JUBILEE PARTNERS REPORT

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Garey Conley
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JUBILEE PARTNERS REPORT March 2008 From the depths I cry to you; Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in God s word I hope; My soul waits for the Lord as the watchman waits for morning. (Ps.

Like the Psalmist, our Jubilee community sometimes feels the weight of the world s brokenness, whether within our own lives, or woven into the stories of refugees who come to stay with us.

How can we give up hope when they who have survived loss and persecution are here with us, offering friendship and signs of new life?

In January we welcomed five returning volunteers and five new volunteers from Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, and Washington, DC.

They joined one Burundi family and one Tubu family from Chad already at Jubilee s Welcome Center, making it a particularly lively place.

1 JUBILEE PARTNERS REPORT March 2008 From the depths I cry to you; Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand before you? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in God s word I hope; My soul waits for the Lord as the watchman waits for morning. (Ps.130) It is Lent, the season of repentance and renewal, the season for looking directly at the reality of human sin and suffering. Like the Psalmist, our Jubilee community sometimes feels the weight of the world s brokenness, whether within our own lives, or woven into the stories of refugees who come to stay with us. Yet our everyday relationships with these refugees also encourage us to wait for the Lord. How can we give up hope when they who have survived loss and persecution are here with us, offering friendship and signs of new life? Life this winter has been full of the usual comings-and-goings of people from around the world. In January we welcomed five returning volunteers and five new volunteers from Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, and Washington, DC. In February, three Karen families from Burma and one family from the Democratic Republic of Congo arrived. They joined one Burundi family and one Tubu family from Chad already at Jubilee s Welcome Center, making it a particularly lively place. After several months with us, our Tubu friends Sougui, Ache, and their new son, Adam, moved to ABOVE: A view of Jubilee from Partner Al Lawler s rock garden. LEFT: Baby Adam at one month. Missouri. Adam was born on January 2, and we hope he will come back someday to see his first home in the Jubilee school apartment. His presence was a cause for community celebration from the day of his birth when Jubilee folks visited him in the Athens Regional Medical Center to the traditional goat-roast Sougui hosted on his behalf eight days later. After visiting Adam on Epiphany Sunday, a volunteer remarked that Adam s presence at Jubilee echoed the cross-cultural encounter in the Magi s visit to Bethlehem. In the Gospel narrative, Mary welcomes the wise strangers from the East into her home, and they welcome Jesus into the world. That night at Jubilee, Sougui and Ache, who are Muslim, welcomed Jubilee staff into their apartment and so strangers from the West welcomed Adam into the world. Whether we re meeting Christians or Muslims, Africans or North Americans, we are called to extend the same kind of cross-cultural welcome to love one another as brothers and sisters.

Sunday evenings are also joyful times of welcome and hospitality.

The table is a good place to celebrate our common humanity: we all need to eat,

But coming together in this way also reminds us to struggle against the injustices

to live with plenty, while others coming from poorer countries have experienced

In light of this contrast, we are deeply grateful for the food we share and

After Sunday night s meal, we share a time of worship: scripture readings, prayer,

This spring, our services have included a vibrant mix of Swahili, Karen, Kirundi,

