot of refugees
22:40 coming to the Des Moines.
22:42 So we started out with about 11.
22:45 And this year, about 7 years later,
22:48 we have 27 refugees that are attending our school.
22:52 They're basically from Sudan and Burma.
22:56 Okay. Majority of them.
22:57 In fact, they're over half of our population
23:00 of the school now.
23:02 Yes.
23:03 We've done many things to help them.
23:05 We have a community service person
23:07 that really helps them
23:09 when they first come to get adjusted
23:11 to cold weather and snow weather,
23:15 all of that in Iowa so we have that,
23:18 and the church has also come forward and help
23:22 because we have a worthy student fund,
23:25 which many members contribute to.
23:28 Many of our members have become sponsors.
23:30 When the students cannot make the tuition payment,
23:33 we have sponsors that help them.
23:36 So the church has really stepped up
23:37 and helped our refugees in our work.
23:42 And what kind of impact
23:43 do you think this has had on your church?
23:45 You think it makes the church
23:48 as a whole more loving group?
23:52 I think it has helped our church
23:54 become more loving,
23:55 and it's also helped...
23:57 We have two different groups in our church now.
24:01 We have the Korean speaking refugees,
24:04 they have started out with 2, 3 families
24:07 and now there are over 135 members.
24:11 And they have decided to have their own church.
24:14 So they use our church building in the afternoon
24:17 and have church service.
24:18 Wonderful.
24:20 We also have Mizo group, which is smaller,
24:22 but they needed a place to worship too.
24:25 A lot of them come not knowing English.
24:27 So the children will come to our Sabbath schools.
24:30 But then for church,
24:32 they have their own church service
24:33 downstairs in our building.
24:36 So our population of our church
24:37 has actually grown tremendously through this.
24:40 Amen.
24:41 And I love what you said then that this is...
24:43 One of you said that this is a place
24:46 where we often cannot get missionaries
24:50 into some of these countries,
24:52 but the Lord's bringing them to us here.
24:55 Let me just ask Leah for a second.
24:58 When you moved from, I mean, to Colorado
25:02 that must have been a shock to your family?
25:04 For sure.
25:05 Weather-wise. Yes.
25:07 Just acclimating to that. Yeah.
25:09 What was your experience when you...
25:13 Whose school did you go to?
25:16 Mrs. Olson.
25:17 Okay.
25:18 What was your experience
25:20 when you first came into the school,
25:24 the Seventh-day Adventist Christian Academy?
25:26 Well, we came from, you know, Denver,
25:28 which is like a pretty big city.
25:29 And it was like...
25:30 It had big public schools,
25:32 and then going to a smaller
25:35 Adventist Christian school, it was like...
25:37 A lot was different.
25:38 You know, but what we noticed was like,
25:41 for us, it wasn't, well, me and my sister,
25:43 it wasn't like going to school,
25:45 you know, it was like going to our second home,
25:47 you know, it was somewhere that was fun,
25:49 somewhere that they fed us, somewhere that we played,
25:51 and then did some school work.
25:53 We didn't even realize it was like school
25:55 'cause it was such a place where like
25:57 the atmosphere was so amazing,
25:59 and Mrs. Olson was like our mother
26:00 and all the students were like our siblings.
26:03 It was like a big family. Right.
26:04 And so that's how we felt.
26:06 It was like...
26:07 Praise God. Yeah.
26:09 Now, as a junior, do you...
26:12 I mean, it's hard
26:13 when you're 16 years old to figure out
26:15 what God really is calling you to do.
26:17 Right.
26:18 But do you see yourself working with the refugees
26:20 in the future?
26:21 For sure, for sure.
26:23 I mean, when I see how much my family was helped,
26:25 and I can see more refugees coming even today,
26:29 it makes me feel for them.
26:30 You know, when I see those young kids coming
26:32 and they feel nervous
26:33 because not a lot of people understand what they're saying
26:36 and things that makes me want to help them
26:37 like I was helped, you know?
26:38 Amen.
26:40 And give them the opportunity that I was given...
26:41 Amen.
26:43 From the school.
26:44 You know, they gave us a lot of opportunities
26:45 to learn and a lot of opportunities
26:47 to get better at certain skills like public speaking.
