Young refugee from Southeast Asia seeks to make a difference

DALLAS—A young refugee from Southeast Asia who benefitted from a ministry supported by the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering serves on the Dallas Youth Commission, where she seeks to make a positive impact on her peers.

Mu Di, who came to faith in Christ through a ministry supported in part by the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering, serves as vice chair of the City of Dallas Youth Commission.Born in Southeast Asia, Mu Di and her family arrived in the United States as refugees in 2007.

When the family settled in the Dallas area, they received assistance from H4R, a ministry supported in part by the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering. H4R helped her family complete government paperwork, taught them English as a second language and assisted the Di children with homework.

While she was in junior high school, Mu—whose family was Buddhist—attended a camp for refugee students hosted by H4R and accepted Christ as her Savior. Several of her siblings also made professions of faith in Christ.

As Mu grew in her newfound faith, she found encouragement through the testimony of H4R volunteers and staff members.

One day, during her sophomore year at Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, Mu was introduced to her local councilman, Mark Clayton, who was delivering school supplies to refugee students at her apartment complex.

Mu told Clayton about the persecution she saw in her home country and why she wanted to work to make a difference with her life. Impressed by the young woman, Clayton soon recommended her to serve on the Youth Commission for the City of Dallas.

Service as vice chair of the commission has opened doors for Mu to share her Christian testimony and empower her friends and family to make a difference in the community they now call home.

Through Texas Hunger Offering gifts, H4R helps food-insecure refugees families by providing access to a community garden where they can plant and harvest their own vegetables.H4R began serving Dallas-area refugees in 2009. Through Texas Hunger Offering gifts, H4R helps food-insecure refugees families by providing access to a community garden where they can plant and harvest their own vegetables, as well as helping them apply for public assistance.

H4R not only provides help with issues directly related to hunger, but also also works to enable refugees, like Mu’s family, to become self-sufficient as they find jobs, seek citizenship and begin to overcome poverty. 

Since H4R began, the ministry has helped 75 refugees become U.S. citizens, and more than 20 have graduated with high school diplomas. Five families have bought their own homes. H4R also launched a ministry partnership in Southeast Asia.