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Gracias a Dios!

Gracias a Dios!

By Caleb Miller, Refugee Empowerment Director

I’ve always loved learning. Since childhood, I’ve been a big reader. I liked going to school, unless the homework started to pile up too high, and I’ve always been interested in trying new things or going to new places. So when I joined Mission Adelante back in April, I was excited at the prospect of working with people from all over the world and the learning opportunities this would bring.


Over the course of seven months or so, there have been plenty of touchpoints with other cultures. Food, culture, body language, traditions, you name it. These are all ways that we teach each other about who we are and where we come from. But how we most tangibly communicate these things on a daily basis through language. On a weekly basis, I text (with the help of Google Translate) in Spanish, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, and Dari – maybe even some Tigrinya or Hahka Chin thrown in there as well. I grew up around other languages, having lived in the Czech Republic for most of my childhood, where I played on a Czech hockey team and attended international schools. I studied German throughout high school and college. I love languages, and I consider myself pretty decent at picking them up. 

As you can probably imagine, Google Translate can only do so much. It’s almost a daily occurrence for one of our staff to receive a message from one of our clients that either makes no sense or is translated so clunkily that we can’t help but laugh. And I’m absolutely positive that this happens on the other side as well, leaving our clients more confused than ever about what exactly these crazy Americans are trying to say. But over time, there are some words that become familiar and recognizable to us from these other languages, and I’d like to share a few words I’ve learned with you today along with my best attempts at their pronunciations:

Thank you:

Kinyarwanda, mainly spoken in Rwanda - “Murakoze” (mu-ra-KOH-zeh)

Dari, Afghanistan - “Tashakor” (tash-a-KOR)

Thank you, bye!:

Spanish - “Gracias adios!”

For a while after I would hear this phrase, I was confused because our clients would say “gracias adios” and then not go anywhere. I was unsure if they had a similar culture to Midwesterners, where goodbyes often rebound back into other conversations that require further attempts at goodbyes once the new topic is fully discussed. Eventually I found out that I’d been mishearing the phrase all along.

Thanks to God:

Spanish - “Gracias a Dios!”

Makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it?

Good bye:

Dari - “Khoda hafez” (HODO-fez)

This also means “may God protect you.”

Yep, ok, alright, sure, gotcha:

Dari - “Bale” (BA-le)

Spanish - “Vale” (VA-le)

Kinyarwanda - “Ego” (EH-go)

It’s kind of cool how Afghans and Spanish speakers have an almost identical sounding word with the same exact meaning despite living on opposite sides of the world and in vastly different contexts. 

Cool, fabulous, amazing:

Spanish - “Chevere” (SHEH-ve-re)

Basically this is what this word means →😎

I look forward to this list of words expanding as we welcome more new individuals and families into our city and our community. I’m sure the learning will continue in equal measure to the laughs I receive when I incorrectly pronounce these words in front of my clients. Though there may be language barriers, there are so many other ways to meaningfully communicate. And I’ve come to find that even knowing one or two words in someone else’s language can break down barriers. A multilingual author I like once talked about how when he spoke in someone else’s language, he found that they began to see him as “one of them.” I love this idea that learning from each other brings unity and connection. Thank you for living this out by following or being a part of our organization and I look forward to continuing to learn together!


This is our time!

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Finding a Home

Finding a home

By Caleb Miller, Refugee Empowerment Director

The summer before I turned 16, I found out that my family would be moving to Minnesota. Any move is a big deal in one way or another, but I’d never lived in the Midwest before. In fact, my family had been living outside the US for the past 8 years, where my dad had been teaching at an international university in Prague, Czech Republic. Soon, the implications of switching schools halfway through high school, leaving my childhood community, and starting over in a country that felt foreign and strange began to sink in. There would be culture shock as I’d have to go from a class of 4 kids with 4 passport countries to a class of 400. Though, to be fair, there would end up being about the same amount of countries represented. We didn’t have any friends or family in Minnesota. I had been able to take public transportation wherever I wanted for years, but now I would have to go to driving school and get hours and borrow the car anytime I wanted to go anywhere else. It was daunting. When we arrived, people began to ask where I was from and if I said the Czech Republic, they’d ask why my English was so good. But it didn’t feel like I was from the US - I’d lived in Dallas until I was 8 and barely remembered any of it. I started having to figure out what home was and realized I might not have one, at least in the sense that most of my classmates in Minnesota did.

