Refugee Journal

UPDATE ON CHANTAL:                               

Many of you have been following the touching story of Chantal and her 4 children, who arrived in Boise from Africa the same week that we moved here.  (You can catch up on her story by clicking HERE [scroll down to "Chantal's Story"], then HERE and HERE)

Chantal and her children are working hard at adjusting to life in the U.S.   The other day when I was with Chantal, someone asked her what she finds the most difficult about her life right now.  I translated the question for her, and her answer surprised me.

I thought she might answer that her biggest diffulty is the challenge of finding work. She’s getting really worried, as the refugee agency will no longer be paying her rent after this month, and we’ve had no success at finding her a job.  I’ve reassured her that we won’t abandon her, and that we’ll find a way to make sure she and her children have a place to stay. This is some comfort to her, but of course she knows that the only long-term solution to the rent issue is for her to find a job.  It’s difficult enough for anyone to find work these days, but especially challenging if you have speak so little English.      

Or I thought she might answer by talking about the challenge of learning English, and how difficult it is to function in a place where you can’t even read your own mail or converse with your child’s teacher.  Chantal has been attending the English classes offered to refugees, but is finding it difficult, as most do, to learn anything beyond greetings and names of objects.   She is smart, and is working hard at learning, but to her it feels like she’s learning too slowly.                                                                                                                                                          

But when asked about her biggest difficulty, she didn’t talk about finding a job or learning English. She answered immediately and emotionally that the hardest part of her life is that she knows she must provide for her children and try to raise them in this strange culture without their father. She feels overwhelmed by the responsibility of trying to make a home for them here, in a place where she herself feels very much a stranger. (Once when I was translating an interview for her, she was asked the question, “what is your home country?”  She hesitated for several seconds as she tried to determine how to answer. Finally she started to cry and turning desperately to me for help, whispered, “I don’t have a home”.)

 I wish you could personally know Chantal and her kids. She’s doing a beautiful job of teaching them to be kind and loving people. The 3 older ones are all doing well in school, and are very helpful at home. The youngest is now 18 months old, and such a delightful character.  They’re all beautiful and so vulnerable and so dear to God’s heart. 

If you’d like to be a part of helping us to care for Chantal and her kiddos, here are some ideas:

~ You can pray faithfully for them, especially for emotional comfort and for the provision of a job. Chantal is a person of great faith; being prayed for means alot to her.

~You can send words of love, welcome, and encouragement. If you email your message to me (traci@missionconnections.net) or mail it to me (6970 West Elm Brook, Boise ID 83714), I will gladly deliver and translate it to her.

~If you live in the Boise area and know of any job possibilities for her, you can contact me! Her English skills are of course limited, but I could translate for her training.

~Maybe you have some other ideas?

 

Thank you for joining us in caring for this family.  They need what our hearts have to offer.

With love,      

Traci

(Photo Credits: Bryan Rupp)

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