Phoenix, Arizona, has long been a busy location within the SOOP network, and many SOOP workers seek annual assignments there. A wide variety of community-based service opportunities are available, providing support and assistance to many people in great need, including refugees from around the world.
Refugees undergo rigorous vetting by government agencies, and with little or no say as to their eventual destination, they arrive with very little, but hope for safety and a new beginning. One of the newer partnerships available in Phoenix is with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which serves as a first stop for refugees.
The IRC provides immediate aid, including housing and medical care, and supports the refugees with a variety of services for the next 90 days as they work to learn English, secure employment, and to become U.S. citizens.
Mary Jane Newcomer from Harrisonburg, Virginia, worked at a thrift store with the IRC refugees – an eye-opening experience for one not versed in Swahili, Arabic or Burmese. With her trusty clipboard in hand, Mary Jane offered kindness and compassion to the immigrants as they browsed for clothes and other basic goods.
Mary Jane also served with Abounding Service, another aid group for refugees in the city. This agency provides computer-based English as a Second Language classes. Volunteers, who serve as "encouragers," partner with the students one-to-one, helping with pronunciation and spelling
Mary Jane wrote: "These people are courageous souls who have come through impossible odds to a place of safety and possibilities. They are a joy to meet and an inspiration to listen to. We are the blessed ones getting to hear their stories."
What story is God calling you to hear?
"My
first SOOP experience has introduced me to a whole new realm of awareness for
immigrants and their needs. Their culture shock includes language acquisition,
job skills, and the challenge to provide for their most basic needs. To witness
hundreds of families lined up for hours to obtain basic food and hygiene items
is very heart-rending for me. Teaching English as a Second Language with
immigrants one-to-one has given me great satisfaction. It has been
mind-stretching for me to be involved in a variety of service opportunities."
Larry Oswald
"I
met a beautiful refugee mother from Burma at Abounding Services, a classroom
for teaching English to immigrants, and was her tutor during several sessions.
I am inspired by her tenacity in learning the language as well as drilling for
the 100-question U.S. citizenship exam. She is putting behind the poor
treatment she has experienced in her past, is gratefully walking beside God,
and making new associations in America. Living at the SOOP house and serving in
the community of refugees has been a powerful learning experience."
Shirley Oswald
"In today’s world of negativity and hatred, SOOP provides an opportunity to try to make a small difference in showing another way. Meeting people with smiles and kindness at the food banks, the newly arrived immigrants at the refugee center, or those struggling to learn English at the language center, will hopefully make their world feel less threatening. Getting out of my own comfort zone will hopefully make me a more compassionate person and one who follows more closely the example and commands portrayed in the New Testament."
Lila King
