MEET OUR SPRING INTERN Elizabeth Brown!

I am from Texas, where I was born and raised. I received my Bachelor’s in Social Work from the University of Texas where I am also currently working on my Master’s in Social Work. I am in my last semester of graduate school and excited about the future. Right now I am interning with African Leadership. I chose to work with this organization because I wanted to make a difference. I have always been interested in missions work overseas and thought this would be a great opportunity to start towards that goal. While working here, I hope to gain a better understanding of working with refugees and working with volunteers. In my free time, I enjoy watching sports, particularly football and watching the University of Texas Longhorns! I also enjoy shopping, going to see my favorite bands, and hanging out with family and friends. I have only been in Nashville about 2 and a half weeks but I am already loving it! I love the community of the people in Nashville and how everyone seems to be connected in some way.

NEW WEBSITE!

The African Leadership Refugee Ministry got a new website and it's really cool and exciting for us to be able to reach as many people as we can and let them know of the different opportunities available in their midst to serve Africans. So please visit it and spread the news
http://www.refugee-ministry.com

Pray for our Haitian Families.

I hope that all is well with you on this great Saturday morning/afternoon. If you have watched TV this week, or opened your internet or turned on your car stereo or just simply live on the surface of this earth, you would happen to know or heard the disaster going on in Haiti. If you have tutored at our center or volunteered with our summer programs you have met Chelsea and sometime she brings along her cousins. Chelsea's family are refugees from Haiti, our director, William paid them a visit yesterday to check on how they were doing. Unfortunately, they told us that there is so much they don't know at the moment since the means of communication are at their worst, but they know that there are 10 members of their families missing. And am sure when the chaos reduced they'll know more of what's going on with their families that were left in Haiti.
Please pray for these two families, there is nothing devastating as knowing that your family is in trouble and your are too far to do anything to help, there is nothing devastating as the feeling one feels wishing they were there with their families.
We'll keep you updated as we find out more of what's going on with Chelsea's family, for now, all we can do is pray for God's protection to those in Haiti and a peace of mind that surpasses all understanding for the family members on this end.

Thank you so much for your support.

2010 Volunteer/Intern Guidelines

AFRICAN LEADERSHIP-REFUGEE MINISTRY

2010 VOLUNTEER/ INTERN GUIDELINES

Our mission:

         African Leadership-Refugee Ministry serves the African immigrant and refugee population in Middle Tennessee through several different services. Our mission is to provide biblical hope and healing and equip this marginalized population to become self-reliant in their newfound home and better citizens for their new society.

High School Volunteers:

If you are a high school volunteer and you are fulfilling your community hours required by school, this is the place to be. There are several programs for you to be involved in with just giving 2 hours of your time once a week. However, we’ll require a semester’s commitment and an early notice if you are not going to make it on the day you are scheduled to be there. We know that as a student yourself, you have other priorities to take care of.

On top of showing up on time, each high school volunteer will have a sign-in sheet that will indicate the hours you have participated in our programs. Our volunteer coordinator will inform you of where to find these forms once you are at our location.

General Volunteers

We are very thankful that you have chosen to serve the kingdom by sharing the love of Christ with those that we serve.

Qualifications: Available for a set of schedule per week, with a minimum of 2 hours per week or one day per week for a whole school semester. Must possess good people skills, must be flexible, self-starter, and must be reliable. Creativity is always a plus. Must enjoy promoting the works of African Leadership-Refugee Ministry.

Job Description: Our ministry runs on the support of our volunteers. Without volunteers this ministry will not exist. We kindly ask that you let the volunteer coordinator and the director know of any plans you would like to make with those that we serve or any changes you would like to see in our programs. We welcome all the ideas because we know that there is power through partnerships and as the saying goes, two heads are better than one.

Internship Opportunity:

If you were looking for a school internships opportunity, we would be more than happy to provide the opportunity for you, however, your internship would be unpaid. Your responsibilities will be according to when you want to do your internship as our programs change according to the school calendar. This would be ideal for those majoring in social sciences or interested in international communities.

Qualifications: Available for a set of schedule per week for a whole school semester with a minimum of 10-15 hours per week. Must possess good people skills, flexible, self-starter, and must be reliable. Creativity is always a plus. Must enjoy promoting the works of African Leadership-Refugee Ministry.

Fall/Spring Interns:

Job Description: Fall/Spring interns will work in conjunction with the Volunteer/Program coordinator and the Director, recruiting and maintaining volunteers. Will help maintain the weekly communications with the volunteers. Will help organize and maintain the After school program and other educational program.

Summer Interns:

Job Description: Summer interns will work in conjunction with the Volunteer & Program coordinator and Director to create and maintain summer programs; VBS, Recreational and Educational programs. The summer intern will also help with the annual back-to-school drive.

Thank you so much for your willingness to serve the kingdom.

PS: Job Descriptions are subject to change according to the needs of the ministry.

Spring 2010 Calendar

I hope that you are all keeping warm, I feel like Nashville has been dislocated to the North and I didn't get a memo. Pray for those of us with African blood cause we'll definitely have hard time staying warm, unless it's 70 degrees outside:)
We are in the midst of building a new website for our ministry, this is very exciting because it will be so much easier to spread the stories of God's grace and to let people know how they can help. So be on the look, we hope to launch it at the end of this month. The address will be www.refugee-ministry.com

As we start this year, I would like to let you know of the changes that have been made to our program, as we try to improve our current programs and implement new ones. Things have not started moving in full swing yet as schools have been closed and the weather has not been friendly at all. Our hours of after school program are still the same this semester with a few programs added on:
Tuesdays-Thursdays 3:30pm-5:30pm (Tutoring)

Thursdays 5:30pm-6:30pm (Computer training for high school students) We are in great need of volunteers for this program as this is very crucial for their educational success as they are starting to do a lot of computer projects.
These are the dates that the public schools will be closed, and on the day they are closed our programs will not be meeting:
January 18th: MLK's Day
February 15th: Teacher's day
March 12th-19th: Spring Break

We are in the midst of adding on new programs to our ministry and we would let you know as soon as possible. Please keep checking for this summer and spring activities as well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR OF 2010

I hope that you have had a great holiday season. The holiday season here at African Leadership Refugee Ministry was filled with joyous moments and unforgettable memories were created and we are forever grateful for those that participated. This holiday season over 500 Christmas presents were distributed to different African Refugee individuals and families, regardless how cold the days were, it was truly a joy filled holiday season.

On top of presents, something extra cool took place at our training center on the eve of Christmas! Santa came to visit with the refugee children. This is a moment that I don't think I would do justice if I try to explain how joyous it was to see the children's eyes light up when Santa came to the center. It was absolutely amazing. It is still the talk of the town. We are forever grateful to Josephine and John Darwin for organizing the event.


Our after school program is starting back this week, our tutoring will start tomorrow at our regular hours 3:30pm-5:30pm if schools don't close due to the cold weather.


Stay tuned for an update on this year's programs.