A Haven of Hope

Suzanne Pearson • Feb 13, 2024
For Afghan people in need of healing and hope, God is opening doors for TEAM workers to serve them...in the unlikeliest of places. 

Imagine you’re raising four small children on a limited government stipend. Winter arrives soon, and your children need winter coats. You hear from a neighbor that a local charity is giving away coats to children – what a blessing! 

But now also imagine you’re in a country thousands of miles away from home. You don’t speak the language. You don’t have a car. Even if by some chance, you can find out where to go and you can find a way to get there, if you don’t bring the right documentation for you and your children, you won’t receive coats. 


Oh, and also you’re recovering from the trauma of war, political oppression, and natural disasters. 


This is the reality for Amina (name changed) and millions of Afghans like her around the world. Since U.S. and other Western peacekeeping forces departed Afghanistan in 2021, Taliban rule has forced over 1.6 million people to seek sanctuary in other nations. Approximately 100,000 of those Afghan diaspora have relocated to the United States. 

Throughout the country, over 200 “resettlement communities” were established by the U.S. government in conjunction with private and nonprofit agencies. One such community is Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and it is here that Amina and many others attempt to navigate an unfamiliar culture and build a new life for their families. It is also here that God opened new doors for TEAM workers to be the hands and feet of Christ to Afghan people in need of healing from the past and hope for the future. 

A Heart for Afghan People 

Kim was a TEAM global worker in Afghanistan for 20 years. Trained as a nurse, Kim shared her skills by teaching nursing students in Mazar. Kim’s dedication to the Afghan people remained steadfast despite weathering several periods of political pressure and instability due to the Taliban. 


In the summer of 2021, as tensions in Afghanistan mounted, Kim hoped to be able to remain in country, but by July, it was apparent that she would have to leave her home, belongings, and the people she served behind. She was also needed back home to care for her mother who was in failing health, and Kim knew that she needed to get home while she still could, in case airports closed or became overrun. 


Not long after returning to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where her mother lived, Kim realized that her days of caring for and ministering to Afghan people might not be over after all. When Lancaster was designated as a resettlement community, Kim began visiting people in their homes, helping them assimilate and connecting them with basic medical care. 

Gathering a Team 

This was a great first step, but it quickly became apparent that more was needed to best address the needs of Afghan diaspora. “I saw that several local churches wanted to help [the Afghan people], but they didn’t know how. They didn’t know the language or how to build relationships with these families.” Kim saw the opportunity for great partnerships with these local churches, and the idea of a new ministry began to take shape. 


Kim knew she needed to build a team to get the wheels in motion. She enlisted the help of fellow TEAMers Juan and Rose, who were at that time living in Florida. Juan and Rose served with TEAM Afghanistan in the 1990s and early 2000s. After that time, Juan served as a ministry area leader and made frequent trips back to Afghanistan, and Rose cared for her aging parents, homeschooled their son, and taught English to immigrants. 


Joining Kim in Lancaster was clearly a door that the Lord was opening for a reason. Juan and Rose moved to Pennsylvania in the fall of 2022, and as they sat together with Kim in her living room, the idea for The Haven was born. The vision was to create a space where Afghan people could come together for English classes for adults, childcare and school readiness programming for children, job skills training, and trauma healing. The community center would operate in partnership with local churches and nonprofit immigrant organizations, run by TEAM global workers and local volunteers. 


At the onset, the TEAM trio faced many challenges including navigating government red tape, finding a location, figuring out how to best collaborate with churches and other partner agencies, and recruiting volunteers. Despite the hurdles, God was faithful, and The Haven opened its doors in January 2023. 


Teacher with children in the floor.

The Haven Today  

Now just over a year later, The Haven is bustling with activity and fellowship, thanks to the work of about 40 volunteers. English classes are offered two mornings a week for women, and educational children’s programming is offered to children up through school age during those same hours. English classes for men are held during the evenings since most men work during the day. 


Learning English can be especially challenging for displaced Afghan people because many are not literate even in their native language. Most sources cite the illiteracy rate in Afghanistan to be around 75%, but Kim and Rose say it’s likely much higher, and for women, it’s higher still. Particularly for women coming from rural areas, educational opportunities were severely limited if not nonexistent. “If you were a female living in an urban area, you might have had a chance to be educated,” says Rose. “But if you lived outside the city, there was almost no hope at all.” 


