Episode 4: Hope for the Refugees - Part 2 of 2

This is Part-2 of "Hope for the Refugees".  In this episode we will hear from Denise and David Johnson, Founders of H4OPE non-profit organization as they describe their life-changing journey of helping the Houston-area refugees, the joy they receive, and how YOU too can get involved!   Check out their website at H4OPE.org!

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Transcript

here's what happened in previous episode I can now do ministry full-time which is such a huge blessing because it's really it's really what I'm called to do right now in my life you're a not-for-profit organization everybody wants to say hope for hope so it's hope for the oppressed the poor and the encumbered and I guess after so many years of just living life here I never even thought that we even have refugees this was the Burmese community that almost all of the Burmese children um are born in the refugee camp the culture that they know is Refugee yes camps yes they don't even know what life is like not in a refugee camp so you also work with the Afghan Community yes and recently I found out that there are 26 apartment complex in Houston alone that houses all these Afghans we still have some coming in today and those are the ones that work for the United States Army that weren't able to escape but the United States have been taking them a few at a time have to leave their country with their literally shirts on their back yes it appears that they don't normally value education especially for girls the first time they've ever ever those kids have been in the house it blew their minds because they've never been a house they're like this is the first time I've ever seen a house at least one of them went in our house and said is this a furniture they ask if our house was a furniture store our goal is to assimilate the refugees into our community so with the Burmese what I saw was the older children would finish high school they would get the same assembly line jobs as their parents and then they would just move next door poverty just recycles from generation to generation at this point and then it's harder for them to learn English to now try to get a career or do something different so that's why I decided I'm going to start with the children because they are our future generation and they're going to be the ones to get their parents and them and then their children out of poverty the the experiences that you provide for them you also I think provide them English classes right so we teach them English education to me is a ticket to freedom in America we provide back new backpacks shoes and school supplies for them every year and I want them to feel proud when they go to school that they actually have something that represents who they are those kids know that we love them yes they do know they do know yeah

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David is the hugger every kid when they see her boys and girls he doesn't keep class rules as much but he's a bugger and they just love love hugging on you and you're so tall they're just like climb on you like a a jungle gym I call him the human jungle gym do you know they do they love Mr David so you know you know you talked about um movies for everyone Korean barbecue backpacks and shoes and every week you go to to see them every week and in clothing furniture and all this stuff surely they don't all come out of your garage what do you support and sustain um this and and you do this every day every week how do you support and sustain this ministry I will say that I have been amazingly blessed by so many generous donors um I get donations randomly throughout the year every year for my birthday I instead of asking for gifts I always ask for donations at this stage in my life I don't need any more stuff so donating to my Charities the greatest gift you can give me because it allows me to give to these kids and I want to interject because I do know you personally to the point when your father recently passed away he asked for they asked for donations to your charity because my dad asked me before he passed yeah because he knew that I was helping the refugees and because we were refugees he knew that that would help yes and so um we all felt like flowers will die and it doesn't give back and so they my mom and my dad had decided before my dad passed that that's what they had wanted so they didn't want flowers they want things that happened during this because they were refugees too because they were refugees too yes wow

