Many of us have spent time yearning during this pandemic and period of hyper-partisan bickering.
Churches, for instance, have been yearning for certain countries, and I’m not naming names here, to stop invading their neighbors. A non-profit in Dallas that’s still working with refugees because of the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan is now starting to receive refugees from Ukraine.
At Gateway of Grace Ministries in Dallas, the chief operating officer explains the resettlement process might be a bit easier because many Ukrainians speak English and are coming to an area that already has a large Ukrainian population.
At Gateway of Grace, Dennis Page says Texas is getting so many refugees because DFW Airport has so many international connections, so it’s easy to send people here and then connect them with fellow immigrants already living here to help them get settled.
He said their greatest need is people who can teach English as a second language.
“It’s possible I minored in German in college for some reason,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders to convey that, while I did learn how to annex Poland, that may not help people coming from Afghanistan or Ukraine.
He said learning to teach English as a second language was quick, though, explaining we already know the source material. Page must not be spending much time on social media. If so, he’d see many native English speakers do not, technically, have a strong command of the English language.
While I was questioning whether he needed people who know the difference between “virtual” and “viral,” his wife had started teaching me Arabic. She wrote my name on a marker board in the conference room where we were talking.
Page explains their need has grown with more refugees expected in DFW this year, but he suspects Americans will do what Americans doggone do best: Step up when people need help. [It’s possible he did not use the term, “doggone.”]
It’s great we’ve been able to set politics aside to help those who need it, but it turns out Putin is also setting politics aside. Russia had been holding a Granbury resident prisoner since 2019.
When the U.S. and Russia agreed to the prisoner swap, reporters all headed to Granbury to shove microphones in the face of Trevor Reed’s parents.
At one point, they even kept the president on hold while they were talking to their son. I feel like many of us, if we saw “White House Situation Room” pop up on caller ID, we’d just assume it was Lloyd Austin trying to sell us an extended warranty.
They explained they were thankful both Republicans and Democrats were working together to get their son released, saying their Congressman, Republican August Pfluger, their Senator, Republican John Cornyn, and President, Democrat Joe Biden, all worked together on the deal.
Apparently, no one even asked their son if he was Republican or Democrat before he was captured!
In a world where knowledge and medicine have somehow become partisan issues, maybe [just maybe] we can still agree on a couple things: Even other Russians are not particularly pleased about this invasion of Ukraine and Americans are outstanding. Just outstanding.
