Week of October 10
Thanks to members who read our update each week. Your PH mission team wants to be sure you know what is being done for the S family in the name of PHUMC.
Big news this week:
Aruzu, our new baby girl, had her one-month pediatric checkup and is growing in weight and height. Member Karen is responsible for these visits, including trips to the ER when mom worried that she was sick.
Hussain and Sajad are working hard to understand 4th and 1st grade with limited English. Team members Meredith, Janet and Bonnie spend two days a week working with them on English and homework.
Amir is in Pre-K and his teacher says he is speaking some English in the classroom. Team members Janet, Kim, Jim, Karen, Brenda, Carol, Connie, Terry, Bonnie, Nancy, and Tish continue to drive him to and from school each day.
Salima, mom, is caring for the family and getting English intervention from Meredith, Tish and Jenn. She has a very full schedule. She will go with Aruzu and member, Crata, to update her WIC services.
Mohammad is working full-time, getting English tutoring 3 days a week from Jenn, and learning how to drive from team member David in his “spare” time. He also learned how to use Venmo to pay rent this month.
All will get flu shots from member Kim at home soon. This offer from Kim allowed the kids not to have to deal with this stressful experience in public.
As always, please pray for this family and these diligent, loving members of the PH Afghan team. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of September 25
The focus this week has been education and updating paperwork for SNAP and WIC to reflect the addition of the new daughter. We are so fortunate that our PHUMC volunteer team includes members with experience in ESL training, literacy training and tutoring experience for elementary students. This team is working out a schedule for English classes for the parents and tutoring and English training for the children. We see significant progress in their English but for them to thrive in our country additional work is needed. Paperwork, paperwork, none of us like this but helping the family with the paperwork for programs such SNAP always requires attention. These benefit programs though are critical for this family so follow through on these administrative areas is a must.
As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of September 19
After the excitement in the birth of the new baby and the start of the school year our family is settling in to a more routine and comfortable schedule. In the past couple of weeks members of our PHUMC team have attended Grandparents Day with the three boys and Book Fairs. We are beginning to see all the children use more English words. The four-year-old in pre-K gets in the car and says Ready, Go. He also reminds us to go at green streetlights. While training him on English, we are also developing a back seat driver.
The new infant girl had her first appointment with the pediatrician this week and she had gained weight and got a very positive report from the doctor. The mother looks so relieved to have the pregnancy behind her and she beams when looking at any of the children. The family is happy and healthy and our PHUMC team feels such joy to see the family doing well.
Our next big milestone will be a successful drivers test and the ability to teach the father to drive. David from our team will take the husband/father to the DMV for testing soon and he has also volunteered to teach him as well. It takes all kinds of volunteers and skills and resources. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of September 12
Dedication and boundless love are the words to describe the five team members on the baby arrival committee. While other members carried out their regular work of transporting folks to the hospital and school, these five helped welcomed our family’s first daughter and first American citizen! Baby girl was born Friday at 3:07 AM after a lot of work from mom. Carol spent 22 hours supporting mom and dad in the birthing process, navigating the sometimes difficult nature of a hospital with persistence and compassion. Brenda, Bonnie, Jenn, and Karen were responsible for caring for the three boys at home. Meanwhile the babysitters were helping with meals, homework, evening routines and one child having a low-grade fever. That meant a child home from school during the day that was not anticipated. Every woman mentioned handled the ups and downs of these days with aplomb. Kuddos to them and you need to know, the children love them.
Another busy week for dedicated volunteers of the Afghan mission team! Please continue to hold this family in your prayers and support the mission of this team with your donations. This is a fabulous and generous group of people who are overseeing the children’s’ education, bringing them food, tutoring them in English, and loving them. Thank you all for your concern and support of this family. As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of September 5
Thanks to 8 young men (several who are PHUMC members) who took it upon themselves, with the help of a wonderful mother, to try to teach the three Afghan children the rudiments of basketball. All eight watched a video about Afghan culture and discussed it with the organizing mom, Heather. They greeted the Afghanis with ‘Salam’ and spent 1 1/2 hours playing basketball, kick ball and riding around the PH gym on wheeled vehicles. Everyone had fun. The ‘big’ boys want to get together again with the ‘little’ boys and Sajad, the middle child, asks when they’re going to play basketball every time I visit the house. What a success for all!
Our mom is now over-due in delivering their baby girl. The PH team will act as grandparents. Carol will get mom and dad to the hospital while others on the team will babysit. Who knew what tasks we would take on when we signed up for this mission.
The kids are back in school and adjusting to a world where no one speaks their language. Can you imagine spending 6-7 hours a day in an environment where you have no idea what is being spoken?! Brave little people!
This is a fabulous and generous group of people who are overseeing the children’s’ education, bringing them food, tutoring them in English, and loving them. Thank you all for your concern and support of this family. As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of August 15th
The Afghan family team is growing. Thanks for PHUMC members who have felt the call from these newsletters or Sunday school visits and have joined us. School starts next week for all three boys so the team has been busy acquiring school supplies, clothes and transportation plans. There have been registrations, orientations and planning with all the family members and team.