all right so since you're on donations it's not just money right it's close it's furniture and everything I mean toys and everything everything now that leads me to um the question so behind the scenes um I know people are donating you said random donations so do stuff to show up at your door are they all in good conditions are they ready to be packaged up and give what do you what else do you have to do to them so um it's experience over time right you ask for donation but if you don't say anything you get all kinds of things you get furniture with holes in them you're barely holding together yes they Rock they rickety um you get dirty stained clothes you get half used tube of toothpaste you get hair brushes filled with hair you get all kinds of things so now I have to be very specific in asking um because I I do want to share with the with you like we live in a house and we have washing we have a washing and drying machine right there so we just throw everything in the washing machine and then it's all done right there but for them it is so much hardship for them to have to go to the washing machine to do this and a lot of times the washing machines in these apartment complexes are filled with mold and mildew it is filthy and then for the Afghans when they have families of 8 or 13 the the washing machines that's provided there doesn't help so they actually have to put everything up in one those big black trash bags and take them to a uh Washateria to wash it in those big commercial size so you see these kids wear the same tops and bottom for days the same one so the parents don't have to spend so much time washing their clothes not to mention the cost of soap and all the coins that is required for them to wash so I've been asking people to please wash the clothes before you make the donation yeah um because even though I have a washing machine I don't have the capacity to wash all of the donated clothes before we send them out either yes full-time wash person yes and on the furniture side of that equation yes when we get things that are in bad native repair we can't hand that to them they don't they don't have tools right they don't have any ways I have tools and can fix stuff but that takes time so behind the scenes I know that you are like handyman computer fixer bike fixer what else do you fix uh carpet washer heavy Furniture mover deliveries and then it's all the rugs that we we get we make sure that they're clean because I always think that if you're gonna donate something you need to donate it where you yourself would want to use it right that's how I look at it I don't look at it as they're refugees just give them whatever um they're humans just like yes they are and so I want to give them things that I would wear I would use in my own home in a condition that I would be willing to to desire to have in my home yes so be proud to use that yes because they're humans and be comfortable with it too so um every rug we roll them out we'll vacuum them if they're dirty he'll shampoo them and then we have to let it lay on our driveway to get the sun to dry and hopefully it doesn't rain and yes yes it has rained on nothing

um and then I do check out the clothes to make sure that we're not giving them you know inappropriate clothing like is there a cultural yes they're culturally very conservative for the both of them the Burmese and the Burmese less so yes but even still they prefer to be more covered up yes unfortunately a lot of a lot of the current fashion especially for girls are very revealing yes so it's yeah that's an absolute No-No in the Afghan community and I don't think that the Burmese cared as much but as as our kids in that Community have gotten older and older now there's some there's some teenagers they are actually choosing to be more modest that's good and and with all of that what do you think are the biggest challenges you face in your ministry work um whether it's with the with the Afghans or the Burmese what are the biggest challenges you face to do the work that you want to do or like to do we need more volunteers because there's just me so um I will say that I have been

so grateful for the volunteers that I do get like if we have a function I am never short of volunteers people will show up and help with whatever event I have but to get committed volunteers that is that are willing to go every single week to help you that is difficult to get because you know we all have lives and we have families and we have jobs so to be committed to give time every single week consistently it's difficult it's really hard when when adults have children themselves and we went through this but our kids they're grown and have their own lives now so we have the capacity to do that because we totally understand when people have kids at home sure that has to be their first four full-time jobs or yes yeah we're so grateful for you well this is because you I'm hearing your stories um previously to this podcast and just felt so moved by what you guys do and what and they have visited had the opportunity to go on field trips with them and seeing the kids and just they they're so appreciate I mean everything is all in Wonder and it's it's it's a huge blessing to you to get to love on those kids because they just soak it up and they love me back right away they they write me love notes and stuff so so it's that's what you know keeps all of us going right so yes no so yeah um I wanted to just you know you guys we've been focusing on the refugees and just really want to know from your perspective um what are some of your most memorable experiences through through all of this because I've I've talked to you lots and I've heard some um stories and and you know just some of them are just like how do you even um yeah so what are some memorable experiences whether it's it's good or um challenging but memorable nevertheless oh maybe what each

