New friend

On Friday afternoon I got a text that there would be a hangout at the refugee apartments that night. I felt like God was telling me to go. But when I got home from work I was feeling pretty lazy and I just wanted to veg out. I felt awkward about going by myself, I had no idea who would be there, and I had no idea what to expect. I had only visited the apartments once before for the ESL meeting. In case I'm not getting my point across,  I didn't feel like going. If it had been up to me I would've poured some wine and started a Downton Abbey marathon (yes that is what I feel like doing on Friday night, what about it). But the voice inside me was persistent. He wanted me to go. Fortunately, I've learned that when I feel like God is telling me to do something, I should probably do it. So I went.

When I got there, there were 6 or 7 people hanging out in front of the office. One of the very first people I met was an Iraqi woman named Israa who had arrived only the week before. She was so outgoing and friendly, we seemed to immediately hit it off. Her English is really amazing. I asked her if she had come to the U.S. with her family and she told me that she had come only with her mother and that she "had never managed to get a husband." I told her "hey me either!" and we had a pretty good laugh, ha.

She actually had been living in Dubai for the last 5 years. In Iraq she had worked at the American Embassy, which I think is why her English is so good. We ended up having a great time hanging out and meeting people.

Hanging out at the community garden with Israa and Widad from Iraq.

Before I left we exchanged numbers and I told her that I would be coming back on Sunday because I was giving a few guys from the Congo a ride to church. She said she would like to hang out again.

So on Sunday after church, I called her. She asked me to come over and have tea at her apartment. She tried to explain over the phone how to find her apartment but it was too confusing. I could tell she was a little hesitant to come outside and meet me but she did. Later I realized that it was because she had to get all wrapped up to come outside.

We went up to her apartment which she shares with her mom. She unwrapped her headscarf and took off her shawl and started making some tea. In the living room was just one couch, no other furnishings or decorations, except for a table in the dining room. She made me some tea and we sat on her couch for about an hour and a half just chatting. She showed me pictures from Dubai on her laptop and we talked about guys, haha. But then she started telling me some of her story and I quickly remembered that we have come from very different places.

While living in Iraq and working for the Embassy, her brother had been kidnapped and killed. She never really knew the reason why, but she always suspected that it had something to do with her working for the government and helping the U.S. The government told her that she was a target and would need to leave the country. Because she had an engineering degree, she and her mother were able to go to Dubai. She has another brother who relocated to Germany, another sister in Dubai, and two other sisters still in Iraq, who she worries about daily.

With the downturn of the economy, she lost her job in Dubai. Because of that, she lost her visa. That's when she came to Texas. She is looking for a job as an architect.

The next day she sent me a text that said, "Hi Cassie, thank you so much for your visit yesterday night. U bring happiness to our apartment and we have great time with u." So sweet! I told her I was so glad to have met her and that I would see her again on Wednesday because I was coming to help at the garden.

So yesterday at 5:30 she showed up at the garden and together we watered and picked a ton of veggies. She invited me and another girl named Sonja to her apartment so that we could cook the veggies for dinner! My friend Sara and another Iraqi woman named Widad came too. We had the best time! It was just like a regular girls night. We didn't leave until 10 p.m.

So in one week's time, we've hung out three times. That is totally a God thing. I know there is a reason God wanted me to meet her and I am thankful that I listened to His voice instead of my own.

I am still totally in awe of the fact that there is this huge community of people from all over the world living down the street from me.

Here's an excerpt from an article from the Traveling Team about what the Bible says about caring for refugees.

"Thousands of immigrants, international students, and refugees arrive in the USA each year. They are lonely, scared, yet excited and longing to fit into this culture so new to them.

Many of the countries they come from place hospitality as one of their highest values, and as for hospitality to foreigners, it goes without saying - it is essential.

Our Biblical Responsibility

You can imagine their surprise when they arrive in a country like the United States and instead of being treated as visiting royalty, they are ridiculed, insulted, or even worse, ignored.

As Christians we are often guilty of being the very ones who are ignoring the aliens in our land. This goes directly against very clear commands from God in the Bible: "When the alien lives in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God." (Lev. 19:33-34)

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are alien, for you yourself were aliens in Egypt." (Deut. 10:18-19)

What is wrong?

I have spoken across Canada challenging people to go as missionaries overseas. Inevitably someone will stand up and say quite smugly, "Doesn't missions begin in our own backyard?"

To his surprise, I often shout a loud "Amen!" and say, "Yes, let's begin with those God directed us not to ignore: the widows, the orphans, the aliens (immigrants, refugees, international students), the homeless, the hungry, and the prisoners."