26:51 And for students who were like really shy,
26:53 it was better to have like
26:54 that smaller classroom, you know,
26:57 and going to school with like eighth graders
27:00 when you're in second grade
27:01 helps you kind of like mature a little bit faster
27:04 and having, you know,
27:05 older kids helps you feel like
27:07 you have someone to protect you and things like that.
27:10 All right, so, you know,
27:11 I don't think you could have said anything
27:13 better than you felt,
27:14 not like you're going to school but to your second family.
27:17 Right.
27:18 What a commendation.
27:19 So in the Iowa-Missouri Conference
27:24 not only this is a wonderful evangelistic tool,
27:27 how's it affecting the churches where people are participating?
27:33 I think it helps them be a part of Matthew 25:40
27:38 where we're at the judgment and the sheep saying,
27:40 "When do we do these things to you or for you?"
27:43 And Jesus said,
27:44 "When you do one of this to the least of my brethren."
27:45 Amen.
27:47 But what we also found is that when people are in ministry,
27:50 they don't bicker and fight as much.
27:52 Absolutely.
27:53 They're focused,
27:54 and the interesting thing is as we put money toward this,
27:59 churches aren't being impacted but blessed.
28:01 You know, you think, okay,
28:03 you're drawing money out of our church as a whole,
28:05 no, it's not happening.
28:06 In fact,
28:08 we're doing better financially in some of those churches.
28:10 Praise God.
28:11 But one of the things I want to go back to
28:12 is what Karma said is with the Mizos
28:15 that the children attend the Sabbath schools...
28:17 Now, the Mizos are from where?
28:19 Mizos are...
28:20 Karma, you should tell them.
28:22 They're from Burma. From Burma.
28:23 Well, Mizos are Burmese individuals
28:27 who have moved to India.
28:28 Okay.
28:30 And so they have a different culture of somewhat.
28:32 Okay.
28:35 So anyway,
28:36 they bring their children to Sabbath school,
28:38 but the mother stayed to hear English
28:40 and to learn English.
28:42 And so it's a byproduct
28:45 of what's going on with their children,
28:46 they're staying by too so they can learn more English
28:48 from the Sabbath school teachers.
28:50 That's wonderful.
28:51 So what about... Tell us about...
28:56 You had a wonderful story
28:58 that you mentioned in the green room about the Iraqi father.
29:02 Tell us a little bit about that.
29:03 Yes, in one of our schools, we had Iraqi family,
29:07 there was an event at a park.
29:09 And there was a chance meeting
29:10 between the pastor of that church and an Iraqi father,
29:13 refugee father, who is Yazidi.
29:16 The Yazidis are not Muslims and they're not Christian,
29:20 they're a mixture,
29:21 but they're also looked down upon in Iraqi culture.
29:25 In fact, they were purposely targeted by ISIS.
29:28 And this family actually had a daughter
29:30 who was being chased by ISIS.
29:32 She is a high school individual,
29:34 she actually was able to escape,
29:36 but they met,
29:38 and the father is very concerned about his children
29:40 and the kind of treatment
29:41 they would receive in public school
29:43 where other Iraqis were who were Muslim.
29:46 And the pastor said, "Well, send them to our school."
29:48 So they sent all the five school age children,
29:51 they sent to our school.
29:53 And through our refugee funds,
29:55 we were able to provide them the scholarships,
29:57 and then the church stepped up and filled the gap.
30:01 And so they were able to go
30:02 with little financial impact on the family.
30:05 Praise God. And that's our goal.
30:08 But this is not just to provide education
30:11 for Seventh-day Adventist Christians
30:14 but any child,
30:15 any family who wants to send their child
30:17 to one of our schools, which is safe.
30:19 A lot of times, what happens is
30:21 these kids are abused sometimes because of their language,
30:26 they get into gangs because they look at that
30:28 as a way to be accepted, some of them.
30:30 And so the parents kind of lose them a little bit.
30:33 And so they want their kids in a safe place
30:36 where they know that they're going to be
30:39 nurtured and loved, just like Leah talked about.
30:42 Amen, amen.
30:43 That's a very important part of our school
30:45 is that the students feel safe.
30:47 They really feel like they're loved
30:49 and the parents see it
30:50 and they want their children there.
30:52 Amen. They would do anything.