I will say that you know the Burmese have been mild mannered people so um I from my conduct perspective I don't have a huge issue with them so I'll share one memorable moment for me when I first started at the Burmese I was still have I still had a job and my job in the executive role the days are very very stressful some days are very stressful um so at that time I was buying the shoes personally and they have very wide feet and finding why I choose is very difficult so um I would buy all the shoes we would all go get them fitted and then they wouldn't fit so I'd have to go back and exchange them and bring them back and then if they still don't fit so I have to go and so sometimes I'll have to run to the store like five times just to get everybody fit in for a pair of shoes I'm very grateful for this organization first blessing that brings a ton of shoes out now but before it was just me running back and forth and I remember this is my third run and um I was very stressed from work that day and I'm I'm at that time my job was uh is in California so they are on Pacific Time so five o'clock here is still only three o'clock there and it's time for me to go to see the kids and I have I this is my third Run for the shoes and I was so stressed and frustrated just thinking oh gosh this this ministry is wearing on me because I have my job and that's my current responsibility to my boss and I have all these problems and so I went I would say I went that evening very frustrated probably a little bit of a bad attitude almost like it's a burden yeah right because of the level of stress I was under I'll try not to cry and I so I show up and I have this one little girl and it was for her and she took the shoes that I was bringing for her she hugged it and she was so happy because she said this is her first pair of shoes ever because this whole time she's been wearing her Grandma's shoes and her shoes were so big it would go all the way out to here yes the whole time I saw that and I just thought she's just grabbing whatever shoes not that she didn't have shoes but she hugged it so tight she's like this is my very first pair of shoes I've ever owned and I just thought uh my bad attitude went away and whether we yes it really put things in our perspective wow thank you for sharing that you're welcome do we have clinics now when I think about those moments where just what a difference you make in these children's lives and those little things you don't you say you don't have to donate big money yes but even or any money or any money even your daughter's hand-me-down shoes is so fashionable and new and their only first pair of shoes little things little things it's so it's so little and it makes such a difference in these people's lives that it's a it it really touches you and it makes you realize how blessed you are and how much we take for granted every little things we have here are little things yes it makes me so grateful just for the lives that we have here yeah thank you for sharing that you're welcome and David I want to not gonna try to make you cry either but what are some of your memorable moments [Applause] even working with the Burmese for eight years so

and there's a core group of kids from when we started eight years ago that are still here so they're like our second set of kids and so we've been watching them grow through elementary school and middle school and so now some of them are in high school and it's just it's been awesome watching them some weeks it's just repetitive scarf and but you still get to interact with them but then you do some things like the summer water balloon fight which is just complete chaos and you just get to see them all having so much fun that you don't get to see in the daily or the weekly interactions with them uh and those are just those are a huge blessing yes yes yeah and and just you know this weekend this past weekend when you brought the girls and I was able to tag along some of the girls to enjoy a meal out and they actually have to use fork and knife and not straight with her hands in and go to an ice cream store and and dressed up all pink for Barbie themed and just seeing them um and even during that trip I've seen some of the girls started out very stoic yeah stoic I do too right yes and at the end they hug and then they and you hear that thank you Miss Lily you can hear that they truly were were touched by the experience and and for them to say thank you in that in that little low voice not the you know usual thank you you know Mr nice but in that in that little voice you just felt like you know that they they were touched yes um anyways I'm it's all the moments are memorable because it is so unlike the lives we live and right and it's it's so hard to pick one it is so hard to pick one we could be here we have a whole podcast just on the yes memorable experiences I would I would throw in the Christmas party with with the Burmese as well because for most of them it's the only Christmas present they get it's not just the only Christmas present it's the only

birthday presents no they get not they get no gifts so so that's the only gift they get all year and they get some good gifts too so we have the most generous donors I just can't even begin to express how grateful I am yeah you didn't even explain the whole Christmas party process with the Birmingham yes so because they because they don't get gifts they get to do a wish list and they get to list three items on their wish list and then we match them up with a volunteer and we have we have families adopt these kids for Christmas and so they can buy one two or all three items that are listed and then they actually get to bring them to the apartment complex and meet the children and hand it to the children and the Burmese are just so reserved so they don't they're not as expressive but you know when they go home they're so happy because it's the only gift they've ever received especially the first year they were besides themselves they were so excited and just to see their faces light up when they see it even though they're reserved you could just tell like at the Moms come afterwards they're crying they're like thank you so much for loving my kids and I get so many moms come crying after the party is over just to see how much we love their kids to build provide for them something they can personally can never provide for their children yes and I think that I think maybe the um maybe this is my impression after the party when they see it's not just David and Denise love them it's all these people they see that there's actually a whole bunch of people who sponsor their gifts and whatnot or volunteers to come out with a to to help with the party that Love's on them that they if they're not so alone yes they're very touched at how much the community pours into their children yeah and we'll have some of the donors for that party they'll adopt the same kids year after year after year so they get to see the children grow up and then a lot of the donors have started providing uh food like rice oil salt and things like that for the families and they uh help the children bring these things home so they they can see meet the family and see how they live and um I have a lot of refugee like people like me that were once refugees and I think it's been a while since we're refugees so we forget how difficult it is and I've had people who are like oh yeah I'm a refugee I'm like okay well thanks for donating this can you deliver it for me so they will deliver it and they walk into the apartment and they see how these people live a little flashback you know and they just break down and cry even men grown men have broken down and cried just watching the circumstances of the condition in which these apartment complex units are like and so then they start wanting to donate more because they now see how difficult it is and the living condition these people are in right because we forget and we haven't really described those conditions we've said they live in apartments which is a huge step up from where they were why did you describe it but I mean it's you know it's not like going and renting a western-style apartment they are but they're really really old they're very run down they're often have issues with mold they always have issues with roaches and they're they're never clean the only time they're ever clean is when a family moves into one that they have just renovated um and that's probably why they become a a refugee complex right because they get government governments pay for assistance yes otherwise they may not even get no they wouldn't they wouldn't qualify yes they don't have jobs most of the time right so um that's why they have to move into government assisted um and then these apartments don't don't upkeep as well because they don't they get government assistance funding yes and they also know that these people don't speak English so they can't say anything it's another difficult remember they're humans yes it's another difficulty I face because I I see how poorly they're treated but I can't say anything because if I say something they'll get kicked out of their complex yeah we don't want that too no I don't want the formula so I can't even complain on their behalf because it's but it I mean the kitchen counters are caving in like this because there's a Plumbing Leak and they won't come replace it I see wall ceilings breaking through because of roof leagues they won't come fix it they just keep letting them live like that um it's not good what gave you all this capacity to love like this

