The IAFR Blog

"I could feel the tears coming."

 It caught me off guard. I could feel the tears coming. All it took was for my friend to ask, “How did your visit to Kakuma refugee camp go?”

On the day we arrived at the camp, a friend working with the UN warned us that protests were planned. News that their meager food ration was going to be cut in half left refugees wondering how they would survive. It was already hard enough.

A couple of days later, a protest turned violent. Police took over the area and made it a no-go zone – even for UN and NGO workers.

The truth is that the UN simply doesn’t have the funding to provide the growing global refugee population with enough of anything. Donor nations are not coming through. The cries of the affected people go unheard. Despair is taking hold.

Growing despair

During a conference for church leaders from the refugee camp and the surrounding local community, a Sudanese pastor came up to me and told me that 3 people he knew have committed suicide this year. Just days after we left, he sent me a photo with tragic news. A mother of ten had not been able to feed her children anything for 4 days. On the fifth day hope failed completely. She took her own life.

Churches are doing what humanitarian agencies cannot do.

While there I visited many of the refugee churches that have received building materials from IAFR this year. They now had a roof over their heads. The pastors and church leaders expressed their deep gratitude for this provision.

We also met with a church that lost its building to flooding at the end of 2023. They showed us the land on which camp authorities said they could rebuild. But they need help to get needed building materials.

The rain began falling again while we were there in April. Shortly after we left, flooding swept through the camp. As most buildings are made from sun-dried mud bricks, many were destroyed. Eleven churches were among the victims.

This matters because the churches in Kakuma are doing what humanitarian agencies cannot do. Against all odds, they are keeping hope alive by offering welcoming and supportive communities that embrace a life-giving worldview.

What can we do to help?

As I fought off the tears and shared this with my friend, she asked, “Is there anything we can do to help?”

I encouraged her to consider helping provide building materials to churches in need. The average cost of putting a roof over a church is $2,000. Any contribution to the IAFR Church Building project will help strengthen hope in that challenging place.

Our forcibly displaced friends need our prayers. We know God sees, hears, and cares for them. And so, we join our prayers to their cries for help – and look for opportunities to partner with God as God answers their prayers.

CLICK HERE to help put a roof over the head of a church in Kakuma.

An Interview With Shanna

Q: In a few sentences, describe this fundraiser and the project behind it. How would you summarize your vision?

Shanna: We are in the middle of a $50k by end-of-May fundraising campaign for the summer launch of a two-year pilot program in our city designed to walk with people from renting to home ownership.

From segregation to integration...

Fort Morgan is a rural town of 12,000 that is majority non-white. 19% of the population is foreign-born, and over 27 languages are spoken. Segregation is most visible in housing. We want our neighbors to have the same opportunities for generational stability that we do.

We want our city to flourish as we move from a divided and segregated community toward an integrated one that honors our diversity.

Our vision is rooted in a desire to love our neighbors as ourselves and to seek the peace of our city as we join Christ's work of reconciling all things.

The Significance of Home

Q: What brought you to this point in the journey? Can you briefly share the story of this project and its development?

Shanna: In 2016, I was part of a community group that operated in four languages. As we did a community assessment, the resettled refugee community identified stable housing as the primary need.

In the next couple of years, as I was in seminary, I explored integral mission and hospitality in communal cultures. I often chose topics of study on housing, city planning, and the biblical significance of place for those who have experienced displacement.

It has been a long journey to this launch, and I am humbled by the dedication of so many along the way who have contributed skills, time, and prayerful discernment.

Focused on Survival

Resettled refugees make their way to Fort Morgan for employment at major agriculture employers. 95% of the Black/African American community, primarily from East Africa, rent, and the average stay in a rental unit is between five and ten years.

People who have experienced forced displacement have spent years focused on survival. Long-term planning is often not a priority in the face of immediate needs and labor-intensive work. This continues to be true for people who have family in their home countries who depend on their financial assistance for daily needs.

Want to help us bridge the gap?

Q: What is the end goal of the fundraiser, and how can people help you take the next steps to achieve it?

Shanna: Thanks to the generous support of donors, we have already raised $36k of the $50k needed to launch our pilot program. We are also eagerly awaiting responses on significant grant proposals that, if awarded, will enable us to launch the full program later this summer.

Your donations and support in spreading the word can help us bridge the remaining gap!

Pray with us for God's provision as we pursue His Kingdom in Fort Morgan.

DONATE today!

Or CLICK HERE to learn more!