Emilee Prado
If you walk into White’s Chapel United Methodist Church’s English classes on any given Saturday, you’ll see an array of interested faces. Many of the people who are now students have fled persecution to come to the United States for asylum. No matter their background or backstory, all these people are united under one global identity: refugee.
The initiative, directed locally by Ann Davis at White’s Chapel UMC, aids local refugees who have been approved for residence by the federal government. Ann says the initiative helps refugees acclimate and become contributing members of society through several avenues, whether it's picking up refugees at the DFW International Airport, teaching English classes or, in some special circumstances, providing legal and medical assistance to those who need it most.
“We essentially operate like an emergency room,” Ann says. “By the time the family gets here, they’re exhausted, dehydrated, hungry and worn [out]. Their most notable companion is uncertainty.”
For over five years, Ann and over a hundred volunteers have served hundreds of refugees. But if a Jan. 10 order to prevent new refugees from entering the state by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stands in court, that could affect how many people they can help going forward.
THE WATERSHED MOMENT OF THE CENTURY
After a refugee registers themselves with the United Nations and they are referred to the U.S., they go through 18 to 24 months of interviews, medical check-ups and security screenings. When they are approved for resettlement, they are referred to a sponsor agency that connects them with local partner organizations that help accommodate them in the U.S. That is the role White’s Chapel UMC serves, and when a refugee takes their first steps out of the airport and into America, the faces of their volunteers are usually the first friendly ones they see.
Ann personally witnessed the refugee crisis up close while on vacation with her husband in 2015. While on a cruise that started in Amsterdam and continued through Budapest, Ann noticed droves of families walking alongside the river where the ship was sailing.
“They were carrying minimal belongings, homeless, on foot,” Ann recalls. “They were fleeing persecution. These were not people that wanted to leave home.”
Ann says she could hear the sounds of dogs barking and children crying from the ship. She says those sights and sounds disturbed her spirit and stayed with her long after her vacation ended.
“One cannot escape the nightmare of that,” Ann expresses. “My thought was, ‘Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing? Is this happening in my time on my watch?’”
That experience would soon motivate her to start the refugee initiative at White’s Chapel. In fact, executive pastor Judy Hunt was the one who suggested she write up a proposal for it.
“Ann took this assignment to heart, and in short order presented us with a comprehensive plan to educate our congregation about the realities of the refugee admission process and the challenges they face,” Judy says. “This plan included practical, hands-on ways to be a part of the solution.”
Ann says she built interest by hosting Thursday night informational sessions mapping out the group’s goals. As time passed, their number of volunteers grew, filling jobs like greeters, drivers, translators and educators, among many others. The greatest challenge, she says, was matching volunteers with roles that fit their strong suits, as well as finding partners to help them carry out refugees’ needs. For instance, Angel’s Attic, a White’s Chapel initiative that donates furniture to impoverished families, provides them with essential and household items.
“This takes an army,” Ann expresses. “I think it is the watershed moment of the century. I do think globally we have to have an answer to this.”
‘WE ARE ALL THE SAME’
Fort Worth’s Light of the World Church is another part of that army, hosting the space to teach students of several ethnicities how to read, write and speak English. Volunteer instructors help carry out that mission with their time and attention, two of which are retired CISD principal Dr. Betty McIlvain and CHS math teacher Janice Stolze.
While the classes are still a White’s Chapel offering, Judy says the organization has always hosted the classes in Fort Worth, which is closer to where most of the refugees live and is more accessible for those who don’t have easy access to transportation. Coordinator Laura Bussell says they originally started with just 13 students. Now they teach more than 70 students, and all of their stories are different.
One Korean student named Sun Rudd, for instance, has been a U.S. citizen since she married her husband in the 1980s. But ever since he became sick a few years ago, Sun committed herself to improve her English so she can take better care of herself and her husband.
“She walks to class,” Laura expresses. “She literally walked 30 minutes through snow and 30-degree weather in December just for her first class.”
Another African student, who came here last year with her three children, fled her country when its president announced he was running for a third term. She says she’s witnessed people get killed and kidnapped off of the streets every day.
