ADAPTINGTO CHANGE“Intelligenceis the ability toadapt to change.”16 | fmhmissions.com
International Friends A Refugee and Immigrant Ministryof First Methodist helping families seek refuge, find peace,friendship, and a new home.If someone dared me to try and match wits withthe world-renowned theoretical physicist StephenHawking, I would run for the hills! Not many on thisearth stand a chance when going toe-to-toe with thisgifted individual of astonishing IQ. For this reason,(among many) it is easy to agree with his thoughtson intelligence; “Intelligence is the ability to adaptto change”.I cannot think of a year more ideal than 2020to challenge our individual and collective levels ofintelligence. We have all been put to the test and Imust say, when reflecting upon the accomplishmentsof the International Friends ministry, we haveemerged stronger, more creative, and capable thanever before.At the beginning of the year, we had drawn upbeautiful plans for our refugee families includingexciting summer field trips, Vacation Bible School,Quillian summer camp, among other activities andevents. Our Ministry team was geared up and readyto charge into 2020. However, as the entire globalcommunity slowed down to show deference to publichealth during the pandemic our “Intelligence” asHawking describes it, was put to the test. Innovationand adaptation were no longer just buzz words butrather, essential to continue the good work of ourbeloved ministry. Praying and listening to the Spiritfor guidance during this time of uncertaintybecame crucial.When we could no longer meet in person,we tested our ingenuity to go virtual. We soondiscovered that the ability to connect online allowedus to expand our reach, accessibility, and in manycases, quality of personalized time together. Ourvolunteers were able to allot more time towardsindividualized tutoring sessions and met the newway in which we connected with increaseddedication and commitment towards the educationalgoals of our students. Many of our volunteers arenow able to meet multiple times a week with theirstudents and have adapted their schedules to fit theneeds of the kids and their families. This increasedinteraction and frequency has shown great results.In fact, one of our students who recently enteredcollege is proud to report all A’s during her very firstsemester! This is what we strive to accomplish. Theability to assist these rising stars in achieving theirgoals.Going virtual was a great hit, but nothing canreplace face-to-face interaction! Once again, we puton our thinking caps and got creative. Earlier thissummer we celebrated the high school graduationof four ecstatic students. Ministry leaders organizeda socially distanced outdoor picnic which includedballoons, celebratory cupcakes, sparkling juice, andother fun treats while they opened gifts and talkedabout their bright future. These graduates have seta strong example for their watchful middle-schoolsisters who joined in the celebration and talkedabout how they couldn’t wait until it was their turn tograduate high school and have a picnic in their honortoo! Our volunteers were quick to assist with thenext steps of helping the girls apply for college andfinancial aid. We are thrilled to report that all four ofthe high school graduates have successfully beguncommunity college full time this fall and are planningto become nurses.Life never goes as planned, and if StephenHawking was right about intelligence being “theability to adapt to change” then we can all say we’vegained a few extra IQ points and have come out ofthis year as “smarter cookies” than we were before.Central to this year’s success was our loving andencouraging God. He has been present every stepof the way. We have seen His hand in ways we havenever imagined. We hold on to His promise that Hewill never forsake us, and trust that what is yet tocome is more exciting than anything we have everexperienced before.Yesly Antu, Outreach Ministry CoordinatorAshley Scott, International Friends VolunteerMISSIONS IMPACT REPORT | 17
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