She Wanted to Hear Jesus Speak Her Language

The room erupted in intense discussion. We had just listened to Luke 21 from a Swahili Bible app, and there was some serious Bible study being done by my middle school girls, though I had no clue what all was being said!

A few weeks ago, just as my three core girls and I had settled into routine, several new girls with very limited English joined our youth Bible study, completely changing the dynamics. This actually turned out to be an unexpected answer to prayer, as most of these new girls had been in my summer ESL group, and I had since lost touch with them. So while my teammate led the English-fluent girls, I started a low-level English Bible study on the spot... which has been a challenge. Truth*, who chose to stay in my group so she could help translate for her Swahili-speaking friends, has been a huge help and encouragement, and this is stretching and growing both of us!

Sometimes you've got to draw pictures to try to explain Jesus' abstract parables lol (Luke 20:9-18)

Although both Truth and I felt like everyone was taking away something from Bible study, there were still mostly just smiles, nods, and one-word answers. I kept praying about how to facilitate the girls to not only understand, but to respond and share their thoughts. Language and literacy barriers are hard! So God gave me the idea of playing a Swahili Bible app instead of laboring through the difficult English text. So we listened to Swahili Jesus speak:

"Do not be afraid when you hear about wars and about fighting against rulers... Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. In many places there will be powerful earthquakes. People will go hungry. There will be terrible sicknesses. Things will happen that will make people afraid.

"...And so you will be witnesses about me. But make up your mind not to worry ahead of time about how to stand up for yourselves. I will give you words of wisdom. None of your enemies will be able to withstand them or prove them wrong... Remain strong in the faith, and you will receive eternal life.

"The nations of the earth will we in terrible pain... Terror will make people faint. They will be worried about what is happening in the world... When these things take place, stand up. Hold your head up with joy and hope. The time when you will be set free will be very close... Heaven and earth will pass away. But My words will never pass away." (from Luke 21, NIRV)

Now each girl heard and understood. Now every one of them was brimming with questions, comments, and connections. Truth turned to me and said "It's working!" Poor Truth was trying valiantly to field everyone's comments and translate for me, but I told her to just go with the Swahili, and I sat back and smiled. In that moment they didn't need my fumbling words. They wanted to hear Jesus speak (Luke 21:38b).

Please pray that these powerful, relevant words will rule over the anxiety in our hearts during these uncertain times, and that my girls will continue reading/listening in the Gospel of Luke, even though For the Nations is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 precautions.

Kids-Clubbers, interns, & Bible study youth join together for an epic round of Uno :)

*Names changed for privacy. To further respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*

Jesus + Refugees + Horses

It has been a joy to come back to my students at For the Nations after the Christmas break! After learning God's attributes through stories from the Old Testament last fall, my preschool class is ready for our spring focus on how Jesus displayed those same attributes throughout the Gospel stories. I love how this semester's Bible curriculum in preschool, Kids' Club, and youth Bible study all overlap: focusing on the life of Jesus. Another great addition to Kids' Club this spring has been memory verses, which has been a big hit for the kids and volunteers so far (of course, the candy incentive may have something to do with it haha). Pray for this enthusiasm to continue, and that they will understand and retain God's word.

Usually I share a story about my students, but today I want to highlight two women who have been sustaining supports to me this year. When preschool and Kids' Club started up in September, the child-to-teacher ratio was pretty overwhelming. God provided me with a fantastic volunteer who helps in my preschool every day (plus other wonderful volunteers, thankful for you all!), and two awesome college interns to help me with my after school K-2nd grade multitude! Shout-out to Kedan, whose Godly character, gentle firmness, and obvious love for each child is making an impact. She's my right hand. Also, one of our former college interns (who helped me teach Bible to the "littles" last summer) has graduated and is back this spring, and I'm so thankful to have her join me in leading my youth girls' Bible study as we continue through the Gospel of Luke.

Personal Update

As I explained in an earlier update, I decreased my work hours in Fall 2019 (for more details, see my blog post from August). Although I was reluctant about that decision, it proved to be a much-needed adjustment. The reduced hours have enabled me to be better prepared and intentional with the students I do have, and provided me with time to rest and begin working through some personal situations as well. I'm thankful that I get to continue in this work through God's strength with the support of my prayer team and coworkers.

