June is World Refugee Month, so we are featuring stories of some of the remarkable displaced people in the Jonathan House community and highlighting ways you can show them love.
John enjoys a day at the zoo with friends from Jonathan House.
John* didn’t want to leave his country – especially because it meant a lengthy separation from his wife and three young children. But when persecution forced him to flee to save his life, he went with the hope that God would guide him to safety in the United States. Unfortunately, his position as an asylum seeker made him vulnerable to exploitation and abuse from the very people he’d hoped would welcome him. “At one point,” he says “I had a disgust for life.” He was on the brink of homelessness when a teacher at his English class helped him connect with Jonathan House – proof to him that “the good Lord does not leave his children in suffering.”
At Jonathan House he found hope and “kind people who gave me a smile and joy to live. The organization restored my life. I would like to thank them very much, and also the donors who have never forgotten us. May God bless and protect them.”
Today, with Jonathan House volunteers walking by his side, John is rebuilding his life while he waits for an answer on his asylum case. He has become a much-beloved member of one of our partner churches, found employment at another, and has been introducing us to his children through video calls.
I want you to hear this, and to really take it in: you, the community and donors of Jonathan House, fought back John’s despair. Your love for him gave him back his joy. Your generosity is proof that God has not forgotten him. And he is praying for you.
Written by: Bethany Ringdal, Ministry Leader