Ali's & Belyse's Story

As a teenager growing up in North Texas, I was fairly ignorant to the world around me. Some of my best friends in high school were born in other countries and I never knew it or even thought to ask about it. In college I learned that there were several thousand refugees living in the Dallas area and as I learned more and more I found myself asking what I could do. I was introduced to Refugee Resources by a flyer I saw at DBU and was immediately drawn to this program. I encouraged one of my rommates/best friend to volunteer with me and we still volunteer together to this day. I get the privilege of mentoring sweet Belyse. She is spunky and full of life and I adore her so much! When Belyse and I first began working together, she was quiet and reserved around me. When we read together I had to beg her to speak up so I could hear her. Just in the short amount of time I have been working with her she has absolutely blossomed. At first, I could tell she was not confident in reading out loud, especially when it came to sight words. As we continued to work together over the semester, I watched as her confidence grew and her reading skills sharpened. It brings me to tears to when I stop and think about how the Lord has used my love for reading to bring us together, and how privileged I feel to get to see and hear growth in her reading skills! What a sweet gift that has been! I’ve served with Refugee Resources throughout the entire course of COVID thus far and I will not deny that it hasn’t been challenging, because it has been incredibly challenging. Meeting with students through Zoom was difficult as there were so many obstacles in place that made it a challenge to feel like I was successfully mentoring. I was also working full time and completing a Masters degree at DBU during this time. But through all of that, I felt constantly the presence of the Lord reminding me that He had called me to something bigger than myself and my own comfort, so even though it was difficult at times, I persevered. The Lord is preparing my heart in many ways right now, and specifically with my role in Beylse’s life, I can see how He is teaching me to be patient and steadfast. Oftentimes, near the beginning, I felt like Belyse was not listening as we would read the Bible stories together, and at times I remember feeling discouraged. But to this day, she recalls those old stories, and now she wants to read the Bible story herself instead of having me do it! She has taught me what it is to have a child-like faith again! I am grateful for the opportunity to be her mentor and watch her grow in more ways than one through this incredible program.