Pathways Press.com

Written by Rev. Dr. Donald Owens, Associate Director, Christ Ministry Center/Safe Harbors Network, which is a mission partner of the Village Church.

Emily is an asylum seeker from Haiti, she has three teens with her. The teens are two females and a male, ages 13, 15, and 16. Emily arrived to Safe Harbors Network from Haiti via Venezuela. I took a particular interest in Emily’s family based on the appearance of the two girls, suspecting a possible disability. I wanted to address my suspicions to Emily. It turned out Emily was highly guarded regarding her family. Initially, Emily was unable to communicate at all regarding her children without starting to cry or would simply not communicate. I learned that the children had not yet been enrolled in school and offered to assist in any way possible. After a few days, Emily came to me about enrolling her children in school. And we went through the process together. We had to have the children vaccinated, complete the school paperwork, and take the documents to the school and manage the enrollment with school staff. Emily speaks Haitian Creole and Spanish, however, Creole is her primary language, so there was a language barrier to manage. It turned out that the children have a medical condition that requires prescribed medications and that was conveyed to the school. Throughout the process, Emily continued to maintain a guarded and stressed demeanor, it was obvious she was stressed and uncomfortable. Finally, everything was submitted, and the children started to attend school. Emily listed me as a person that the children could be released to in case of an emergency. Emily did everything she needed to do to the best of her ability despite being uncomfortable.  For me, there are a couple of spiritual moments that are particularly special. One is knowing that the children were going to go back to school and knowing they will have a chance at a different life when they are adults. The teens were all very excited and eager to go back to school. The second is knowing that Safe Harbors Network was able to make a breakthrough with an asylee who is very guarded based on prior trauma. I ran into Emily shortly thereafter at the church parking lot. She cheerfully greeted me and asked about my family. Then without solicitation, she said, “Thank you.” I felt that the thank you was genuine and heartfelt. The best part of that interaction though was her smile, big and bright as a sunny day.

Prayer:

Written by Father Dan Hartnett, a contemporary priest.  For over 20 years he worked in Peru where he created a Jesuit University in Lima.

God of love and compassion: may we always recognize your spirit: in the refugee family, seeking safety from violence; in the migrant worker, bringing food to our tables; in the asylum-seekers, seeking justice for their families; in the unaccompanied child, traveling in a dangerous world. Give us hearts that break open whenever our brothers and sisters turn to us. Give us hearts that no longer turn deaf to their voices in times of need; Give us eyes to recognize a moment for grace instead of a threat. Give us voices that fail to remain silent but decide instead to advocate prophetically. Give us hands that reach out in welcome, but also in work, for a world of justice until all homelands are safe and secure. Bless us, O Lord. Amen.