Category: Middle East

2018 & 2019

7/17/2019

2018 n04
Sundays are different at Lennon-Seney United Methodist Church these days. Swahili songs bounce off the beautiful stained-glass windows, and people greet a few church members as “Teacha” when they pass.

Just one year before this was written, Pastor McLain and others looked across the chain-link fence separating their church property from an apartment complex full of African refugees. How could they reach these new neighbors? How could they tangibly love them? How could they break through the figurative fence separating the two cultures?

2019 n03
She came to Knoxville alone: a widow with three small children, fleeing an ongoing conflict in her African home country. She found an English class and attended faithfully all summer. With a small child on each hand and her baby strapped to her back, she wrote down every word and asked many questions, but she needed to learn more quickly, so she added another day of classes.

Soon she found a job, but she had to take the bus to get there. That's where things got confusing.

2019 n23
If you grew up in the United States, the story isn’t new for you. You know about the Pilgrims’ struggle to survive when they first arrived in the new land, about the Native Americans’ generosity and patience, and about that first Thanksgiving feast to celebrate a plentiful harvest.

But Thanksgiving is an exclusively American holiday, so for ten African adult English students meeting at a nearby middle school, everything about it is new—even the mashed potatoes.

2019 n16
It was August, but a cool breeze kept everyone comfortable beneath the dark wooden arches of the pavilion. Covered dishes crowded onto two long tables. I had peeked beneath every foil covering and inside every cling-wrapped container, and, like I do every Thanksgiving, I wondered when someone would finally decide it was time to eat. There were familiar dishes like mac-and-cheese and unfamiliar offerings, like chat masala. (photo credit: Yahya Sami Alseiha)

One recent Monday morning, their instructor shared the history behind Thanksgiving, but even after defining many vocabulary words, the questions piled up. Among the most difficult were those about Native Americans: Why were they called “Indians”? Where did they come from? Where are they now?

READY TO GET INVOLVED?
This church in East Knoxville realized the nations were--literally--next door. By partnering with KIN, they found a way to welcome and help their international neighbors. When you're ready to engage the nations already around you, let us know. We'd love to walk that journey with you or your church! Contact us anytime.

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The Cleaning Expert

3/11/2019

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2019 n05
Yasmin was upset. She handed her quarterly inspection report to our culture coach, wondering why she was on the verge of being evicted. It said “uncleanliness,” but she kept her house clean and tidy. Our culture coach went to her apartment and found everything else clean, but the two bathrooms covered with mold and mildew.

Mold and mildew don’t grow in the dessert. It’s too dry. But here in East Tennessee, they can grow in a couple of days--just one of the thousands of things to which many immigrants and refugees must adjust!

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2018 & 2019

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