For those of us accustomed to being here, the diversity of language and music is

But visitors are often struck by these echoes of Pentecost these times when we

During services in February, Mlasi Nyasa Masta and her children, who are

2 Sunday evenings are also joyful times of welcome and hospitality. We usually begin the evening by singing our thanks to God thanks for hands, for food, for friends. Then we wash our hands, dish out the food, and sit down to a meal. The table is a good place to celebrate our common humanity: we all need to eat, and we all need friends to lift our spirits. But coming together in this way also reminds us to struggle against the injustices that have allowed some at the table often those of us from the U.S. to live with plenty, while others coming from poorer countries have experienced hunger. In light of this contrast, we are deeply grateful for the food we share and humbled that God gathers us together in a spirit of thanksgiving. After Sunday night s meal, we share a time of worship: scripture readings, prayer, and lots of singing. This spring, our services have included a vibrant mix of Swahili, Karen, Kirundi, Arabic, and English. For those of us accustomed to being here, the diversity of language and music is familiar. But visitors are often struck by these echoes of Pentecost these times when we understand each other despite our different languages. During services in February, Mlasi Nyasa Masta and her children, who are Congolese, sang in Swahili, Kwake Yesu na simama. Ndiye mwamba ni salama ( On Jesus I stand. Indeed he is the rock that is good ). Karen families and Jubilee volunteers sang He Arose, an Easter hymn common to the English and Karen Baptist hymnals, in four-part harmony. Three generations of women from one Burundi family sang in Kirundi, Iomana nziza ( God is good ), and in Swahili, Yesu ni wangu ( Jesus is mine ). A visitor at one service said, I feel like I ve glimpsed something of what heaven might be like: people from all nations and countries together, praising God. PAGE 2

For Jubilee partners and volunteers, the opportunity to build relationships with refugees can be life-changing. As volunteer Katie Greenwood puts it, these relationships help our hearts to grow.

One afternoon while visiting my English student Ka Pru Paw and her husband Ta Mla Thu, she presented me with a traditional woven Karen skirt.

Teacher Ka Pru Paw smiled and glanced at Ta Mla Thu, who nodded. Teacher, I love you! Give you ring. She pressed the ring into my hand.

And didn t she know that they couldn t just buy more traditional Karen skirts in an American store? My protests drowned in Ka Pru Paw s rich laughter, as her family clapped with delight.

But as I stood with Ka Pru Paw and her radiant family, I felt certain of what I should do. Ka Pru Paw, Bryson said, I love you, Katie and gave me this ring. Ka Pru Paw, I love you!

3 For Jubilee partners and volunteers, the opportunity to build relationships with refugees can be life-changing. As volunteer Katie Greenwood puts it, these relationships help our hearts to grow. She tells this story: My fiancé Bryson Finklea and I are spending our engagement year volunteering at Jubilee. One afternoon while visiting my English student Ka Pru Paw and her husband Ta Mla Thu, she presented me with a traditional woven Karen skirt. As I admired this generous gift, Ka Pru Paw removed a silver ring from her finger. Teacher, Ta Mla Thu say, I love you, Ka Pru Paw give me this ring. Teacher Ka Pru Paw smiled and glanced at Ta Mla Thu, who nodded. Teacher, I love you! Give you ring. She pressed the ring into my hand. I stood speechless as Ka Pru Paw joyfully wrapped the skirt around me and pushed her ring onto my finger. My mind was racing. Could I somehow get her to take the ring back? And didn t she know that they couldn t just buy more traditional Karen skirts in an American store? My protests drowned in Ka Pru Paw s rich laughter, as her family clapped with delight. I never would have imagined I could give away my engagement ring from Bryson such an important and personal possession. But as I stood with Ka Pru Paw and her radiant family, I felt certain of what I should do. Ka Pru Paw, Bryson said, I love you, Katie and gave me this ring. Ka Pru Paw, I love you! I give you this ring. Taking Ka Pru Paw s hand in mine, I placed my simple silver band around her finger. It wasn t a trade that much was clear. It was something much greater: a spontaneous, mutual expression of love, that allowed both our hearts to grow. TOP LEFT: Sisters Kiza (right) and Masoka help partner Catherine Giller balance a milk jug on her head, Congo style. CENTER: Babu Johanna (Burundi) shows off a Jubilee chicken. ( Babu means grandfather in Swahili.) BOTTOM LEFT: Volunteers Tim Godshall and Virginia Showalter lead singing with Mlasi and her children (from left: Kiza, Masta, Tulia and Sophia). Tim, who has lived in Tanzania, speaks Swahili! TOP RIGHT: Alline (Burundi), volunteer Katie Greenwood, and Alline s grandmother Eugenia surround Masta who holds his brother, Shukuru. RIGHT: Volunteer Kathryn Hall enjoys the hospitality of Ka Pru Paw (far right) and Tha Mla Thu s Karen family.