30:54 They sacrifice to make sure their children
30:56 stay in the school.
30:58 Amen.
30:59 And they're getting a Christian education,
31:01 I mean, they're being taught about the Lord
31:04 as they go along.
31:05 Julie, how has this impacted you personally
31:11 in your walk with the Lord
31:12 and being involved reaching out to these people?
31:18 It has...
31:21 It's okay.
31:25 I have grown from...
31:28 I have really grown from ministering to these children.
31:31 And they have taught me a lot, you know, to reach out,
31:34 and to meet their needs, and they're children of God.
31:39 You know, as a mom,
31:43 I was always committed to raising my children
31:47 in the Lord,
31:48 you know, what Proverbs said.
31:50 And then I have these moms,
31:51 like Leah's mom come to me and says,
31:53 "I want to raise my child in the Lord,
31:56 you know, and can you help us?"
31:58 And, you know,
32:00 that all parents want the best for their children.
32:04 And to be able to provide that,
32:06 you know, you can't turn a family away
32:09 who wants their child trained in the Lord,
32:11 you know?
32:13 And you do everything you can to make that happen.
32:15 But also the parents are so trusting.
32:18 They said, "You are their parent during their day.
32:21 And you take on that role much more personal."
32:25 But they are very adamant
32:27 that you are their parent during the day.
32:28 They want us to provide the structure,
32:30 provide discipline,
32:32 and they're very trusting that we will do that for them.
32:35 And so it's an honor to be part of that family
32:39 that we are.
32:40 You know, it's interesting as we minister.
32:43 And I always tell people if they're having trouble
32:46 with a youth at home, take him on a missionary trip.
32:51 And once they begin to see how other people...
32:56 How much more privileged they are than other people,
32:58 and they see the underprivileged,
33:00 it usually helps them to get out of the selfishness.
33:04 When you said that the churches don't bicker
33:07 when they're involved in this and they quit arguing,
33:09 it's because when you are not focused on self,
33:14 you know, the bickering and the arguing
33:16 is just a byproduct of self.
33:18 But when you start really
33:21 investing in someone else's life
33:23 and someone particularly who...
33:26 Can you imagine for one second
33:28 if suddenly you were plucked up from your nice comfortable home
33:33 and deposited in Iraq or in Rwanda
33:38 where you knew no language, didn't understand the culture,
33:44 can you imagine how?
33:46 I mean, that would be beyond disconcerting.
33:49 It would be how do we even go about surviving this?
33:54 But when people start ministering in a church,
33:59 I think that we just open our heart up
34:02 to the Lord and let Him pour His love into us
34:05 by the power of the Holy Spirit,
34:07 then you're reaching out,
34:08 it has to make in personal impact
34:10 when God's love is flowing through you.
34:13 So, Leah,
34:17 was your brother's still young enough
34:19 when you moved here to participate in the school
34:21 or was he beyond that?
34:22 He was beyond that.
34:24 Okay. Yeah.
34:25 Well, this program must have had a really
34:26 great impact on your family.
34:29 So I feel like when you are raised by two parents
34:33 who are war survivors,
34:34 you kind of grow up differently.
34:36 You see the world much more differently
34:38 than some other kids.
34:41 And, you know,
34:42 there's a lot of stories that my mom would tell us
34:44 about things that happened to her
34:46 and things that were just so beyond us
34:48 that it was so hard to believe.
34:50 But there's this one time
34:52 when she was seven months pregnant
34:54 with my oldest brother who's 24 right now,
34:59 she and my dad separated
35:01 through all like the chaos of running
35:03 and trying to find shelter.
35:05 And so she was alone.
35:07 And so she went into this church
35:09 because people were having service.
35:11 And she felt like it would be the safest place
35:13 at the time because it was a bigger group
35:15 and she could protect herself more.
35:17 And they actually came and bombed that church.
35:20 Oh, my!
35:21 And just like the roof
35:23 and like people were falling down
35:25 and there was bodies all around her
35:27 and pools of blood and things were just
35:29 so horrific and traumatizing for her.
35:31 And they were outside,
35:34 you know, the soldiers were outside saying,
35:35 "If you don't come out right now,
35:37 we're gonna come back and like just
35:39 re-bomb the place again
35:40 to make sure that everyone's gone.