Mrs. S is having weekly visits now with her midwife and Carol Isom is the designated team member who will get mom and dad to the hospital sometime around September 4th. Other team members will stay home with the boys and get them meals, to school, whatever they require. We are the family’s family in this important time.
Mr. S has taken a second job to help with the cost of living in Arkansas. He will take his written portion of the driver test soon and will then prepare for the practical test. A car, which our congregation will provide, will add other costs to their budget. It is a continuing time of change and adjustment.
Thank you all for your concern and support of this family. As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of August 1st
S will be showered with wonderful, and in some cases, never seen before, gifts on Friday. The PH women of the team will be present to explain what some items are and how they will make her life easier.
This week the team developed a baby delivery plan. We have shared with mom and dad who will get them to the hospital and who will be babysitting their three boys while they welcome baby girl into the world. Delivery date is a month away. We were relieved to learn the boys like mac and cheese. We weren’t sure we’d know what to prepare them for meals. We still don’t know what they eat for breakfast and lunch but we have a month to figure that out. Isn’t it amazing and sad that they won’t have their grandparents here to care for the boys and welcome the new one to the world?!
The team will have a table at the Connect Fair to share our mission and we hope to recruit you to service! Brenda Mize has offered to share our mission with your Sunday school class. Please contact her so you can become part of this church effort. 12 people are all the represent our church to this family. Don’t you feel the need to help?
Thanks again for your continuing support of this mission! As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of July 18th
The baby gift registry has been fulfilled. Woohoo!! Thank you to everyone for their generosity. We have created a special baby fund connected to our family fund to accommodate all the members who wished to give a gift for the shower but missed that opportunity. Just write “baby fund” in the memo line. Remember, families may not use SNAP benefits for diapers, wipes, clothing, and other non-food items so this fund will greatly help the family. We will also ask the mom if we missed something she needs for her baby and will use those funds to provide it.
And of course, we are continuing to seek support in accumulating funds for a family car when Mr. S has his driver’s license.
Thanks again for your continuing support of this mission! As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of July 11th
As Dr. Robbins said July 3rd, “the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few!” Please consider joining the PHUMC Afghan team – this work continues to evolve, and we are in it for the long haul. We’re so excited about the baby girl on the way! Thanks to all who have chosen gifts for S for her baby shower on July 28. As you’re probably aware, the family could bring only the clothes they needed as they left Afghanistan. So, this shower is vital to the family’s ability to care for their new baby girl. Last week was busy with the Isoms doing yeoman’s work on the financial stability of the family. Hordes of paperwork and government confusion. Thanks to them for taking on this huge job!
The kids started Lake Nixon Day Camp- another step into the unknown which they managed with smiles on their faces. They are SO brave, according to Brenda and Janna who got them there this week!
Janna Knight will be getting the family food from Potluck most weeks each month with the PH Food Pantry supplying one week. This is a great gift to the family finances.
We hope all the gifts on the baby registry will be purchased by PHUMC. You can find the link, here. Thanks again for your continuing support of this mission! As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of July 4th
We are a team of 13 looking for help. After 6 months of care and service to the S family, we are eager for more hands on deck. Can that be you?
I know you’ll find a baby shower gift to give to support our mom. You can find the link, here. The shower will be held July 28th. But we also need feet on the ground- people to transport the youngest to and from Pre-K every day in the 2022-23 school year, people to tutor/read with the family so they continue to improve their English, people to babysit when Carol takes mom for her more frequent doctor visits. This is hard work, you guys, and our team could really use your help.
Think about joining us in this labor of love and joy! This work continues to evolve, and we are in it for the long haul. Will you add one more activity to your to-do list? We all have other commitments, too, and how we enjoy working with this family. As Dr. Robbins said Sunday, “the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few!” JOIN US! Thanks
And thanks for your continuing support of this mission! As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of June 27th
This week the PHUMC team added a reading program for the two older boys. Several on our team have tutored at Wakefield and we are using what we learned at Wakefield with our Afghan children. The children are enthusiastic students.
We had a pleasant surprise this week. The older boys will be starting a camp at Lake Nixon on the 11th. We will have to take the boys to meet a school bus, but that requires booster seats. We were surprised that the church had booster seats that had been donated. That felt like synchronicity and the problem was solved.
Our friends from the Interfaith Community were also able to connect our family and our team with a mentor who speaks their language. This is serving to be so beneficial since we have several topics that need a more in-depth discussion. We think it’s also crucial that the mother has a sounding board for her questions about starting over in a foreign country.
As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of June 20th
The village that supports this family is very busy. There are doctor’s appointments, summer camps, tutoring, help with programs such as SNAP and WIC, ensuring enrollment for pre-school, etc. If you would like to be part of the village that supports this family, we would welcome your participation. The family is doing well. Doctors’ appointments for the mother have increased in frequency as her due date grows closer. She is doing well and looking forward to an early September delivery. The older boys are in summer camp for ESL students which will run through month end. In July the two older boys will attend a two-week camp at Lake Nixon. These camps help with their assimilation, language development and help make the summer more entertaining. Our interactions and observations on their progress continue to be uplifting.