For this reason among others, assimilating to life in the U.S. is particularly difficult for women. The Haven has a special emphasis on ministering to women – helping them heal from deep trauma and giving them a space where they can feel relaxed, respected, and empowered. 


Celebrations of the Season 

On a particular day just before Christmas, the women gather at the Haven for their last class day of the semester. Two classes play board games to practice their English while a third class finishes their final exam. Across the hall, the children gather on patterned carpet squares to sing a song about the days of the week. Rose shares that plans are in the works to start a playgroup so that the young moms and their children can have time to fellowship together and build friendships. 


Later in the morning, all the ladies assemble in one room for an awards ceremony to celebrate the completion of the semester. Each smiles broadly as she comes up to receive a certificate and warm congratulations from Kim and Rose. 


After the ceremony, Rose shares information with the women about the local charity that is giving out coats for the children. The women lean in to hear the instructions, spoken both in English and in Dari, letting them know what rides are being provided, where to go, and what documents to bring with them. It’s clear that the women have learned to trust Kim and Rose and the other volunteers as friends and confidants as they find a “new normal” in the United States.


Women getting awards at a ceremony.

The Haven is a beautiful example of holistic ministry, as Afghan people achieve goals well beyond the learning of a new language.

Seeds Planted as Trust Builds 

As these relationships are built, Afghan people are equipped with language learning, job skills, healing from the past, and help accessing healthcare and other community resources. This holistic type of ministry slowly opens the door to Gospel conversations. 


As Rose shares, seeing spiritual fruit takes time as trust is built and cultural barriers are broken down. “This is not an easy, quick church planting situation,” Rose shares. “We’ve only been doing this a year, but we’ve seen lives touched in many ways. One young man has turned around emotionally from depression and suicide. Another young teen has stabilized emotionally after several hospitalizations. Many have greatly increased their English skills and have better health from all the doctor’s appointments they’ve been taken to. A couple of women have begun asking questions about faith. We and our volunteers are prepared to answer questions we are asked.” 


Beth, a Haven worker, says those spiritual conversations are truly God moments. She shares a story of one of the women who was studying for her driver’s test. “She had failed it once already and she was very nervous,” Beth recalls. “I shared with her that I understood because I had to take a driver’s test in another country, and it was really hard! I told her that it was only because of God’s help that I passed. I told her I would pray for God to help her as well. She passed the test the next time through! These are the types of things that allow us to share who Jesus is and what He’s done for us.” 


Afghan family smiling together.

Loving Like Jesus Cross-Culturally (Part 1)

