Chicagoland
Why We Welcome: The Hope We Have
Piece written by Joseph Mosse, Ukrainian Support Case Specialist Procrastination is a dangerous thing. All the way back in August, I was asked if I could write a piece for a newsletter coming out in December about hope. The specific wording of the prompt was to write about “the hope that I have.” But I…
Read MoreWhy We Welcome: The Prayers We Pray
Written by Isoken Aiwerioba, Director of Operations for World Relief Chicagoland Suffer not the little children – a former colleague once told me how he had spent over 19 years in a refugee camp from when he was very young. He said though he spoke the language of his host country, he always felt like…
Read MoreWhy We Welcome: The Gift of Giving
By Cory Whitehead Ten years ago, I intentionally moved into a neighborhood where I was – and am – the “other.” Very few people look like me or have a white-collar career like me. Yet, I feel at home here. On my daily walk, my neighbors remind me of their own giving spirit, as simple…
Read MoreLife-on-Life: Why Being a Friendship Partner Matters
Please meet Rick Hayden, who volunteers with World Relief Chicagoland as a Friendship Partner. Friendship Partners make a 6-month commitment to provide practical and relational assistance to newly arrived immigrants or refugees. The volunteer visits approximately once a week to help practice language, understand culture, navigate services, and most importantly, to be a friend. Here…
Read MoreA Mother’s Journey to Self-Sufficiency
Please hear from Emily O’Connor, Intensive Case Specialist in our DuPage Office: I met Usman Ghareeb and his mother, Madina, in February 2022. They had just arrived in the U.S. a couple of months before in the wake of the crisis in Afghanistan. Usman was born with what was later confirmed to be cerebral palsy…
Read MoreFalling Into God’s Plan
An Interview with an English Language Volunteer Below is an interview with Barb Olker, a long-time volunteer with our English Language Learning program. How long have you been volunteering with World Relief Chicagoland, and specifically with English Language Learning classes? My husband and I have been doing this since the 90’s. It’s been a long…
Read MoreHow to Love Sacrificially
Greetings! Recently some members of my church reminded me what it means to love sacrificially. One of them would travel 90 minutes one-way to the church every week. When I asked why she didn’t find a church closer to home, she responded “I know I need to love God by loving this church and the people in it.…
Read More9 Things You Need to Know About Private Sponsorship
On Thursday, January 19th, the Biden Administration announced a new private sponsorship program for refugees called Welcome Corps. Through Welcome Corps, everyday Americans can directly sponsor refugees who are being resettled in the U.S. Today, there are an estimated 103 million displaced people globally, including 32.5 million refugees. Forced from their homes and separated from…
Read MoreWhat does a year hold?
When I consider the new year, I’m struck by how little we know about what it will hold. In 2019, we had no idea that the pandemic would shut down the world in 2020. Before 2020, we had no idea that Afghanistan would fall in 2021. In 2021, we had no idea that Ukraine would…
Read MoreWorth the Wait: Newlywed Refugees Love Remains
For seven years, Congolese refugees (and newlyweds!), Mbimbi and Goreth, didn’t know if they would ever see each other again. Separated by continents, Mbimbi was stuck in Burundi while Goreth resettled and began her new life in America. In spite of the long wait, the two of them never lost hope, their love growing by…
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