35:42 So if you want to come out, come out now," you know?
35:45 And so her and four other people came out,
35:48 those four other people, you know,
35:49 they were just like, terrified.
35:51 And so they came out
35:52 and the soldiers put them in separate places,
35:56 and were like, "What's your name?
35:58 Where are you from? What side are you on?"
36:00 You know, and she was so terrified.
36:02 And she could hear the people around her like being shot,
36:07 you know, other people.
36:08 I can't imagine.
36:09 It was like crazy. Yeah.
36:11 And during the time that she heard,
36:13 when they were like moving from person to person,
36:15 she said a quick prayer and said that,
36:19 "You know, God, if You take me out of this,
36:21 you know, I will devote my life and devote my children to You
36:25 and to your church and everything like that."
36:28 And so when they got to her, someone recognized her.
36:32 And he said,
36:33 "Let me take this woman home, she's pregnant,
36:37 I will pay you anything that you need."
36:39 And, you know, they were like really corrupt.
36:40 So money was power at that time.
36:42 So regardless of what side you're on,
36:44 as long as you had money,
36:46 you could pretty much do whatever you want.
36:47 And so he paid them and he took her
36:50 and he took her to the closest hospital,
36:52 and he actually told her that he recognized her
36:55 from her Seventh-day Adventist Church
36:58 back home in Rwanda.
36:59 Wow.
37:00 And it was just amazing to her
37:03 because it was just like what are the chances of someone
37:05 who knew me back home being...
37:07 Absolutely. Being there.
37:08 And so stories like that just they give me more of a purpose.
37:13 You know, if my mom who survived way before
37:15 she knew I was gonna be born, you know,
37:17 there must be something that I'm here for.
37:20 There must be a reason that I'm here in Iowa,
37:23 there must be a reason
37:24 why I was able to go to a Christian school
37:27 and raised in a very strong home,
37:29 who had their values checked
37:31 and were really strong in their beliefs.
37:33 Amen. What a beautiful story.
37:35 You are a very composed for 16 years old,
37:40 in particular,
37:41 you are obviously very intelligent.
37:43 Thank you.
37:44 You are a very composed person. Thank you.
37:45 Have great composure.
37:47 But what a story and don't ever forget
37:51 that God does have a plan for your life,
37:53 and He's gonna...
37:54 He never reveals it all at once, does He?
37:57 Just is the little by little, but that's precious.
38:00 Karma, I don't think I've asked you,
38:02 being involved in helping these people in this way,
38:06 how has it impacted you personally and your family?
38:10 Well, same with what Julie was saying.
38:12 It's just you have a personal relationship
38:14 with all of the students.
38:16 And it really impacts your life tremendously.
38:19 But I think one of the things
38:21 that I really want to tell everybody is that
38:23 I was volunteering at the school
38:25 before I became the principal teacher.
38:27 And I was working with one of the girls,
38:31 she was a refugee
38:32 and her speaking English was okay
38:36 but her reading was terrible.
38:39 She was probably in fourth grade at the time,
38:41 and she was probably reading about a second grade level.
38:44 And I know she struggled
38:46 every time I asked her to read with me,
38:48 and she didn't understand words.
38:51 But we just kept working with her,
38:53 working with her family, working with all of them.
38:55 We had the ESL just like Julie did.
38:58 That's English as Second Language.
39:00 Yes. Sorry.
39:02 And it's just...
39:04 Today, she is a senior at our academy.
39:08 And she is on the honor roll. Praise God.
39:12 So it tells you that there is hope.
39:14 And there is encouragement
39:15 if you just provide it for these children.
39:18 They're willing to learn there, they want to learn.
39:21 English is a struggle, but they all want it,
39:24 and they want to prosper.
39:26 Amen.
39:27 But beyond your humanitarian impact,
39:32 did this draw you closer to the Lord
39:34 when you're trying to minister to people
39:37 of a different culture?
39:39 Well, I worked in New York,
39:41 and I taught at basically at black school.
39:44 So I was used to that. It doesn't bother me.
39:49 Where, I'm in an interracial marriage.
39:51 So it doesn't bother me what country you're from,
39:57 what color your skin is, I can work with anybody.
40:00 But coming to the school, which was in Des Moines,
40:03 we didn't have that many races in the school.
