October Tower Echoes: Deacon Dispatch
Our Circle of Welcome Family
After months of training and preparation, in November 2019 a team from PRLC was matched with a newly arriving refugee family from Afghanistan. We were trained in Lutheran Community Services Northwest in their Circle of Welcome program. After the family settled into their apartment in Mukilteo, Pointe of Grace Lutheran Church joined our efforts. Members of both churches have gotten to know the family as true friends, and continue to support them in many ways. We thought it was time to share a little more about these wonderful people so we got the family’s permission.
Shir, the father, is working hard at his job, coming home to give mom a break and helping drive the family to all of their appointments. He wants to improve his reading and writing skills in English. Shir is conscientious and kind, and is a caring, involved father. He is proud to have kids in school. Both he and Shabnam pray for their American friends every day and are grateful to be in America.
Shabnam, the mother, is looking forward to learning English and getting a job of her own. Shabnam keeps a tidy house and good humor even with four active kids and one on the way. She wants to have more social and English-learning opportunities than she has been able to have so far, but she says she feels safe in America.
Aryan, a 10-year-old fourth grader, has great English skills and they’re getting better every day. He’s meeting a lot of friends in school. He has new glasses since arriving in America and is seeing much better. Aryan is the linguist of the family speaking Dari with his dad and siblings, Pashto with his mom, Farsi with his grandfather, and English with everyone else! He has some good buddies at school, likes math and video games, and wants to improve his English reading skills.
Kayenat, a 6-year-old first grader, is a force to be reckoned with! She is as cute as can be and interested in everything. She is happy to be in school meeting new friends. It was hard last year going to Kindergarten online. Kayenat is social, artistic, and organized--often organizing siblings who don’t want to be!
Asenat, a 3-year-old, goes to preschool part-time. This is her first time away from her family and will meet new friends of her own! Her glasses are helping a lot. Asenat is her father’s shadow, is a fearless climber and has found Rohan to be a good playmate now that he’s older.
Rohan, a 2-year-old, is talking and prefers to speak English over Dari, so his father says! Rohan welcomes visitors with a big smile and a hearty “Come in!” He likes to show off how fast he can run and enjoys applying colorful stickers anywhere he can reach.
Please take time to pray for each family member. They have been through so much, and have weathered all the same challenges of the pandemic except in a brand new country. At this time, we are looking to expand our volunteer team. Are you interested in providing transportation to appointments, helping fill out forms, or just supporting in some other way we don’t know about yet? Please reach out to Deacon of Outreach Patrick Meagher and the team will be in touch.
Indigenous People’s Day
October 11th is Indigenous People’s Day! We are reminded that our church sits on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. We encourage all of you to explore the Real Rent Duwamish movement. Last year, as a church, we tithed over $47,000 directly to the Duwamish tribe. This amount was a combination of proceeds from the sale of a former Phinney House, and individual contributions from church members. We pray to God to guide our future efforts to build justice and security for indigenous communities near and far.