Building relationships with refugees

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I have been working with Bhutanese refugees for more than a month now, learning a lot about myself, Bhutanese culture and God's heart for missions.

I arrived in the Dallas area not knowing what to expect and have met some amazing people with a heart for missions and desire to serve the less fortunate. Matthew Johnston and Elizabeth Hall lead Segue Refugee Partners Ministries, the nonprofit organization where I'm serving. They have been connecting with Bhutanese refugees for more than a year.

Simeon Snow and friend

A few centuries ago, the king of Bhutan asked the king of Nepal to send him people to farm the southern portion of his kingdom. They grew to become a rather large population and, 30 years ago, the king of Bhutan began a movement to forcibly remove them from the country in order to remove the perceived cultural threat to his kingdom. So, these Nepali-descended Bhutanese traveled back to their country of origin to be settled in refugee camps. Eventually, the United Nations decided to help these people find homes in other countries. One of these locations is right here in northeast Dallas.

Segue's vision is to build partnerships and relationships between these Bhutanese refugees and American Christians who are willing to relate and help out in whatever way they can. The refugees have a variety of needs, from help them deal with insurance-related issues regarding health care to finding jobs in the city. The hope is also to lead the refugees from a Hindu background into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The families I have met are very sweet. From the moment a guest walks into one of their apartments, the families do their very best to make the guest feel at home. The traditional form of greeting is to place your palms together in prayer-like fashion and say "Namaste" while bowing. The women love to offer their traditional tea, and sometimes the family will even put together a meal for a guest—usually rice, meat, vegetables and some sort of soup.

Please pray for the success of Segue in reaching out to the Bhutanese refugees. Pray that American Christians will connect with the refugee. Pray for the growth of the local Bhutanese churches that have sprung up. And pray for the Hindu Bhutanese to come to know Jesus.

Simeon Snow, a recent Houston Baptist University graduate, is serving with Go Now Missions at Segue Refugee Partners Ministry in the Dallas area.

 


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