After much prayer, consideration, and discussion with my supervisor, I will be continuing my current 24-hour/week schedule at For the Nations indefinitely. I have discerned that working part-time in this particular ministry capacity is a better fit for my overall well-being.

In order to sustain this part-time schedule long-term, I have also been praying about getting a second part-time job that will 1) supplement my income, 2) provide me with a low-stress environment, and 3) provide opportunity to further integrate my God-given abilities with my ministry goals. Ideally, I would like to work as a barn hand because 1) I have job experience with horses, 2) being around horses energizes me, and 3) I have been waiting on God to provide an opportunity to more directly use my love of animals as a channel to more effectively minister to refugees.

A friend graciously let my Afghan friend and I ride her horses. It was Maryam's first time on a horse.

Those of you who know me best know that horses have always been an important gift of God in my life. They have a unique way of teaching valuable lessons of communication, teamwork, unconditional love, trust, and healing, which has been shown to be particularly effective for people affected by trauma. Building a relationship of trust with a large, unpredictable, yet forgiving animal serves as a powerful analogy to understand healing found in Jesus. Eventually, I hope to find a way to make this kind of equine-facilitated therapy accessible to my refugee community, but for starters I need a way to simply get my foot back in the door of the equestrian world. If you have further questions about this, feel free to reach out and text/email me anytime.

While I don't know the details yet, I am excited to see how God will direct me in His timing. Please pray for wisdom, sensitivity and trust in God's leading alone, provision of the right part-time job, and faithfulness in daily ministry.



*Names changed for privacy. To further respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*

To Know Him More

Girls from Orthodox families. Girls from Protestant families. A girl from a Mslim family. A girl whose family is in a cult. Girls from devout families in ancient church traditions who have never read the Bible. Girls who have impressive knowledge of the Bible but struggle to relate it to everyday life. Girls from broken homes. Girls who are friends. Girls who are enemies. Three to eight 6th-8th-grade girls (out of 50+ youth who attend weekly Bible study) gather each Wednesday to study the Gospel of Luke, and I love how Jesus' words cut through all the labels and backgrounds to the heart issues - the big life questions.

Recently, Mercy*, a new girl in my group asked, "If someone does something really bad, does that mean they are going to hell?" Before I could say a word, Faith* (a former Mslim) turned to her and boldly proclaimed, "Well, sin always leads to death and separation. But that's why Jesus had to die!" It is a privilege to explain the Gospel to a seeking child. But it is infinitely more precious to watch my girls preach it to each other. Pray for the Holy Spirit's work in and through each one.

Another of my girls, Truth*, just arrived in America this summer and has many adjustments happening in her life. She is passionate about loving Jesus, but has received a lot of false teaching. She took home a Bible a few weeks ago and is eagerly meeting my challenge to read the Gospel of Luke at home. Pray that as she soaks in Jesus, the God-Man, false teachers will lose their place in her life to the One worth following.

We pray in our group that this year we will not only know more about Jesus, but that we will know Jesus more. Thank you for praying this with us!

*To respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*

Infinitely More Than We Ask Or Imagine

Thank God with me for all that He did this summer at For the Nations! We serve a God who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

In summary, we worked with...
- 12 mission teams from 7 states

- 14 high school & college interns and 64 local Dallas volunteers...

...to serve...

- over 700 refugee kids from 15 countries
- for 8 weeks + training week

- through swim lessons, reading & math practice, science experiments, electives (such as music, dance, art, taekwondo, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and cooking), games, a week of KAA summer camp for 48 big kids, and daily lunches...

...and to share the gospel with them through daily Bible lessons and Christian mentorship, because Jesus is our Motivation, Strength, and Reason!

Of course, behind the numbers and programs are the sometimes heartbreaking but always inspiring stories of the beautiful children I am privileged to know. If I include them all here, the length of this post will get out of hand, so as I write my kids' stories and prayer requests, I will post them on my Facebook group and when I have compiled them, post them here on the blog. Stay tuned!

