![]() He has covered religion since 1999.America and Israel partners in denial of justice for journalists By Aidan White A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. is a columnist for and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. This piece is republished from The Christian Chronicle. Let him know that better days lie ahead.” And we pray for his eight sisters and others. ![]() “Thank you, Lord, for allowing him to make it here,” Harris said as we all bowed our heads. When we finished talking, the man accepted Harris’ offer to lead a prayer. Harris, a Christian Chronicle correspondent and minister in the D.C. It is truly unbelievable what they have gone through and the resiliency they, and so many others, have demonstrated to try and find their way forward.” Said Joshua Ray: “It is a humbling honor and immeasurable gift they have given us to share their lives right now. “The church prays for them by name and knows what we’re doing to help them,” Brooke Ray said. But the entire congregation has worked to serve the Muslim family’s needs. The church has tried to respect the refugees’ privacy, so not all members have met them, the minister’s wife said. While the husband is fluent in English, his wife arrived speaking only Pashto, one of Afghanistan’s two official languages. Lorene Pagcaliwagan, a Springfield church member and language professor, teaches the wife via Zoom. “Now, my wife is also happy and learning English,” he said. Volunteers also bought toys for his son and eyeglasses for his father-in-law, the man added. … We did not have anything, but they helped us to get those utensils, and we got a sofa, couch and stuff.” “Like, I only had some spoons and stuff to cook eggs. Brooke, they found us,” the refugee told me. ![]() That’s where the Springfield church came in, eager to help. “They might have a mattress,” Joshua Ray said. “These families would get a home and be able to move in, but they would have nothing,” Brooke Ray said of the resettlement process. The refugee I met - plus his wife’s father and brother, who came on a separate plane and live in their own apartment - left Afghanistan with little but the clothes they wore. That group has helped set up nearly 200 Afghan refugee homes with furniture, beds, kitchenware, linens and other household items. The church collaborated with a grassroots volunteer organization known as NoVa RAFT, which stands for Northern Virginia Resettling Afghan Families Together. “You can buy underwear in bulk on Amazon,” his wife explained. ![]() “I came home one day, and there were boxes and boxes of white, men’s underwear just piled up,” Joshua Ray said with a chuckle. Then the 75-member congregation heard that the refugees needed undergarments. “We raised a little money and collected urgently needed supplies,” Joshua Ray said. during the chaotic American withdrawal from that country - later spent 52 days in a refugee camp at Virginia’s Marine Corps Base Quantico.Īs a resettlement agency sought housing for the family, the Rays - and the entire Springfield church - already were looking for ways to help the refugees. The family - among more than 76,000 Afghans flown to the U.S. Tears flowed as the man recalled the August day last year when he, his wife and baby son fled his home country on a military cargo plane carrying hundreds of evacuees. If I identified him, he fears the Taliban might retaliate against his father, mother and eight sisters who remain in Afghanistan. military and government officials in Kabul. For several years, he worked alongside U.S. Because of safety concerns, I agreed to withhold the name of the 29-year-old refugee. ![]()
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