40:06 But now you're bringing the refugees
40:08 and now we have other races.
40:11 And they have all learned
40:13 how to adapt each other's culture.
40:16 We've had parents that come in and bring in food
40:19 from their culture
40:20 and all the students look at it like, "What's that?"
40:22 I said, "Try it, find out what it is,
40:25 and see if you like it."
40:28 And so the students have actually learned
40:30 how to adapt to each other's culture.
40:31 They've learned how to embrace it.
40:33 We have all kinds of days that we celebrate
40:36 so they can get used to each other's culture and learn.
40:39 And it's brought me closer,
40:41 my faith has become stronger.
40:43 Amen
40:44 Because when you become principal of a school,
40:47 you're worried about the finances,
40:49 you're worried about
40:50 how are we gonna make the bottom line.
40:52 And every time when we're at a point
40:55 where I don't know how we're gonna make it,
40:56 I said, "Lord, You brought me to it,
40:59 You'll bring me through it."
41:00 So I just say, "Lord,
41:03 I have four children that can't come to school.
41:06 But through You, they're going to come."
41:08 Praise God.
41:09 So they come,
41:11 and somehow we make it.
41:12 I don't know how,
41:13 I just praise the Lord that we do every time.
41:16 And I rely on that faith, that hope, that trust in God.
41:21 And we know things are going to work out.
41:23 Amen.
41:24 I know that you ladies have...
41:28 Your church was involved in
41:30 some kind of program 20 years ago.
41:32 But you mentioned to me, Joe,
41:35 that people from the churches are coming to you saying,
41:40 "We're so..."
41:41 These are members of the churches
41:43 who are receiving these refugees
41:44 and supporting the refugees.
41:46 They're seeing the difference in their children,
41:49 they're having the cultural interaction, aren't they?
41:53 Yes, I've had some parents talk about the fact in their school,
41:56 it's gone primary from just having all Caucasians
41:59 to a very mixed student population.
42:04 And they feel it's very helpful for their kids
42:06 to see and to experience these other cultures
42:09 and interact with them, as Karma said,
42:12 to experience the food
42:14 and know about some of their traditions,
42:16 and they feel it's really become an asset of the school
42:21 to teach their children about acceptance
42:24 because sometimes we, especially as Americans,
42:28 we think that we're kind of the best or whatever.
42:32 But with the interaction with the refugees
42:35 and as you pointed out, plucked out of the country
42:37 and put in a place that's extremely foreign to them...
42:41 Yes.
42:42 To see the blending,
42:45 the working together with the kids
42:48 and how they really add a wonderful dynamics
42:52 to the overall school population.
42:55 And, you know, when you think about it,
42:57 when we feel like
42:59 when we take pride in our culture and pride...
43:02 To say you're proud of your child is one thing,
43:05 but the kind of pride where you feel like
43:07 you're better than somebody else,
43:10 you know, the prejudice kind of pride,
43:13 I mean, that's what it is, it is pride, and it's sin.
43:15 So that's something that
43:18 I think sometimes people don't even recognize
43:20 it's in their hearts till they find themselves
43:22 in a situation.
43:24 I do know when I go on trips where I may be ministering
43:29 and somebody's having to translate, and I'm just,
43:33 you know, trying to find my way around,
43:36 I find that
43:37 I am much more dependent upon the Lord.
43:39 I'm sure your mom has told you many stories of how dependent
43:45 she was upon God.
43:47 And that's what He really wants us
43:48 all is to recognize that
43:50 we're totally dependent upon Him.
43:52 So how many schools total and what's the future?
43:58 Why aren't more conferences doing this?
44:03 I probably...
44:05 Maybe lack the vision that our president lacks
44:07 and the willingness of the folks in the conference
44:11 to step forward either by helping with teaching
44:14 ESL classes, English second language classes
44:16 or providing transportation or funding.
44:20 Folks in Iowa-Missouri have done a wonderful job.
44:24 Sometimes people are just unaware
44:26 of the opportunities in their area.
44:29 And you can glean that information
44:31 by going to perhaps a county office
44:34 or something and asking for a demographic report.
44:38 We did that in Iowa-Missouri,
44:40 every pastor got a demographic report of their counties
44:42 in which their churches lied and it was interesting
44:45 to find that these various pockets of refugees
44:47 that no one in the church knew about
44:50 and we're able to begin to minister to them.
