Tag: refugee

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New Office

For the past four-plus years, my day to day IAFR work has been performed in my home office. It went from the corner of our living room to taking over my son’s bedroom when he moved out.

Over the past few weeks, I determined it was time for another move. I appreciate working remotely but having human contact is also good. My two large dogs are not the best conversationalists.

Photo credit: Tim Barnes , IAFR

As of March 11, I now have an office space in the Warehouse District in downtown Peoria, Illinois. A couple of people from my church, have offices there and my wife runs her business from the same building. I am enjoying the “community” aspect and the ability to have separate spaces between work and home.

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Soul

Laughter even in challenging places – photo credit: IAFR

In his book called Soul Keeping, John Ortberg writes, “ In the book of Exodus, God says to his people, ‘You shall not a oppress a stranger; you know the soul of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.’ “  He goes on to write, “Everybody has a soul.  We demean people when we forget they have the depth and dignity of a soul.”

Powerful words for a divisive and rhetoric filled world.  I believe that it is easy to demean and vilify when we see people as “other” than us…when we forget they have a soul like us.  Part of our role at IAFR is to help re-humanize those who have been forcibly displaced, to help people see the “soul” of the individuals.  May we see people as God sees them!

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Whiteboard

A big part of leadership, is discerning the direction to go and then moving people, resources, etc in that direction….going from “here to there”.  I actually like both parts; the discerning and the moving.  I also like whiteboards to try to capture thoughts, ideas, and direction.

That is what this week is about, as the IAFR US Executive team and the Service team meet in Minneapolis…discerning, planning, and moving.  I am also reminded this morning, as we jump into day 2, that this is not a frivolous exercise.  We are talking about millions of people who have been forcibly displaced.  People who are desperate for hope.  The challenges are large and the obstacles  many.  

But we have a big God and a great global team.

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“Those People”


This is one of my favorite pictures from my recent trip to the Dzaleka Refugee camp. The photo is one of my pastor friends, his daughter, and his wife in the background.  I see a lot of love and pride in their faces, similar to how I feel about my daughter and son.

Often I hear “those people” being talked about…whether in news reports, group discussions, or on social media. “Those people” being refugees or asylum seekers. Rationalizations and judgements are so easy when we see people as a group or part of an issue.

As I look at this picture, I am reminded that “those people” have names, faces, hopes, and dreams just like you and me. And that’s why we tell their stories and do the work we do…so you can be reminded too.