Alongside joy, this Lenten season calls us to an awareness of our frailty, our sin, and our need to repent to turn away from violence and injustice and to turn toward God.

In particular, we pray for the countries and families of refugees we know.

4 Alongside joy, this Lenten season calls us to an awareness of our frailty, our sin, and our need to repent to turn away from violence and injustice and to turn toward God. As an act of repentance, we mourn the sufferings of our brothers and sisters here and around the world and ask God to cleanse the sin within our own hearts. In particular, we pray for the countries and families of refugees we know. With Mlasi and her eight children, we remember the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where warfare has left people particularly susceptible to death from communicable diseases and malnutrition. A recent survey conducted by the International Rescue Committee estimates that 3.9 million people died in the DRC between 1998 and 2004, making it one of the deadliest and ongoing humanitarian crises in the world. And yet most people in the world hardly even know about this great tragedy. Moving In: Siblings Wah Wah Htoo and Pe Tru flash their infectious smiles as they stand outside the new apartment awaiting them in Atlanta. With Sougui and Ache we remember the people of Chad where warfare in the capital city of N Djamena forced tens of thousands of people to flee into northern Cameroon early this year. Sougui and Ache waited nearly two weeks for phone service to be restored in N Djamena before they could make contact with family living there. Thankfully, when they did make contact, they learned that their family members were safe. LEFT: Aiad Saied, our Mennonite Central Committee IVEP volunteer from Assuit, Egypt, stands with students from his children s English class next to the sign he made as a Christmas gift to Jubilee. The sign stands above a flower bed at the entrance to the Welcome Center on Jubilee Road. Aiad will return in July to Anafora, the Coptic retreat center where he works. From left: Wah Wah Htoo (Burma), Sophia (Congo), Eh Tha Blay (Burma), Andrea (Congo). PAGE 4

5 With the families of Ka Pru Paw and Ta Mla Thu, Than Win and Pa Eh Wah, we pray for Karen relatives and friends who remain in refugee camps in Thailand. We also remember Karen people in rural Burma who face repression at the hands of Burma s ruling military junta. Non-profit organizations like the Karen Human Rights Group continue to document severe human rights abuses against the Karen people, most of which happen beneath the radar of the international community. With Johanna, Eugenia and Alline we remember Burundi, ranked by the United Nations Development Program as one of the 10 poorest countries in the world in life expectancy, educational opportunity, and income. We pray for the thousands of Burundi people who continue to live in refugee camps in Tanzania after fleeing war decades ago. We pray for the sufferings of this world, and the sufferings of our own country and community, and we give thanks that Jesus, who walked a path toward the cross, meets us in all our brokenness. My soul waits for you more than a watchman waits for the dawn, goes the Psalm. But you do forgive us, and for that we revere you. With the Lord is steadfast love, and with the Lord is great power to redeem. As Lent progresses toward Easter, we turn toward God s forgiveness and mercy toward the power of resurrection. We see it reflected often in the lives of people around us and so we are full of hope. Thanks be to God! ABOVE: Marry Win (Burma) works in the Jubilee garden with Mlasi Masta (Congo), and Heidi Hershberger, part of a student group visiting from Eastern Mennonite University. RIGHT: A group of English students gather behind a new, rugged bicycle donated by a Kinko s print shop in Athens, GA. The bike is one of six new bikes in the fleet Jubilee makes available for refugee families. PAGE 5

6 Jubilee Partners P.O. Box 68 Comer, GA Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage is PAID Comer, Georgia Permit Number 14 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED March 2008 CELEBRATING WITH JOY IN KAREN, SWAHILI, ARABIC, KIRUNDI AND ENGLISH!

JUBILEE PARTNERS REPORT Spring 2017

JUBILEE PARTNERS REPORT Spring 2017 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first