44:53 The part of it is just going out
44:54 and seeking and finding them.
44:56 We have...
44:58 And we don't have to wait for the conference office to wait,
44:59 you can do it as a church, yours was 20 years before.
45:03 As far as in our conference right now, we have refugees...
45:07 We're hoping to providing scholarships to refugees
45:11 in four different schools, Karma and Julie's schools,
45:15 but we also have a school in Columbia, Missouri
45:18 and St. Louis, Missouri
45:19 that have refugees in smaller populations in what they have.
45:22 But we offer to any of our schools
45:24 if there are refugee students in your community
45:28 that want to come to school, no matter what the faith,
45:30 the Adventist Christians or not,
45:32 we would provide scholarships for them.
45:35 But then how do you...
45:37 I mean,
45:39 are you looking for more churches to participate?
45:41 Do you need people to help you financially witness?
45:46 If there is somebody in a church
45:48 that's watching and said, "Well, I don't know
45:49 if my conference will do it,
45:51 but maybe I can talk our church into doing this."
45:54 Can you give them tips?
45:56 Well, we always could use more funds.
45:58 Currently, we have 54 refugee students in our various schools
46:02 that are receiving $1,500 scholarships.
46:07 And by doing that we're able to stretch our money out
46:09 and else and still help some churches.
46:12 But, you know, if they wanted to help in any way financially,
46:16 you know, they could contact to the conference office,
46:18 but the other is praying for us.
46:20 That's a very important thing as we deal with these...
46:24 Our serve, I should not say deal
46:26 but serve these refugee families and the students
46:29 that we would do what's best for them.
46:33 Sometimes it's as simple as finding refugee family
46:36 and showing them how to turn on the furnace.
46:38 Yeah.
46:40 They don't know how to use the washing machine,
46:42 simple things,
46:44 how to go to the grocery store.
46:45 They're coming from countries that
46:46 grocery store is not a concept or a refugee camp that,
46:50 you know, grocery store is just not something you can do it.
46:53 Some of these simple things providing transportation
46:55 to doctor's appointments and things like that
46:57 and something that doesn't take a lot of time,
47:00 but it would have a great impact on these people
47:02 in their lives.
47:05 What Dean is shared with us in a nice...
47:07 I've read this in other reports.
47:09 What is greatest... That's Dean Coridan.
47:11 Dean Coridan.
47:13 The greatest lack is friendship.
47:16 They are so lonely, their family may not be there,
47:19 and people that may not know there
47:21 and just to be friendly to them is important.
47:26 And so there's lots of things can be done
47:28 and some costs very little to do as far as time or money.
47:32 Yeah, it's just something
47:34 that we want to encourage everyone.
47:36 And it's money so well invested
47:40 because our refugee families,
47:43 they have a heart for evangelism,
47:45 much greater than I've seen in America.
47:48 And so when we can train up the children
47:51 in the Lord and teach biblical truth to them,
47:54 they are out evangelizing.
47:56 And it's just money well spent 'cause we're training leaders.
48:02 Leah has become such a leader in our school
48:05 and in our community.
48:06 And other refugee students have just stepped up to leadership.
48:10 And her parents, all they've been through,
48:12 now they're leaders, her dad is an elder,
48:14 her mom is a school board member,
48:15 and they're giving back to our community.
48:18 Praise God.
48:20 Well, I know that's very exciting.
48:21 And we want to give you the opportunity.
48:23 And if they go to your website,
48:27 there's some other resources to see
48:29 how maybe your church could become involved in this
48:32 or you can call Joe and ask.
48:36 But if the Holy Spirit is impressing you
48:39 to perhaps try to start something like this
48:43 in your own area, in your church,
48:46 or if you are willing,
48:48 I'm sure the Holy Spirit is impressing many people
48:51 to pray and support them
48:53 or perhaps even to donate something toward this cause.
48:57 Here's how you can get in touch with them.
49:02 If you would like to support
49:03 the efforts of the Iowa-Missouri
49:05 Conference of Seventh-day Adventist in providing
49:08 Christian education for children of immigrants
49:11 and refugee families,
49:13 please visit their website Imsda.org,


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Revised 2019-04-08