^ First family picture in our new home in Prague

Let’s fast forward a bit.

I’m Caleb, and I started working at Mission Adelante four months ago. My position has shifted a bit since then, but currently I’m on the Ongoing Services side of our Refugee Resettlement team. One of my main priorities is helping our refugees find employment, but our Ongoing Services team also oversees programs such as ESL, Cultural Orientation, and Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance. I help our refugee clients set goals, make resumes, apply for jobs, and learn about work life and expectations here. It’s been a joy to work with refugees from 4 continents, but I can’t help but think about how they’ll also have to figure out how to answer questions about where they are from and where home is. Unlike me, however, they were forced to leave their homes. 

I don’t know about you, but for something to be home, it had to be safe, comfortable, and familiar. After Dallas, Prague, Minnesota, Michigan for college, and now Kansas City, I don’t feel like I can say I have one place I consider home. Many of my friends have moved around, my parents are now in Idaho, and my brother is almost off to Switzerland for the rest of the year, so all of the pieces that comprise home (family, places, friends, memories, sights, smells) are scattered. Instead, I have pockets of home that meet the criteria of safe, comfortable, and familiar. For a while, making sense of my identity was tough because it felt scattered and hard to define until eventually I realized that it’s actually wide-reaching and diverse. 

But these last four months of working with refugees has challenged my definition of home. Unsurprisingly, they overwhelmingly still consider their native countries to be home. However, the reason they had to leave was because it had become unsafe, uncomfortable, and had often changed in some way that made it unfamiliar compared to what it used to be. What is home, then? The people and places and memories in my life still feel like home, and mine just happen to feel safe, comfortable, and familiar. So what else is it? I suppose home is really just a combination of the things we feel we belong to and the things that belong to us. 

Our refugees have a long road ahead of them in search of belonging here in the US. Some things we can help with and many are outside of our control. We can throw a man in his late 30s his first birthday party, give a kid their first toy, or celebrate a first car. We can’t erase the trauma that ironically allowed them the opportunity to come here, learn the language for them, or ensure those they meet outside of our team treat them with respect and patience as they figure things out. 

Despite having to move to several new and unfamiliar places, I’ve been able to make each of the spots feel a bit like home, and I’m excited for Mission Adelante to become a place where I can find belonging as I enter its community. Thanks for having me!

We each have our own unique relationship with the concept of home, but our refugees’ are distinct and sometimes it’s hard to know how to help. There are a few ways you can get involved that would be particularly helpful: 

Employment: We are always in search of companies that may have good opportunities available for our clients. Often these are entry level positions, and if there is any assistance with transportation, that’s a major plus. You can contact me at rssdirector@missionadelante.org if you have any leads in mind.

English Classes: We offer English classes on Monday nights for our refugees and are always looking for more volunteers. We will also be starting an additional class on Thursday mornings and would love to have volunteers assist with this as well. If you’re interested, you can email veronicag@missionadelante.org.

Good Neighbor Teams: One of the best ways to help our new families is to start a Good Neighbor Team. These teams are groups of around 8 who want to come alongside a new family in any number of ways. Often times, GNT’s will help take clients to appointments, study for the driving test, or set up their apartments. But it may also look like taking the family to the park, showing them around Kansas City, or having them over for dinner. If you want to learn more or would like to start a team, shoot an email to randpdirector@missionadelante.org


LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES?
JOIN US FOR VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION - SEPTEMBER 7TH AT 9:00M

Join our team of volunteers for the summer trimester and be part of "loving people from all places." Attend our volunteer orientation on September 7th, 2024 and find your place serving kids, youth, or adults in the immigrant community in KCK

For more information about volunteer opportunities visit: https://www.missionadelante.org/orientation


Be part of our programs!

We are so excited for everything that is happening in our programs and we are grateful for all our volunteers who make everything possible. Would you consider partnering with us next trimester?

How can you help?

  • Pray for our program participants would create an impact in our community and grow with their walk with the Lord.

  • Volunteer – Come to our Observation Nights. For more information visit: http://www.missionadelante.org/serve

  • Donate to join us in building a multicultural community of disciples making disciples.