Please Pray for our Friends

Hello, all.  Writing to share a prayer request for some of our Burmese friends.  A serious accident this afternoon left 4 in the ICU and 1 injured, but released.  This is a scary experience for anyone, but imagine navigating the process when you don’t understand what any nurse or doctor is saying to you.  

It’s  a blessing that the Burmese community is so strong, so there’s no lack of people there to help out.  But, there are only a few that can speak English well enough to translate so the burden on them is strong.  

Please join us in prayer  for the safety of our friends tonight and for the next few days as their injuries become less fragile.  And, pray for their families and friends as they endure the stress of the experience.  We’ll keep you updated.

Summer Time!

Check out these pictures from the Summer Program!  The first week was SO fun, and we’re looking forward to more excitement, games, and learning.  Thanks to all the volunteers who are making it happen.  

Lost in Translation

It’s just the nature of this type of organization to ‘go with the flow’ of speech and not expect to understand every sentence 100%.  It’s pretty necessary to move on and catch the drift of the whole conversation if you want to get anything accomplished.  And, it’s just too often that you hear a comical sentence structure or a quirky word choice–you stop realizing that they are, indeed, kind of funny.  

But, sometimes, they’re just too funny to be looked over.  Like tonight, when my sweet friend from Iraq paid me a compliment:   “Why you not fat?  Next month you were fat, but not this month.”  

Why, thank you.  I have lost some weight since last month.  I appreciate you noticing

All the Colors of the World

Sometimes I forget what an amazing opportunity we have to impact the world through Spero:Voice.  But, then a night like tonight reminds me.  

A great group of students from OBU came down as usual for their Thursday night sessions of tutoring, homework help, and anything else that needs to be done.  And, a Creative Mentor was teaching her second week of class.  Also joining us were some friends who recently arrived back to the United States with newly adopted Congolese teenagers who want to learn English! 

What a sight to survey!  A group of kids from both Burma and The Congo learning colors and shapes by playing bingo were in the courtyard.   A very-newly resettled Burmese woman learning the most basic of English from her OBU tutor.  A group of three Iraqi women learning new words and so proud of themselves for using them correctly.  Oh, and they were working side-by-side with three Burmese ladies, too!  A precious young girl from Burma studying for an upcoming test with a tutor from OBU.  A young Russian boy working on his homework and getting help from his tutor.  And, the ladies on the end, working with their Creative Mentor. She was teaching some young Burmese ladies how to make jewelry stands–and they look so great!  Not to mention the kids playing in the courtyard, learning tic-tac-toe and other games.  

So, after things were over and everyone was just playing in the courtyard, I stood on the second story overlooking the kids and adults playing together.  I remembered the first time I rounded the corner to the apartment complex where so many refugees live.  It was like walking into a different world!  Just like this night–kids from: The Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Iraq, Burma, and Russia, all playing together and enjoying their new lives.  What a sight!

So, I breathed it in again (along with some wafts of Burmese fish soup!) and remembered how amazing this life is.  Thanks to everyone else who is a part of this community with us!

Women’s Conversational English Teacher Needed

We will provide you with the curriculum, the teacher’s guide, and the classroom space.  This is  a GREAT opportunity to meet women from all over the world and develop relationships with them.  They have some amazing stories of hope and determination and it’s fun to hear them as you help them learn English. 

Teacher is needed Mondays from 7-8:30.  Contact kim@thesperoproject.com if you’re interested.

Summer Program

This summer is going to be FULL of fun and education at Spero:Voice.  We’ll be organizing a summer program for the kids, giving them a place to gather and have fun together over the summer.  The best part is that it’s all education-based, so they’ll be playing games and doing activities that help them practice basic math and English skills to help them be more prepared for the upcoming school year!

If you want to be part of the fun, we could most definitely use your assistance!  The summer program will be running Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30a.m.-11:30p.m.  If you’re willing to volunteer one day/week from the 2nd week of June until the last week of July, please contact kim@thesperoproject.com.  Moms–you can bring your kids with you and they can participate with us!

