Heart work

Guys, God is pulling us right now. We came here so Ray can teach the bible and I can help to restart a ministry for moms in need. However, getting to know the city stirs so much more up in our hearts.

This past week, Ray reconnected with a friend from Afghanistan who knows a lot of the Afghan community here. After having amazing Afghan tea and snacks with his friend's family, Ray invited him to the YWAM base to share.

We heard his story and the stories of the Afghans recently and currently coming to America. They have all experienced major trauma with the Taliban re-taking control of the country (rape, torture, murder, you name it). After this Ray and a few others decided they want to connect with the Afghan community to see how they could help them.

Ray and Nolan went to an event today put on by local community organizations. They periodically invite Afghans to come to learn about the community services available to them. It is an opportunity to connect Afghans with those who are wanting to help. Help is needed with dealing with bureaucracy, providing rides to appointments, acquiring a driver's license, registering for school (remember girls are not allowed to go to school in Afghanistan!), and other needs that may arise. Ray and some of the other staff here are figuring out how they can be involved.

(Ray's team in Germany was doing similar things with Iranians and Afghans in 2017-19).

When a people group moves to a new country (for whatever reason), they are generally very open to embracing and integrating into that society. However, after a time, if they don't connect, they begin to close off into their own communities. For Afghans, that window of openness is now!

I spend most of my toddler free time doing research on the homelessness situation in Minneapolis. I want to know, how many people are in need, how many shelters are available, and what kind of shelters (emergency, women, transitional, etc.). I have heard and read quite a few times now that there are not enough shelters. And the winter is coming. There are people out there, sleeping in tents. Including children. Right now, I feel overwhelmed and a little helpless. I am trying to figure out what to do. I realize how much more than "only" housing these people need. I am sure they all have experienced some kind of trauma in their lives. Homelessness is a traumatic experience in itself. I don't want to sit and watch, knowing that most of them probably have given up on a happy life. I want to spread hope. For now, we have bags with snacks (soon hopefully some bibles as well) in our car to give to those people in need. This is just a really small thing we can do. But I see it as a beginning. My heart is crying especially for families with children. But everyone else has my prayers as well.

The more we see the needs, the more we see how blessed we are. How many awesome people we are surrounded with. And how great that we can see God's love in our lives.

Thank you for your prayers and your financial support.