Dallas has the second largest refugee population in the U.S. with over 200,000 refugees in the greater Dallas area. For the Nations Refugee Outreach serves about 1,550 legal & permanent refugees annually, coming from over 20 countries including Burma, Thailand, D.R. Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. They include men, women & children of all ages, speaking over 50 different languages, and coming from a variety of religious backgrounds. All have persevered though incredible challenges and dangers, interviews and screenings before becoming among the privileged few to arrive here in the U.S. These people are desperate to learn English and the basics of navigating life here in America, are eager and grateful to anyone willing to help them, and in most cases have incredibly open hearts and minds. What an amazing opportunity to share the love of Jesus!
For the Nations seeks to serve refugees in the Dallas area through education, acculturation, and sharing with them the good news of Jesus Christ. Primarily we do this through ESL, literacy and citizenship classes and GED prep for adults. There is a preschool class while parents are in ESL class, and after-school homework help & English practice for pre-K through 8th graders. All classes are free of charge and offered to anyone, but attendance is required to stay in the program. There are also occasional classes on cooking, computer literacy, job skills, etc., as well as an intensive summer reading/ESL program for recent arrivals to the U.S. The organization has seen many of their students successfully integrate into their jobs and communities.
Most importantly, every class/event includes a Scripture passage and presentation of the Gospel, strategically placed in the middle of the class time as a required part of the curriculum. Throughout the course of the year, this presentation begins with the Creation account and ends with the Resurrection. The outreach has seen several believe as a result of these teaching times and the relationships that have developed.
I first learned about FTNRO last summer through someone my mom met, after I had been praying towards possibly working with refugees in some way. I’m so thankful God enabled me to get involved already this January, and that my other part-time jobs allow me to spend all day on Thursdays with the outreach. I volunteer as a pre-K assistant, ESL teacher’s assistant, and a Kids' Club tutor, and although it has stretched me in various ways, I am thoroughly loving it!
(statistics and information gathered from For the Nations literature)
*To respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*
*To respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*
