For several years the Grace Outreach Ministry has given financial support to the Refugee Ministry at Christ Church, which was created to support Afghan refugees and their families who have settled in the area. We now have established a Care Team (core members being Dan Pattarini, Blair Sokol, Ann Korky, and Lynn Rohrs), to support a new family who arrived in northern VA in November 2021.
Our family consists of a 30 year old Afghan Refugee trained in IT, his pregnant wife, 26 (baby is due in March), and their 3 year old son. They left family in Kabul, and succeeded in getting out of the country safely after 5 trips to the Kabul airport during the airlift in August. They are delightful and resilient, and working hard to acclimate and embrace new opportunities. The father has already found a job for at least 6 months working on a data migration project (after making 300 applications!), and his wife is taking English lessons and has essential prenatal care.
We are not publishing names and more specific information now to protect their privacy and safety. The family has some friends and a relative in the area, and have the basic needs for their home now.
The Care Team and interested Grace community can support them with help to navigate life in Alexandria, enjoy what the region has to offer, build relationships, and learn about each other’s cultures with respect and openheartedness.
Stay tuned for a more detailed introduction and updates in the March Grace Notes, including ways that you can help be part of our extended support.