Personal Update

I am in the process of temporarily decreasing my work hours at For the Nations. After receiving some counsel at the end of the summer program, my supervisor and I have decided on this so I can learn how to better manage my own personal stress and steward the trauma of those I care for.

A few clarifications:

• This does not mean that I'm getting tired of refugee ministry or want to do something else. I love what I do and the organization I work with, and cannot imagine ever leaving my kiddos. I'm doing this so I can hopefully sustain my work long-term without burning out.

• I did not ask to decrease my hours for financial reasons. However, because my support level is currently at only about 60% of my eventual goal, this does allow me to cut my hours without having to decrease my current salary or temporarily adjust my support goals. As of now, I will teach Tues-Fri preschool (afternoon only), Tues-Thurs Kids' Clubs, and my weekly middle school Bible study, for a total of 24 hrs/wk. If you have any questions, feel free to text/email me about any of this.

Please pray for me to have strength, health, & energy each day. Pray that I will rely on the Lord to care for my needs. Pray for wisdom in leading my girls’ Bible study, teaching preschoolers, and tutoring/mentoring children. Pray that students and teammates will experience Christ’s love reflected in me.

Get involved!

Don't be sad if you missed the summer fun... we have a HUGE need for volunteers this fall! Fill out the application and choose from two orientation times this Wednesday, Aug 28 (9-10:30am or 5-6:30pm). Send questions to our volunteer coordinator, Lauren Kirkpatrick: laurenk@ftnro.org.

PRESCHOOL. This fall, we will have one teacher per preschool class (last year we had two teachers per class, which was not enough if their were no volunteers). If you love littles (or want to find out if you do), please consider being a teacher's aide once a week during morning class (9-11am) or afternoon class (12-2pm).

KIDS' CLUB. If K-8th graders are more your thing, we will have LOTS of them for you to help with homework, read & play with them, and help them engage with the Bible lessons. Pick a day Mon-Thurs from 4-6pm. This is a great opportunity for families to serve together and make friends with our kids!

ADULT PROGRAMS. If you really want to volunteer with our adult students in ESL classes, conversation practice, and Bible studies, that's okay too (but preschool is wayyy more fun! I'm not biased at all😜). Thanks for considering this, and feel free to copy/paste/share this section to interested friends!

Volunteer

*To respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*

Summer Begins!

The Summer Reading Program is a pretty big deal at For the Nations Refugee Outreach! This week is the first of eight weeks of fun and learning about Jesus, English, reading, singing, math, science, art, taekwondo, cooking, basketball, soccer, and swimming. The week of setup and the first week are always a bit crazy, but this year has been our smoothest yet, even though we have had over 300 kids each day. We are so thankful to have our own building this year.

Each week, we host a different mission team (both local and from out-of-state) to provide the bulk of our volunteer force. Pray for me to have energy and flexibility as I co-host this week's team, along with juggling other responsibilities like teaching 5th-8th graders how to read English in the morning, co-leading our 6th-7th graders in the afternoon, and teaching the Bible lesson to our littlest kids. Summer is one of the most rewarding parts of my job, but definitely the most exhausting. Please pray that my tiredness doesn't get in the way of what God wants to accomplish in and through me, and that He will help me lead my children well.

This is the fourth summer that I get to do the Orange Group! They're my favorite because, as our newest-to-America kids, they are excited to learn and tend to make visible progress over our eight weeks together. It's been special to welcome back a few students that I had last year, and fun to meet my new students from Congo, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. Pray for my kids' effective communication, team unity & respect, and understanding & openness to the Gospel.

*To respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*

Love Speaks Louder Than Words

"Children are not a distraction from more important work.
They are the most important work."  --C. S. Lewis

As a preschool teacher of children from around the world, I get the special Easter treat of hearing my 3-year-olds belting out in their best English, "sing hosanna to the King of kings." I'm sorry I don't have a recording of it, but you can enjoy the smiles on the right.


