There aren’t many social situations in life where I feel unsure of myself. I love meeting new people and don’t mind new environments. However, a recent visit with a new Afghan friend left me feeling a bit uncertain. When she invited me over for afternoon tea,
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When Jesse Phenow was a 20-year old college student, he became an Arrive Ministries volunteer because he wanted to help welcome a refugee family to the United States. After being paired with a Karen family of 8, it didn’t take long for Jesse to realize that he
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It all started with a letter sent to surrounding neighbors asking, “Would you be willing to sell your home to Grace Free Church?” The Fridley Church had dreams of buying a home adjacent to their property to rent to refugees. When an interested seller came forward, a
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Inviting a refugee family to stay in our home is one of the best experiences Darrin and I have shared in our marriage. While we have always enjoyed building cross-cultural relationships, we couldn’t have anticipated the impact that this family would have on our own. I think
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“We were so happy” is how Thushanth described the feelings his family felt upon arriving in America. Thushanth couldn’t believe that “When people smile at you, they often say ‘Have a nice day,’ and that really makes me happy.” Originally from Sri Lanka, Thushanth and his sister,
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As a nurse, Jessi has always felt a tug on her heartstrings for the immigrant population in St. Cloud. When Jessi was introduced to Safa, a Somali single mother newly resettled in St. Cloud through Arrive Ministries, Jessi realized that pull was divine. “It was an incredible
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Sam and Kirsten Tindall, along with their friends Avery and Betsy Platter, started volunteering as Good Neighbors in February 2021. The team was paired with the Shinwaris, an Afghan family of 8, but after Afghanistan collapsed in August, their family has grown to include many extended family
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Mother and Daughter Reunited For the First Time in 16 Years Lar Paw came to America in 2005 as a 17-year old refugee from Burma by way of Thailand, leaving behind her mother, Naw Gay. As soon as Lar Paw arrived in the U.S., she began
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“I’ve been working with a client who is extremely talented and credentialed but is also extraordinarily humble. As we started looking for jobs, he expressed a desire to start at an entry level in a restaurant to give him some time to get his feet under him
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Dave and Sandy had already spent eight years befriending the Somali community through our Somali Adult Literacy Training (SALT) program when the pandemic hit. Contact was limited, but 86-year-old Dave and his wife Sandy’s Somali friends in East St. Paul checked in on them regularly. “They were
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