Staff Reflections
Change Rebuilds: Jerome’s Story
As we round the corner of 2020 toward the end of the year, we’re bringing you more made-for-change stories from across the World Relief community. Today, World Relief Chicagoland’s Jerome Bizimana shares his story of rebuilding. He fled violence in his home country of the Congo and eventually resettled in Illinois. Jerome now works for…
Read More20 Reasons to Give Thanks in 2020
It’s Thanksgiving week. The time has come when we would normally gather with family and friends, celebrate the start of the holiday season and reflect on the things we’re grateful for. This year, those celebrations won’t be possible for many of us, and the practice of gratitude likely feels especially difficult. Many of us are…
Read MoreChange Disrupts, But Love Still Grows
It’s been a year of difficult change. But at World Relief, we believe you were made for change — not just to survive it, but to thrive through it.In today’s story, World Relief’s Vice President of U.S. Programs, Jennifer Foy, shares how amidst this year’s disruption, creativity, resilience and love still grew. Recently, I was…
Read MoreI am a Dreamer
I vividly remember June 15, 2012. It was my little sister’s graduation from the University of California, Irvine, and we were getting ready for her big day. The TV was on in the background, playing either Telemundo or Univision. I can’t quite remember which. When the president came on the TV, we all stopped what…
Read MoreLeveraging Relationships to Serve the Most Vulnerable
A Critical Moment We are facing a critical moment in the global COVID-19 crisis. While many parts of the U.S. are reopening, the crisis continues to unfold in Africa and other parts of the developing world. While official case numbers remain modest in many countries (due, in part, to limited testing capacity) the severe effects…
Read MoreFive Ways You Can Stand With Dreamers
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion that – for the moment, at least – keeps Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) alive. While the decision was consistent with what World Relief has advocated for many years, I confess that to me, it came as a very happy surprise. I had been dreading…
Read MoreIt Takes a Village
It was 3 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon when we got the call. A woman in the Congolese community had contracted COVID-19 — the first of what would turn out to be many cases for the Congolese living in the Quad Cities area. My mind raced with questions as we worked to determine the best…
Read MoreTreasures in the Dark
COVID-19 is proving to be a deep, dark season. It was March 16th when we closed our office and began working remotely. The virus hadn’t yet hit the Fox Valley area so although our team was preparing, we weren’t really sure for what. We began praying, as individuals and as a team, for the refugee…
Read MoreThe Good News Report
“We are all going through an incredibly trying time. But through all the anxiety, through all the confusion, through all the isolation, through all the Tiger King, somehow the human spirit found a way to break through and blow us all away.” — John Krasinksi The world is crumbling… or so it would seem. Everywhere…
Read MoreScarcity, Immigration and Having Enough
In the human world, abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together to celebrate and share our common store. — Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak
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