The year 2025 has been a devastating one for the world’s refugees. The U.S. has canceled all contracts with its 10 nonprofit partners through whom highly vetted refugees have flowed into this country for more than half a century. There is no real hope the program will ever be restarted, at least under the current administration. While wars and violence rage around the world—in Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, Congo, Myanmar, to name the obvious—hope has been eliminated for millions. It is debilitating for them: spiritually, emotionally, psychologically.
Our three-decade local partner, Kentucky Refugee Ministries, has opted not to close its doors as so many affiliates around the country have done. It is transitioning to a smaller model, focused on assisting the refugees who have resettled in this state in recent months and years…to continue as a beacon of hope. With no new families arriving since January, Beargrass has done likewise by helping the Harun family (Sudanese) of seven who arrived last September, and the Roshan Zada family (Afghan) of nine, whom we first met in November. And while their paths have been a bit different, what they have shared is the tremendous generosity and compassion shown to them by the Beargrass congregation. Here’s a brief update.
The Harun teenagers, Ahmad and Salma, have spent the school year at Newcomer Academy in the Buechel area, while two younger siblings, Abdulhadi and Salima, have attended Goldsmith Elementary. All have made wonderful progress. Abubakar, Asha, and Slahadin (age 3) spent the intervening weeks at KRM in English and orientation classes, until Abubakar joyfully acquired a second-shift position at GE’s Appliance Park in March. The path for the Haruns has been one of smooth assimilation, achievement, appreciation, and hope beyond anything they could have ever imagined during their 14 years in Kakuma, a Kenyan refugee camp.
You may recall from an article last November that our engagement with the Roshan Zadas was at the request of KRM, primarily due to the discovery of cancer in their 17-year-old son, resulting in a 41-week treatment protocol through Norton Children’s Hospital. While their sadness and concern for Murtaza color their daily lives, Mohammad and Mastora have nevertheless been supportive and by his side every day of this journey. The Roshan Zada girls—Suraya, Maryam, and Aisha—also attend Newcomer; Sohrab and Rustam are at Gutermuth Elementary; while Sekandar remains home with Mom until this fall. Murtaza has been hospitalized on a few occasions but is fighting bravely, while also studying at home. He has been encouraged and excited by his selection for the national program, Make-A-Wish. It was a big win for the family when Mohammad landed a well-paying job in March at the electric car battery factory in Glendale. And in spite of their many hardships, these parents have been as hopeful as the circumstances allow—totally attentive to all their children, and likewise very appreciative to have found a home here.
So, the Haruns and the Roshan Zadas have in common finding safety, security, and new leases on life in the U.S.; assistance in so many areas of community assimilation through the wonderful hearts at KRM; and kindness, compassion, and generosity through you—the Beargrass congregation. Yet there is now something else they share…God’s love and hope delivered through the news that both Asha and Mastora are pregnant! The Haruns are scheduled for an August arrival, while the Roshan Zadas have a September due date. While Asha has both a brother and sister locally who are assisting her, one of our Beargrass faithful, who is an ordained Disciples minister—Pamela Pettyjohn—has been graciously shepherding Mastora to and through her prenatal appointments…while quickly bonding with the entire family.
Allow me to close with a book citation and quote, which resonate with me when I ponder the plight of the refugee—their pain, their suffering. The Book of Joy chronicles a 2015 conversation between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Taken from their conversation by author Douglas Abrams is this passage:
“Yet hope requires faith, even if that faith is in nothing more than human nature or the very persistence of life to find a way. Hope is also nurtured by relationship, by community, whether that community is a literal one or one fashioned from the long memory of human striving whose membership includes Gandhi, King, Mandela, and countless others. Despair turns us inward. Hope sends us into the arms of others.”
And, from the lips of Archbishop Tutu:
“To choose hope is to step firmly forward into the howling wind, baring one’s chest to the elements, knowing that, in time, the storm will pass.”
I believe that hope is essential, and that to withdraw it is tragic.
Thank you, Beargrass, for always choosing to embrace and facilitate the path of HOPE.