Hello CCC Friends & Family!

Have you ever felt like you were on the outside, looking in? Or like you just didn’t quite belong? Maybe you walked into a church service and realized you didn’t really know anyone. Oh… who should I talk to? Maybe you see all the moms at the park chatting around their strollers in cute athleisure-wear and you realize you’re in 15 year old sweat pants and day 3 hair. Oh geez. Maybe you’re new to the office, or new in town, or just realizing how hard it is to make true friends as an adult.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt that sense of, “I just don’t belong here.”

I mean remember MIDDLE SCHOOL!?

Our refugee children and teenagers are wrestling with this outside-looking-in, longing-to-belong every day. They want to find ways to jump in and belong, but they don’t even have the language to ask for help. They want to join the marching band at school! But oh, by 10th grade you already need to know how to play an instrument to join the band. They want to play volleyball, but oh, if you haven’t been playing since age 5 you don’t stand a chance of making the cut.  Not to mention, you don’t even have a ride home from after-school activities. They want to explore Oak Mountain, or Moss Rock preserve, or Pepper Place Market, but their parents work all weekend, so they are locked in the apartment waiting for their return.

All around our sweet CCC children, life and activities and relationships are forming, but the obstacles to belonging are monstrous. Language, religion, culture, lack of transportation, lack of money, and a whole lot of shame keep these kids from ever feeling like they belong. They are almost ALWAYS on the outside looking in, unable to break through the barriers to be known and a part of the group.

I recently took two of our teenage refugees to youth group at my church.  I watched them as they watched all the other American teens play “gaga ball.” What on earth is this game? How do you play? I could see all over their faces the desire to jump in, but also a tremendous amount of fear holding them back. They stood a few feet away from the group. A few teens came and they communicated briefly in short choppy sentences. At worship time, they listened to songs for the first time that everyone else knew by heart.

Our young friends from around the world don’t get many opportunities to just be KIDS. They are coming from war, gang violence, threats to their lives or their parents’ lives, and they now find themselves facing a different type of battle. How am I ever going to feel at home again?

And yet… I see against all odds the Lord calling his children into community. I’ve watched a really lonely Afghani family meet up with their CCC care team and their children in the park to play together. I’ve watched a faithful volunteer meet weekly with a Venezuelan single for English conversation, and true friendship beginning to form. I’ve watched a terrified Costa Rican teenager struggle to get out of the car for her first soccer practice, but overcome that fear through prayer and encouragement from her case worker. I’ve watched a 7th grade Honduran smile with pride as he learns how to use his locker combination at his new school.  Despite the barriers to belonging, we have a God who loves to draw in the outsiders and who sets the lonely in families. Our Savior honors the outcast, and He cares deeply about the refugee. He consistently shows me His abundant compassion for our CCC families.

Thank YOU, our faithful volunteers and financial supporters, for loving our families well, too. Thank you for every single ride to the doctor, to school, to English class. Thank you for every donation and prayer. Please know that when you sign up to gives rides to soccer practice, or offer guitar lessons, or invite a family to a Fall Festival, it’s a service far beyond what you can see. You are inviting these families to belong.

Sincerely,
Dylan Peters, LMSW
Director of Restoration & Development
Birmingham Cross Cultural Connections


P.S. I truly hope all of you will join us for A Refugee’s Journey this weekend. It is a walkthrough experience that includes a special time of worship and prayer. It only takes an hour and I promise it will bless your soul to hear and celebrate seven of our clients stories. You can register at bhmccc.info/arefugeesjourney and please bring your family, friends, small group, and co-workers.