June 2020

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The International Welcome Center is busy loving, following, and sharing Jesus with the foreign born of Akron by serving them and becoming their friends. Here is a picture and a story I thought you might enjoy

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The IWC viral cooking class took place on May 22. Six moms each received  a video explaining how to cook an affordable meal for their families. One of the benefits of being in the class is receiving a grocery delivery with all the ingredients needed to cook the meal. Here is one of our volunteers delivering groceries to one of the participants. 

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Jack’s Story
Occasionally, a refugee relocates in Akron and for various reasons does not want their picture to be taken or shared. Jack, his wife, and his 3 sons gave me permission to share some of their story, but requested there identities not be shared.
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Jack and his family are from Afghanistan. In his home country, he owned his own manufacturing company. Due to the threat of violence to his family, Jack fled with his family to Sri Lanka where they lived for several years in a refugee camp. Eventually, he and his whole family were invited to live in the United States. 
Jack’s family was one of the last families relocated to Akron before the current administration halted all refugee invitations. They arrived just weeks before COVID-19 became an official pandemic. 

Jack works on the assembly line at a window factory here in northeast Ohio. The IWC will assist him with finding a job that better fits his skills when he is ready to do so. He is very grateful for all the help the IWC has been able to provide. He wants everyone to know he will not forget the faces of the volunteers that brought food during the pandemic, furniture so they would not have to sit and sleep on the floor, and toys for his kids. This is important because Jack is a Muslim. He readily acknowledges that it has been Christians who have served him and his family the most during the last several tumultuous weeks. He is seeing Christ’s love for him through the ministry of the IWC. Pray for Jack. Pray that God would open his eyes to understand the grace of Christ and be born again. 

He is close to having his driver’s permit and will hopefully start practice driving with an IWC volunteer in the near future. He has already promised to become a volunteer at the IWC so that he can help others who are resettling here. 
When you pray for the IWC, give to the Lord’s work at GBC, or make a special donation to the IWC, you are impacting families like Jack’s. Without you, the work of the IWC would not be possible. ​