As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of June 13th
We are still not allowed to publish the name or pictures of our family. We are dying to show you the kids with new bikes, great report cards, and having birthdays. Mom just had her 30th birthday and anticipates the birth of her 4th child in September. Look, soon, for an invitation to celebrate the arrival of our new Arkansas/US citizen. An Amazon wish-list will allow us to purchase gifts for baby. Please know how much appreciation the family shows to your team members as they provide rides to doctor appointments, babysit the kids, show the boys how to ride bikes, and deliver a baby’s crib for the new child. Please continue to support them with your prayers and gifts.
As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of May 26th
The family continues to be tutored most afternoons after work for the father and school for the boys. Progress is slow but the team is making efforts to improve communication and continue watch and care over the family.
Bicycles have been donated for the boys and the Father and should be delivered by the end of the week. Please continue your prayers and concern for this family and consider donating your time and or money. To find out more about how to be involved in this ministry through your time or your finances, email carolisom@gmail.com (until Tish returns). You can donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. The fund is being saved for a car and we make occasional purchases for items needed by the family.
Week of May 19th
On Friday, the Chair of our team, Tish DePriest, left for a well deserved vacation. The rest of our team are in awe of the effort that is required to keep our dear family going. We are blessed to have Tish with her strong organizational skills and great compassion as the leader of this mission.
Communication continues to be a great challenge for the entire family, but several people on our team are generously tutoring mother and father regularly. The two older boys had Field Days at their school this past week at which their teachers gave high praise to each. Both are very social and were impressive in the skills used in their water games. Both boys were chosen as “Leader of the Week” in their classes and earned opportunities to go on a Field Trip. It was very gratifying to see how well they are accepted in their classes.
During the summer, efforts are being made to keep the older boys active in English speaking opportunities. We are enrolling them at Camp Can-Do for English Second Language students and Camp at Lake Nixon. We are also trying to get them into swimming lessons!
The Father is settling in nicely and working hard at his place of employment. He is riding with a co-worker to his job. He is anxious to progress so that he can obtain a Drivers License. The professionals at his job and those involved with the Mom’s medical needs have been so kind and caring. It is a real joy to see people so willing to help this family.
When so many refugees are struggling across our country, our family continues to do relatively well. This is because of the generosity, love and care of our church and community. To find out more about how to be involved in this ministry through your time or your finances, email carolisom@gmail.com (until Tish returns). You can donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. The fund is being saved for a car and we make occasional purchases for items needed by the family.
Week of May 12th
The PH Afghan team thanks the nearly 70 donors to the Refugee Relief fund. We are thrilled that several of those donations have come from people not listed as members of our church and many came from people outside Little Rock. That is a credit to the tv/internet outreach and, hopefully, this newsletter. More amazing is the number of those donors have given more than once. Our deepest thanks to all who see this mission as important.
We want to acknowledge the members of our team who are not PHUMC members. Driven by domestic forces as well as a deeply compassionate heart, Jim DePriest has willing given his time whenever his wife or team asks for help. He has hung a swing in the back yard, taught Mr. S to use a weed eater and make home improvements. He helped the family move to their current house after loading and unloading donated furniture. He provides transportation for Mr. S to work, tutoring and the mosque at the crack of dawn and gets the kids to school when the bus doesn’t arrive. His willingness to help is greatly appreciated.
As always, your team appreciates your prayers and support. Donate to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. The fund is being saved for a car and we make occasional purchases for items needed by the family. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.
Week of May 5th
Monday (5-2) was the final day of Ramadan, the holiest time in the Muslim calendar. The family celebrated the breaking of fast with prayers and good food. The mother and father have fasted from sunrise to sunset each day, having no food or drink. This was a time to draw closer to God and cultivate self-control. It is admirable to see this sacrifice practiced with joy.
This week Mr. S. starts a full-time job. Bev and Buddy Villines are working on a bike for Mr. S to ride to work when needed. Sabrina Framptom is donating two children’s bikes. Soon the family will enjoy a great American pastime- riding bikes as a family.
As your PH team has progressed, we have gained new members. Sabrina is one of those, working in volunteer time around her daily parenting commitments. She has been a babysitter for the youngest child, bringing sculpey clay and totally entertaining him while his mom was at a doctor’s appointment, according to the other team member who helped babysit. She’s providing bikes to the family. She just jumped right in and is training to be an ESL tutor to the family.
As always, consider donating to the Afghan Resettlement Fund at phumc.com/giveonline or send a check to the church with the Refugee Resettlement Fund in the memo line. The fund is being saved for a car and we make occasional purchases for items needed by the family. Contact Tish DePriest at tishdphafghans@gmail.com with any questions or if you’d like to get involved.