Some stories are so full of perfectly timed coincidences, that the main characters realize they’re living through a God story.
Take the arrival story of the Elmi family. The October day this refugee family of 7 arrived at MSP airport, Arrive’s housing coordinator, Hannah, was struggling to find them a place to live.
That morning, a phone call came in from Calvary Church in Roseville. The house behind the church furnished for missionaries on furlough (called Home Base) was uncharacteristically vacant for the next 8 months, and the pastor wanted to know if Arrive had any newcomers who needed a temporary place to live. Smoke nearly flew from Hannah’s fingers as she dialed to return the call. Safe, secure, housing was found in the nick of time. The Elmi family would move in that very day.
Another prayerful coincidence was unfolding in the lives of John and Joyce Gokey, a couple from Calvary Church. After completing a cross-cultural ministry seminar, the Gokeys were praying about forming relationships with Somali people in the area. They kept asking God, ‘How are we going to meet a Somali family?’ Fortuitously months later, the Elmis, who are a Somali family, moved in behind the church.
“God knew we needed help meeting Somalis,” laughed Joyce.
The Gokeys convened a team of volunteers to welcome the Elmi family and walk alongside them in friendship during their first year of acclimating to their new country. (Bonus coincidence: a long-time Arrive Ministries Somali English tutor lived 2 houses away from Home Base.)
It’s a tremendous team. They have been helping us with so many things. They are world class people, they are so polite and good
“If I need something, I call them and they are ready to help me. I’m so glad to have them,” said Elmi (whose nickname is his last name).
Another stroke of coincidence hit two months after the Elmi family arrived in Minnesota while Elmi and his Arrive Ministries case manager were on the hunt for employment. The Good Neighbor team had taken the Elmi family to Como Zoo, and a picture of the outing got posted to facebook. Being the small-world that it is, Elmi got a facebook message from a man he knew from the refugee camp where his family had lived in Indonesia.
“Are you in Minnesota?” the man asked. The man from Elmi’s past lived a few miles away from Elmi, and offered to help Elmi land a job at Medtronic and drive him to work until Elmi earned his driver’s license.
The friendship with the Good Neighbor team and the Elmis continued to develop sweetly as the team assisted the family in getting to appointments, helped Elmi with driver’s training and both families hosted one another for regular dinners.
As the end of the church’s temporary lease was looming, the Good Neighbor team joined Elmi in his search for an affordable rental unit.
Our team dove in, and looked around to see what was available. We’d type in 3 bedrooms for less than $2,000 in the search engines, and the screen would go blank, nothing showed up,” said John.
That’s when everyone learned just how tight the rental market is.
“For a big family like mine, we needed an affordable 3 or 4 bedroom apartment,” said Elmi.
Most of the landlords were looking for rental and credit history which as a refugee I couldn’t provide.”
For months the Elmis and volunteer team toured anything within a certain radius and were finding either the income requirements were too taxing or the units didn’t fit the family’s unique needs.
The team from Calvary started crunching numbers, which revealed that the Elmis were able to qualify for a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment in Fridley, less than a mile from Elmi’s workplace. The team even wrote a letter to the property managers vouching for their friends.
We all did a lot of work, but in the end it wasn’t us. God had put it together,” said John.
The place is so gorgeous, clean and secure.”
“I work at night and I’ve never had to worry about my family’s safety when I leave them to go to work. That gives me peace of mind,” said Elmi.
As Elmi is experiencing first hand, nothing provides more peace than being an active participant in a divinely orchestrated plan.
“God has done everything, putting us together to come to Minnesota,” shared Elmi.
Everything was written for us. I’ve never experienced such a thing. I have felt so taken care of. It is so beautiful and good.”