If there was uncomfortable shifting in the seats before, the room now sounds like a game of musical chairs. Why the guilt? Because there are no excuses. They are in our backyards and we are accountable to God for them. Regretfully, we live in an age when we can piously give to the building fund, sit on a committee for evangelism, and sing in the choir, while ignoring our Pakistani neighbor.

There are literally thousands of alienated people waiting for some genuine love and concern."

A promotion and a new opportunity

Two exciting things happened this week! The first is related to work. Kara asked me to go to lunch yesterday to talk about my job. These lunches don’t come around too often, so I knew it was pretty significant. Yesterday morning I just prayed that God would direct me and that if I should ask for a promotion then He would give me the opportunity. I haven’t been promoted since I started this job four years ago, and I think the main reason is that we are a small office and in four years, no one above me has left. But also I haven’t asked.

At lunch she asked me how I was feeling about things and I told her that things were fine, but that I would be interested in taking on more responsibility and that it was easy for me to just run on auto pilot. She asked me what I had in mind. We had a good conversation and I feel like she kind of created a new position for me, which I’m pretty excited about. I felt good about the job, but I also felt good knowing that she cared about my happiness and apparently wants me to stick around.

Basically, I’ll be doing a lot more public speaking and presentations for groups in lieu of my boss, and I’ll be doing it around the entire district, instead of just the four counties that I cover now. So it’ll be awesome public speaking practice and I’ll get to travel to some new areas and it will just give me something new to do. I’ll also do some more writing and researching. I even have a fancy new title: director of community outreach and field operations. J

I really felt like it was God’s way of telling me that I really am where I need to be right now. Who knows how long I will stay in this position, but for right now, I think this is where He wants me. It was reassuring.

The other exciting thing to happen is tonight I met with a few people interested in starting a new ESL class for the refugee community in east Austin. The classes would be held at this apartment complex that is only a half mile from my house. It is filled with refugees. Tonight we met at the complex and it was my first time to visit. Walking around, I really felt like I was in another country. It was so cool! I must’ve seen people from a dozen different countries. It seemed like a really happy place, there were a bunch of people outside and kids playing soccer and swimming.

I just think it’s cool how I’ve really been wanting to go to another country and God just provided this opportunity. It’s like He brought the other countries to me. I really feel like maybe this is why He brought us to this neighborhood. Brittney wants to do it too. She is already helping an Iraqi boy with his English once a week.

Our group is supposed to meet again next week. The classes won’t actually start until July or August, so that will give us plenty of time to recruit volunteers and get the curriculum ready and let people know about the classes.

I feel like this also gives me some direction as far as where to live after our lease is up this summer. I think I want to stay in the same neighborhood so I’ll be close to the apartments.

We will see what happens but I just feel good knowing that God IS opening some new doors for me and that there are exciting opportunities all around me.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer 29:11

　

Remembering my brother this Easter weekend

Seventeen years ago, on the Saturday before Easter, my family buried my brother Paul. He was 33 years old and was killed in a car accident while driving from Washington to Kansas.

That period of time is a bit of a blur to me, a mixture of sadness and confusion and anger. I was 15.

The reason Paul was driving from Washington to Kansas is that he had actually decided to move back home for awhile, to straighten some things out. Because of the age difference and the fact that he lived so far away, I never really got to know Paul that well. I couldn't wait for him to come back. But he never made it.

It was Good Friday when we were able to see Paul's body at the funeral home in Liberal. What can I say about it? It was just so sad.

That evening at about 10, with our house filled with uncles, aunts and cousins, my mom said she had to go back to the funeral home. She couldn't bear the thought of burying him the next day and just needed to go sit with him.

As she sat there, mourning the loss of her son, not able to let go, the Lord reminded her what day it was. It was Good Friday. And that on that day so many years ago, the body of Jesus was just as dead as my brother Paul.  But that on Sunday, He rose from the dead, conquering death.  And because of that, she would see Paul again one day.

She was able to go home and sleep that night and the next day, she was able to bury her son.

On Easter Sunday, my entire extended family went to church. It was a beautiful spring day. When our pastor got up to deliver the sermon, he welcomed our family and said something along the lines of how he was impressed that we had all managed to make it to church after the funeral the day before.

My brother Danny leaned over to my mom and whispered, "Where else would we be?"

Engraved in my brother's tombstone is the verse I Thess 4:16:

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

I am thankful for Jesus and I'm thankful for the cross. I'm thankful that for those in Christ, death isn't goodbye forever.

I'm 33 now, the age Paul was when he died. It is amazing how quickly time passes by. I didn't get to know my brother that well here on Earth. I'm really looking forward to getting to know him in Heaven.