Refugee Ministry: Understanding Our Afghan Families

To date, Saint James has adopted two Afghan families:

Saint James established a relationship with Mohammad's family in July, 2022.  Mohammad (58), his wife Sohaila (50), and two daughters, Rana (21) and Sana (19), arrived in the U.S. in June of 2022 and settled in Manassas. Our Refugee Ministry Team has been very involved with this family, assisting with many needs for transportation, English language skills, educational opportunities and social/pastoral support. Mohammad and his family have been most receptive to our team, and have even come to Saint James to experience our worship with us. Mohammad's family is doing very well now, with the exception of missing Samim (25), left behind in Pakistan. Our team is actively engaged with exploring avenues for Samim to be reunited with his family.

Saint James joined three other local churches to assist with the resettlement of another Afghan family, Gran Agha (38), his wife Madana and their five young children, who chose to live in Stafford, VA. The needs of this family were great. Saint James assisted with food, clothing and household items, along with visitations to help children enroll in school, and assist Gran Agha to find employment. Sadly, Gran Agha experienced significant stress in trying to adapt to life in the U.S. and he has chosen to move his family from the area. Our multi-church ministry has attempted to maintain ties with Gran with limited success. Our most recent information is that Gran chose to take his family to Pakistan. We continue to pray for this family.

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