By Megan Lunsford • 23 Apr, 2024
When seeking to serve cross-culturally with an authentic love for others, there’s no better example for us than Jesus. If we sat around a table and threw out the question, “How do we love like Jesus?” I think we would have several commonalities as we respond. For example, Jesus loved all people right where they were. He loved those who were deemed the least, those hardest to love, or those who were His enemies. These are all beautiful realities of the heart of Jesus. When we step into relationships, it can be easier to take on the warmer, more gracious gestures of Jesus’ love, especially in cross-cultural relationships. Think about it––when doing life with those who look and act differently than us, we are already out of our comfort zones and would rather keep things as simple and familiar as possible. But there are other facets of Jesus’ heart we often overlook that can transform us and others even more into His likeness. Jesus is love because God is love. Everything Jesus did was out of love; it’s the mere definition of who He is. As followers of Jesus, He calls us to the same: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John:7-12) Every display of love we offer to others is an opportunity for them to encounter the ultimate love of the Father. That’s a pretty big deal! In this article, we’ll look at three expressions of Jesus’ love that we tend to overlook when engaging others cross-culturally. (Next month, we’ll look at three more.) 1. Jesus loved sacrificially. Everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed Him. We even see times in Scripture where Jesus had plans to step away for time alone but those who were hurting found Him and He had compassion on them and stayed with them. Can you imagine rarely having any time to yourself but, instead, constantly being surrounded by crowds of people wanting help from you? Jesus loved sacrificially. He welcomed all who came to Him with love and compassion, never turning anyone away. “When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) In the same way, we can make room in our lives for Jesus to bring sacrificial interruptions which, in His eyes, are orchestrated encounters to transfer His love to others. It can be tempting to be so “on mission” that we are full steam ahead and find ourselves frustrated when the Holy Spirit sends an interruption into our path that we feel we don’t have time for. Or, perhaps, we have scheduled a meet-up but it’s the norm in another culture to be 30 minutes or an hour late. We anxiously think through how it will affect whatever we have planned next. While it’s normal to feel a little stressed, what if the very "interruption” standing in front of you was really a divine appointment sent by God? Or what if that person running late experiences how peaceful and gracious you are in adapting to their culture and therefore, they can encounter a beautiful display of Jesus’ love? To truly represent Christ, we should remain ready and willing for each assignment the Lord sends into our path, no matter the cost or how much we will have to re-route our day. He is always a hundred steps ahead and will work all things for His glory and our good. 2. Jesus loved by discerning each situation well. Think about how many situations Jesus had to respond to on a daily basis. We read in Scripture that there were lines of people waiting to be healed by Him, talk to Him, hear His teachings, or simply touch the hem of His robe. Jesus was fully dependent on His Father to discern each situation before addressing it. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) Another temptation we can have when in a relationship with those God has sent us to is to think we already know the solution or what God wants to do before we’ve even asked Him. We believe we are full of knowledge, so we just pull from the bank we have stored within and go with it. However, when we access what is familiar to us as our default, we risk missing out on a God-given solution that might truly be the key to unlocking whatever challenge is in front of us. What does this look like when interacting with others? We can simply ask, “God, what is on Your heart for the person standing in front of me?” Then we listen and respond as He speaks. When we make it a daily habit to pause and hear God’s heart for each situation before responding, we are guaranteed to be effective in loving those around us. He knows the heart of every person that will cross our paths. Imagine how impactful we can be if we first lean on His wisdom and discernment before moving forward. 3. Jesus loved by speaking truth. Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. If we are honest, this conversation makes us a bit nervous as none of us would be comfortable with Jesus calling out intimate details of our lives that we would prefer to hide. But Jesus went further than just airing her dirty laundry. He offered her the hope of the Gospel and a relationship with Him - a divine fulfillment that could never be found in an earthly relationship. Jesus modeled a powerful example of loving others well cross-culturally. He took the low place and spoke truth, truly out of love––speaking to her heart from His. Like Jesus, our goal in sharing the truths about Him and His Word is to bring hope and satisfaction through Him alone. When we speak truth from Scripture, we are calling others higher into all God has for them. The tricky part here is we should avoid speaking truth if it isn’t first fueled by compassion. If it merely comes from a place of judgment, condemnation, or self-righteousness, it will fall flat 100% of the time. But if it truly comes from love, you are likely to not only win a heart back to the Father but, like the story of the Samaritan woman, even an entire village! If you see someone living outside of God’s best for their lives, ask God to show you your heart before engaging theirs. Once your heart is properly postured, you can speak truth out of an overflow of God’s love and trust Him for a transformation in their lives.

Hospitality, Help, and the Hope of the Gospel

By Suzanne Pearson • 16 Apr, 2024
TEAM Canada provides warm welcome and trusted friendships for diaspora populations living far from their native countries. As TEAM Canada workers Peter and Ruth (names changed) drive from their home to a nearby community center, they pass numerous apartment buildings and townhouses. Most of the families who live there are immigrants. They’ve left their countries of origin due to political unrest, trauma, and other difficulties. They’ve left family, friends, homes, jobs, and personal wealth behind. They search for peace, justice for the oppressed, and rest from fear and weariness. And as they adjust to a new country and a new language, they are often very isolated from others around them. “The sad reality is most immigrants are never even invited inside a Canadian home,” says Ruth. Peter and Ruth and their team try to change that reality. For the last nine years, the team, which includes workers from partner organizations as well as volunteers, has held English classes at the community center. Three days a week, over 60 students from more than 20 countries come together to learn English as well as to fellowship together and receive practical help in assimilating to a new normal. Meeting Needs and Building Trust That practical help may come in the form of procuring furniture, clothes, or dishes for newcomers, assistance with creating a resume and finding a job, or teaching people how to navigate Canadian laws and the medical system. As these tangible needs are met, relationships are built. “We invite them into our homes for meals and games,” Ruth shares. “We take them on hiking trips, picnics, outings, and out for coffee.” This is particularly important in this type of ministry because most immigrants come to Canada from cultures that value hospitality. Conversely, Canadians do not typically prioritize hospitality and consequently many newcomers feel lonely and isolated. Inviting folks to various gatherings and outings allows the team to spend extended time hearing people’s stories, struggles, hopes, and dreams. When she speaks about building friendships, Ruth’s heart for the people she serves is evident. “Hearing their stories, it’s easy to love them, and many have become close friends,” Ruth says. “We recognize the value of steady one-on-one relationships.”
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