It may seem odd – and oddly specific – to be thanking God for software, but that is a shared gratitude among the members of the refugee resettlement team. It allows us – with momentary delays – to share laughter and to ask and answer questions such as what are the Arabic words for Father (Ab) or Baba as the children call him or Mother (Omm) or Mama as the children say.
One team goal is to keep the congregation and friends in the loop on how the family is doing. This update shares some of the things the team needed to “seek” this past fall as well as what we seek for this wonderful family for the future.
Some of what we’ve appreciated:

• The support of crossing guards Mary and Jerry who helped the family learn how to get the children to school safely
• The librarian who welcomed the family and eagerly offered to work with them
• The man at the local gas station who welcomed them to the neighborhood
• Miss Betty next door who provided a couch for the front porch (they are truly Pittsburghers now!)
• The staff at the school district who helped our team set up accounts so that the parents can track the excellent performance by their children
• A dentist and her staff at a pediatric dental practice who moved patients around to handle a dental emergency that left the middle child crying in pain during the night

And then there were our four get-togethers to share how various things are celebrated in America:
• The requested traditional Thanksgiving dinner – with the most delicious dessert provided by Ab (father)
• A trip to the Carnegie Science Center for the entire family
• A freezing temperature-postponed holiday get-together
• A birthday party (six of the seven have birthdays in January and early February)

Most of all, we sought to find employment for Ab. God provided a job that not only will provide benefits for the family but is actually in his field of expertise as a baker.

Now what we seek is to continue to help them take the next steps. Ab’s commute is about an hour each way so we are hoping to find a way to help them acquire a car to make things easier in all kinds of ways. We are also seeking a part-time job for Omm (mother) if we can get the young twins enrolled in Head Start. The children would like a ping pong table if anyone has one they do not use.

The short version is that mostly we seek your continued prayers for this wonderful family. And if your schedule has changed and you’d like to become involved in a more hands on way, our team is eager to welcome you to this family – our family, now – who some of us have taken to calling “The Blessings.”

For they truly are.

-Carolyn Kerr
Carolyn serves on the Personnel and Communications Commissions