Last week, Mike called to ask when we could get together. He came over to help me move a refrigerator, and afterwards, we went back to his place for a cup of tea. Mike told me about his school. He has enrolled in a night class in order to complete his secondary school certificate. With this he hopes that someday, after he receives his asylum, that he could go to trade school. It’s a long road which seems only longer when he sometimes shares his dream for starting a new life.
School is going okay except for English. There is a lot of memorization to do, but it is also his 6th language, and I could tell that learning comes easy. I helped him review his English vocabulary and already he could speak simple sentences.
As I walked out, I realized that this was the first time that Mike had initiated a visit with me. He was no longer living in the government housing and he was forging a new life. He needed furniture. He was beginning school. He needed help finding a computer and setting that up. I knew that the pressures on his family from both inside and outside were too great to manage. I told him I would pray for his family in the middle of this time. He seemed to appreciate my offer to pray as if he was aware of his spiritual needs as much as he was his educational ones.