“When people began to protest, the government used the police and military to kill people and throw them in jail,” she recalls. “I was among those women who have been tortured, raped and persecuted, not because I was in the opposition, but because I gave an interview to journalists so they can tell what’s going on in the country.”
Keyvan Hedayat, meanwhile, is a Bahá’ín who lived in a Turkish refugee camp for two years before the United States approved his visa. Keyvan says he was persecuted in Iran for his religious beliefs. Bahá’ís are so despised that they aren’t even allowed to be buried on Iranian soil when they die, he explains. Instead, Bahá’ís are given their own graveyard, which Keyvan says is regularly desecrated.
“Sometimes they tell people Bahá’í’s blood is halal — kosher,” Keyvan expresses. “If you kill Bahá’ín people, they won’t kill you. Maybe you’d get jail for a short time.”
Hardship followed Keyvan even into the United States when he became ill from leukemia and had to undergo immediate surgery to save his life. When he woke up from a coma 25 days later, he found that he lost both his hands and his legs during the procedure.
Regardless of their nationalities or circumstances, all of these people were helped by White’s Chapel UMC. When the refugee from Africa had to meet with a government agency, Laura watched over her three children while they were waiting. The initiative also found a hotel for them to stay in. Meanwhile, some teachers will give some students rides to and from classes, including Keyvan.
Despite everything he’s lost, Laura says Keyvan feels nothing but gratitude.
“I asked him, ‘Why are you not unhappy?’” she recalls. “'Why are you not sad?’ He told me he was so thankful he lost just his hands and legs and not his eyes or his ears — so he could keep experiencing America for himself.”
For Ann, Laura and several others, they aren’t just providing transportation or education. They’re providing the opportunity to become Americans.
“The important thing here is showing these people that they are welcome here — that they belong,” Laura expresses. “This is a way of making community and helping people understand that we are all the same. We’re more than just listening to people read.”
Helping refugees realize their American dreams is what the initiative has done for the past five years. That is a mission they would like to keep doing too, but only as much as the state will allow them.
FINDING RESIDENCE
In September 2019, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring written consent to participate in the refugee resettlement program, giving states a choice to accept new refugees. While 40 state governors opted into the program, Gov. Abbott opted out, making Texas the first and only state to reject new refugees in 2020.
“Texas has carried more than its share in assisting the refugee resettlement process and appreciates that other states are available to help with these efforts,” Abbott remarked in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State.
A Maryland judge blocked the executive order a few days later, leaving the final decision up to the courts. If the judge’s ruling holds, then no changes are made to the program and approved refugees are admitted into the United States as usual. But if the president’s order is upheld, new refugees would not be admitted straight into Texas, although they could move into the state later on after initially settling somewhere else.
“The governor’s position concerns us,” Ann says. It’s not a concern for the initiative’s mission, she says, “but for the refugees who are en route or waiting in camps overseas, cleared for resettlement and about to land in a place that suddenly shut its doors.”
Ann says regardless, the White’s Chapel initiative will continue to operate within the law. There are still several refugees already here who need their help as well as those migrating from other states. The only impact the court battle may have is in the amount of people White’s Chapel might be able to help. And if Ann had her choice, she would try to help as many people as possible.
“These are not cave dwellers,” Ann expresses. “These are judges, lawyers, doctors, artisans, master cooks, seamstresses, translators. People from not only all over the world but all across all faiths, whether Islamic, Bahá’í, Christian, Jewish or Muslim. These are the people God called on us to serve.”
In serving them, Ann discovered an unexpected feeling when she started the initiative several years ago: fulfillment.
“When you are in the current of doing the right thing, there is no feeling like it,” Ann expresses. “The transformation that happens is life-changing. That is how we’re saved by those we have come to save. We have all found resonance and residence here.”
While the refugee initiative is always intent on helping others, sometimes they need help too. And everyone can be part of the initiative's relief efforts, whether it’s providing their time or contributing a donation. Volunteers and refugees alike have all found community in White’s Chapel UMC.