Among the 200+ children (in preschool and Kids' Club) that I interact with throughout each week, there are several that require more individualized attention and accommodation. Please pray for these dear ones and their families in their unique situations, and for my teammates and I to have wisdom to help them learn, heal, and grow in an environment of consistency and unconditional love. This is a revolutionary testimony to many of these children and their parents. It's easy for me to forget this and get discouraged about certain kids; but often how I teach them matters more than what I teach them. Truly, the kids who seem hard to love usually need it the most. If I'm telling kids that Jesus loves us and died for us when we treated Him like our enemy, I hope I can show them a glimpse of what that looks like by my actions.

I'm so thankful for my precious 3-year-olds and this beautiful classroom

Sharing About Refugee Ministry at Bob Jones University
Thank you for your prayers for my week in Greenville, SC last month. God answered in amazing ways:

• He kept me safe, awake, and well-cared-for through all 1,800+ miles of driving.
• He gave me opportunities and ability to speak on campus and at a local church, as well as lots of one-on-one interaction with students. It was very exciting to hear from students who are already reaching out to refugees and internationals in Greenville and beyond. It was such a privilege to be a small encouragement to students in the path God has for them, after being "in their shoes" just a few years ago. I look forward to seeing how God will work in and through them in the future😊.
• He treated me to some quality time with dear friends who happen to live in Greenville.
• All glory to God and a big thank you to BJU staff and my amazing former professor Dr. A for making this happen. As a student in his Cell Biology lab, I hadn't expected he'd invite me back to speak about refugee ministry, but I'm so glad he did!

Reconnecting with awesome biology professors

While interacting with students, I also met a gal on staff with another ministry who came to America as a refugee from Burma at age 16. Small world!

Jesus is the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever

Thanksgiving potluck with our ESL students & families

I hope you all had a special Thanksgiving! As I near the end of a very full fall semester at For the Nations, here are a few things for which I thank the Lord:

• That Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). I can never predict what challenges I'll face each day in ministry or in my personal life, but I can be sure of one thing: Jesus is the same!

• For all of you! Your encouragement, prayers, and support constantly remind me to keep trusting God and not quit.

• For my fellow children's staff. It's nice to not be the only one cleaning up after a sick kid or fishing toy spoons out of the toilet ;).

• For the opportunity to host a young lady from Kansas for two weeks this fall. Such a blessing to get to know her, have extra help with the kids, and watch her immerse and flourish in the Dallas refugee ministry experience.

Elaine fit right in during her 2 weeks at FTNRO

• For each one of "my" 200+ children from preschool and Kids' Club. So many colorful personalities and opportunities to teach & learn from all of them!

• For my Bible study girls. This semester I have had a consistent group of three 6th & 7th graders who get along together (a wonderful change!). We have been digging into the person and work of Jesus Christ, and I love listening to them read the Creation & Fall account from Genesis, prophecy of Messiah in Isaiah, and the record of Jesus' resurrection from the Gospel of John (two of them for the first time). They have also risen to the challenge of memorizing John 1:1-18. These girls come from a variety of backgrounds & cultures; one is from an Ethiopian Orthodox tradition and another is one of two Christians in her Mslm family. Last week after reading about how Jesus' resurrection gives believers hope after death (1 Thessalonians 4), she had lots of questions about Mslm beliefs and what will happen to her family members after death. The Ethiopian was shocked to learn that her friend was not from a Christian family, but had chosen a different religion. Sometimes we have the most interesting discussions! Please pray for me as I try to lead these girls to God's answers to our big questions, and that over the Christmas break they will grow in their love for God, read His Word, and remember His promise to us: "I will never leave you" (Hebrews 13:5).

The cutest Mary & Joseph I ever did see :)

Support Update: As you know, my income is funded by gifts from my generous donors. Currently, my monthly funding is short about $800/month, or $9600/year. If you are interested in giving a monthly gift of any amount, or a special year-end gift to help cover the gap, you can do so by clicking the blue "Support Maryellen" button below. All donations to For the Nations are tax-deductible, and if given through my link, will be preferenced to my staff account. Thank you so much!

Support Maryellen

I have a break from usual classes from Dec 17 to Jan 12, during which I would love to catch up with many of you who live locally in Dallas and plan some visits to those who live less locally. If you would like me to come share about what God is doing among this refugee community, let me know! I don't mind an occasional excuse to travel :).


Have a blessed Christmas celebrating Immanuel, God with us.