This is My Story:
Migration Storytelling Project
The “This is My Story” Project is dedicated to sharing stories about migration. This space is created to honor the stories of those with personal migration stories and those who have been blessed by people on the move—whether that migration is national or international, voluntary or involuntary. As Christians, we hope these stories will grow our empathy, awareness, and understanding of global migration, and what the Bible says about migration and loving people on the move.
The “This is My Story” Project is part of the Reformed Church in America Refugee Care Ministries.
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Jael
Jael's husband was detained by immigration just a few weeks after their wedding. Her husband is still detained nearly two years later. It hasn't been easy. And yet Jael can see God at work.
Read Jael's storyRebecca
Rebecca, one of the Sudanese lost girls, shares what it was like to come as a refugee to the U.S. after fleeing the Sudanese Civil War.
Read Rebecca's storyMuang
Muang is an 11-year-old in Myanmar. When violence broke out in his village in 2012, he and his family had to flee and leave everything behind.
Read Muang's storyEddy
I was born in Managua, Nicaragua, in February of 1971. Nicaragua had gone through many years of political and civil unrest...
Read Eddy's storyMarco
Growing up in Guatemala, Marco barely had enough to eat. He dreamed of a life in America like he saw in movies. So when he heard work visas were available for farm workers in the U.S. and Canada, he was determined to obtain one.
Read Marco's storyWendy
Over the last 4 years my life has been richly blessed by relationships with refugees and asylum seekers. As a result...
Read Wendy's storyGael
It still feels like it was yesterday, but it’s been 10 years since my family came to this country (the U.S.) as refugees...
Read Gael's storyRev. Jack
My mother used to invite everyone into the house, "Strays", my dad called them. People stuck on the road out front, exchange students...
Hear Rev Jack's storyJessica
All I knew about people from the Middle East or Muslims for that matter was what I saw on TV. Which did not paint a flattering picture, a lot of violence...
Read Jessica's storySophia
I’ve wondered a lot about the life of my friend, Z, when she was my age (14)–before the war broke out in Syria, so I drew this picture...
See Sophia's storyTim
I decided to share this poem because I’ve found that few people understand how complicated it is to live, work, and worship...
See Tim's storyAmal and Adam
Our story is very similar to the stories of people who have endured the disasters of wars. In the war we lost many blessings...
Read Amal and Adam's StorySam
Sam is a Quaker who lives in Hull. He was part of a Churches Together in Britain and Ireland delegation that visited migrant and refugee programs of Mediterranean Hope and the Waldensian Church of Italy in Lampedusa and Sicily in April 2017.
See Sam's storyAgshin
I was born (in mid-seventies) in a nation that does not exist anymore—Soviet Union. Nowadays I'm a citizen of Azerbaijan but I have lived in the United States for the last fifteen years.
See Agshin's storyEliza
I was waiting patiently for the plane to de-board and had turned my phone back on to check for messages. I had just landed in Wichita, KS, for work, and the clear blue sky and open plains were visible from almost every window.
See Eliza's storyHannah
These prints are meant to function as simple and symbolic visual reminders. To keep something in the home as an image to signal solidarity and intercession.
See Hannah's storyBlaine
Spending time with refugees often reminds me that those who live on the margins wrestle with questions in ways I am not familiar. Take the COVID-19 pandemic as an example.
See Blaine's storyA
The world is full of people who will take a glance at me, hear my accent, and assume they know who I am or mark me as an “illegal immigrant,” as if that is all I am.
See A's storyKristin
It was a cold day in November. Pastor Brian received a phone call from a member of our congregation, wondering if he would be willing to make a pastoral call to a young Hispanic woman living in a nearby town. Brian shared this call with the staff at our Thursday morning prayer time.
See Kristin's storyB
On the 29 of June 2017 at 2:00 a.m., 20 or more men entered my home to kidnap my family. These men don’t care if you are young or old. They didn’t care that my little sisters and stepsister were crying in fear.
See B's storySandy
Sandy came to New Jersey from Aleppo in northern Syria, a battleground between the government’s army and the Islamic State. Before she left, Sandy would wonder when leaving her house if she would ever come back.
See Sandy's storyGerri
Gerri Yoshida was born in the United States, but as an Asian American, she has also experienced racism and bullying that many immigrants encounter. She explains why she still has hope for reconciliation and healing.
See Gerri's storySusan
Susan, a palliative care chaplain, offered to donate her kidney to a woman who suffered kidney failure in a refugee camp. She heard about the woman, who was rushed to the United States for treatment, in her church bulletin. She turned out to be the only one who stepped forward.
See Susan's storyPravena
I’m a senior at Western Michigan majoring in aerospace engineering and I’m from Malaysia. Lived in Malaysia all my life until I moved to the States in 2019 to further my studies...
See Pravena's storyClare
Clare, who is 14 years old, reflects on the patience and hard work it took her family to immigrate from the Philippines to America. It wasn't easy, but they never gave up.
Read Clare's storyEduardo
My parents made the bold and life-altering decision to move from their home in Mexico to build a new life in the United States...
Read Eduardo's storySegasinde Family
On behalf of the family of Jean and Louise, we want to express our sincere appreciation for the kindness and love Fifth Reformed Church has extended ...
Read their letterChelsea
Chelsea serves as Minister of Word and Sacrament at Fairview Reformed Church in Fairview, Illinois. She and her family previously served as missionaries with RCA Global Mission in Romania.
Read Chelsea's storyWill
A team from West Michigan visited Sacred Heart Church, in El Paso, Texas, in May 2023, and saw dozens of guests standing around, many of them with their papers in hand. They were waiting for family and friends to send them money or tickets so they could be reunited with their loved ones.
Read Will's storyMigration stories from around the web
Valerie
Valerie took in two undocumented children as her own because her faith calls her to radical hospitality.
Read Valerie's storyLynn
Amid a tide of AAPI hate, Lynn reflects on how she was shaped by her experiences growing up in a community of Asian immigrants to the U.S.
Read Lynn's storyJP
JP voted for the first time as a U.S. citizen in 2016. He shares what voting as an American citizen for the first time was like and reflects on what it meant to him.
See JP's storyA refugee agency rebuilds its pipeline after Trump: ‘We’re starting from scratch’
Hollowed out by four years of drastic cuts to the number of refugees allowed into the country, the faith-based agencies that resettle families in the U.S. are gearing back up.
Read Bethany's storyAbdul
in the name of God, Hello everyone this is Abdul from Afghanistan. Unfortunately, an unbelievable tragedy happened in Afghanistan...
Watch Abdul's storyTom
Tom reflects on the nature and mission of the church following his experience engaging with and advocating for Syrian Orthodox refugees in the Netherlands.
Read Tom's storyEncountering Grace at the Border and Finding a Home
Ask Pastor Samuel Lopez how he was inspired to transform his little church...
Read Samuel's storyYour story matters.
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