An Easy Way to Help!

Spero:Voice is so excited to share an easy way to help support our work with International Refugees in the Oklahoma City area.   A great organization, www.givecards.org , has offered to help us with a fundraiser that costs you NOTHING out of pocket!  

If you have gift cards that you won’t use or that have a low remaining balance, we invite you to send them in to us and we’ll partner with Give Cards to receive cash for most of the value of the cards. So, the last $3.72 on your Chili’s Gift Card can make a real difference to us and doesn’t cost you any green bills from your wallet! 

Just mail us the gift cards by May 15th and we’ll do the rest.

Mail to:

The Spero Project

1515 NW 43rd

OKC, OK     73118

If you want to get real crazy, set up a donation spot for people at school, in your office, or at church and send us all the cards on May 15th. However you participate, we want to THANK YOU for your help!!!

A Place for Everything and Everything In Its Place!

We had a visit from an amazing youth group from Arkansas last week, and we are so, so grateful for the work they did!  This group gladly sorted and boxed our very UNorganized storage space into a wonderfully-manageable room with a place for everything!  This is a tremendous blessing because we have a better understanding of our needs and we use far less time sorting through boxes to find items needed for families.  But, beyond the tangible help, this group really brought another level of help to the families in the refugee community.  There was an excitement and a hope that came with such a young and energetic group that started a buzz among the complex.  Many families came to visit us during the project and several of the volunteers were invited into homes, given tea and snacks, and made some life-long friends!  

We’re so appreciative of their efforts and wish them the best!!!

5 Languages. One Dream.

Have I mentioned how in love I am with the newly-forming MicroLending Program at Spero:Voice?  I’m sure I have a time or two.  Here’s an example of why.  Monday night was a class mean to help finalize a few ideas for some of the ladies who have been working towards a specific crafting project for a while. But, as always, things were just a little different than I planned!  Two ladies who were new to the MicroLending Program came–two ladies who are also quite new to the English language!

SOOO, we tweaked a bit and the “veterans” helped teach the new ladies about embroidery.  Here’s the kicker:  I was there–I speak English.  Manzura was there–she speaks Russian.  Lah Nu was there–Chin is her language (from Burma).  Fatima was there–speaking Arabic.  And, Anna was there–Swahili is her mode of communication.  You can imagine how easily we were able to teach each other!  

But, it turned into the most fun I’ve had in Spero:Voice in a very long time.  We were laughing with each other, sometimes laughing AT each other, and mostly laughing at the fact that we had no idea what anyone else in the room was saying.  We did get a little language lesson in.  We all learned that I thought Lah Nu and Anna were the “sassy” ones of the bunch and then took turns walking “sassy”-like to demonstrate what I meant.  You would have thought we were a room full of 5-year-old girls they way we were laughing!  

And it just made me remember again that we all just want to live well and love others, whatever language we speak and whatever we’ve been through in life.  What fun to get to be one of their new friends when they arrive so we can work together towards living our dreams!

Home Sweet Home

A wonderful Life Group jumped in to serve in a huge way last week and we are most appreciative!  A new family with a 10 month old son came in on Thursday, and when they came in they were greeted with a fully-furnished apartment!  The Litz Life Group worked together to gather donations, bring items from home, and then came to put everything in its place.  Supplemented by a TON of soaps, detergents, etc. by the Donaldson family, this apartment was ready to go!

After a long stay at a refugee camp, a plane ride with a 10-month-old (whew!), and a car trip to some place in Oklahoma they’ve never heard of (!), can you imagine the relief of walking into a place that has place settings prepared at the table, a closet full of clothes, and a kitchen full of food.  We’re so thankful for groups like this who give of their time and money to make a new life possible for others.  

If you’re interested in helping as a group with Apartment Set-Up, let us know!  kim@thesperoproject.com