Empty hearts, busy hands, Afghan refugees find hope and healing

Central Asian Peoples

The Afghan refugee women gather in a room. It’s a safe space, a place where trauma can air, and hands can create beauty.

Ann Kent sits in this room; she listens and leads the women through a trauma-healing course. The women nod, identifying with the fictional internally displaced family in the story Ann shares. The stories of Joseph and Naomi, who were also strangers in another land, resonate with them.

Before this class, the women sat at home, depressed. Back home, they had houses and cars, and many had jobs before they were forced to leave everything behind. One of Ann’s friends now lives in a one-room house with her husband and four sons. At home, they had a four-story home, and she was a teacher.

Now, because of the mission of a non-profit, they have learned to sew and make purses that will give them a purpose and livelihood. They’re learning English and participate in a trauma healing class.

Ann’s nursing background comes in handy. She talks about heart wounds versus physical wounds. It’s both healing and important to share their struggles, the women learn through Ann.

In their culture, the expression “my heart is full,” often used in the West to describe being encouraged, does not have a positive connotation.

“In this culture, you say your heart is full, and that's a bad thing, because when you're sad, and when you're hurting, you want to empty your heart,” Ann explains.

One of the women tells Ann her heart is now empty of the pain she’d been holding on to.

“We go to the class, and we empty our hearts, and we just remember God is kind, and this isn't the end.”

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No Place left without the gospel

South Asian Peoples

In this era of ministry, Will and Carol Smith focus on reaching people on the move. The Smiths served with the IMB in South Asia for 13 years, and their experience working with Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims set them up for their current role working with the global diaspora.

They championed No Place Left (NPL), a ministry strategy whose ethos is to multiply disciples, churches, leaders, and movements until there is no place left without the gospel. This ethos continues to drive their ministry as IMB alumni.

Wherever they travel, they mentor and equip local believers to share, lead, and become a coordinator of mission strategy. Internationally, equipping believers has taken them to work with refugees on the border of Mexico, Poland, and Greece. In the U.S., the Smiths lead NPL and strategy coordinator trainings.

Dunwoody Baptist Church in the greater Atlanta area hosted an NPL training. The church was already engaged in community outreach among Hindus but needed effective ways to share the gospel. Indians in Atlanta from the state of Gujarat alone number 26,000. Many are economic and educational immigrants, filling medical, IT, and service industry jobs.

Will began coaching Dunwoody’s pastor, and they created a cohort of leaders to discover ways to minister to the Hindu population. Many of the leaders are Christian Indians who have a heart for reaching Hindu Indians.

“People who have pursued No Place Left in the U.S. are some of the best-prepared missionaries when they go overseas,” Will said. “When you add on the diaspora element to it, not only are they the best prepared in simple practices and sharing the gospel, making disciples, and planting simple churches, but if they also go the next step to trying to reach people outside their culture in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, or New York, now they're also prepared cross culturally.”

The Smiths would love to connect with IMB alumni not only to partner but find community, something they know many miss about the IMB. Contact them here: [email protected]