Our Refugee Family is Thriving

Saint James' Refugee Ministry team has been very busy helping our family, Mohammad, Sohaila, Rana and Sana.

Sylvia Settle from Saint James is meeting with Mohammad and Sohaila on a weekly basis in their Manassas apartment to tutor both of them in English. Both are eager students and are using their smart TV (a Saint James gift) to enhance their language skills.

This week Joanne Charles and Sylvia Settle took Sohaila and her older daughter Rana, to an Afghani cooking class offered by Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Nokesville.  We all learned how to cook Sambosa and had a delightful time. Sohaila and Rana  enjoyed meeting new "church ladies" as well as Ramzia, another Afghani refugee sponsored by Greenwich church.

Sylvia is taking Rana to NOVA in Manassas for ESL placement testing, then she can begin English classes at the community college, and eventually transition to a degree program. Rana is thrilled for this opportunity.

Sana is in school two days a week studying math and english....she will spend a year in this curriculum and then graduate with a full HS diploma. This week she learned how to take the local Manassas Metro bus to and from school...a daunting and frightening experience, coming from her limited experiences in Kabul.

Mohammad is still studying for his driver's learning permit and hopes to pass the test this week so that he can begin driver's lessons and eventually have his license. This will be a major accomplishment for the family and Saint James will use funding from our Refugee Ministry to help purchase a vehicle for the family. Mohammad will then be able to drive to a job and hopes to find work as a cook.  He is grateful for his Walmart job as a parking lot assistant but wants to enjoy his passion as a cook.

Thanks to the Ellis family and the Fugee family for offering furniture and storage space to help our Refugee Ministry grow as we begin to consider adopting a second family.  Thanks also to the Niemeyer family for helping us move all this furniture!  

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