when you for yourself what it's like when you show up to see this right it's just it it really tugs on your heart and my for me personally my deep compassion to see these kids thrive in this community I want to see them get out of poverty get their families out of proper poverty and live a productive life in America and um and know what it's like not to live on welfare and to enjoy the things that are out there there are so many things they don't know list last summer we also took some kids to a church Beach Retreat it was the first time they'd ever walk on sand sand and then when we took them downtown to eat at the Korean barbecue it was the first time they'd ever seen those big buildings downtown they've never seen they were like oh wow the high-rise building the high-rise buildings actually like and they were excited to see the bathroom hand dryer Oh yes most of them they think it's magic water when it's the hand sensor water they think it's magic water yes and then the hand dryer goes off they were like ecstatic and yeah yeah it's all new yes it's all new and but they don't know what they're missing until you show it to them and that's what gives them the aspiration so when you when you give love and you see see the all and wonder that they have and see that they can potentially Aspire yes for more and then you you get that as a motivation to keep going is that it propels you like that it does and um I guess my biggest thing is just I really would like to break the poverty cycle in these families just I mean it broke my heart to see the oldest son graduating from high school and just read just doing whatever his parents is doing no not better there's no no improvement there's just but they don't you don't know what you don't know yeah at the end of the day right um so we talk about a lot about that going to college versus not going to college making ten dollars an hour versus thirty dollars an hour who'd want to make ten dollars work in one hour versus working one hour and getting 30 40 50 an hour like it's just such a huge difference in your lifestyle what you can do with your life by having that even if they don't go to college I told them just to get that additional education After High School yes so in their mind they now know you have to go to college and so we took a few to Baylor where our kids went to school just for them to see what college looks like because they understood the word college but they didn't understand what that meant it's just a word it's just a word wow it's a big big school yeah so pretty wow so um have you had kids that have moved on to out of high school yet have you been with the community line enough to see the oldest kid I have is going in the 10th grade and sadly she just moved to Minnesota oh yes well hopefully you still can connect to see yes her sister is still here so yes and I'm friends with her on Facebook so she still messages me when she needs something so how about you David what what um what gives what motivates you to to just are you kidding the the love I get from these kids is more than enough it fuels it fuels they do you can you can go and sometimes you're just exhausted when you're when you're doing this and then those kids start loving on you and you just it melts away you should see you should see you should see when when they pull up um there's already a little Entourage they they're waiting for your car they know your car and they're waiting and they they just run they just run for hugs and then when they're ready to leave and there's an Entourage running behind the Cars and sometimes there's even maybe stowaways that just want to go home with you yes um and and that does that does give you a lot of um affirmation that what you're doing they're receiving yes so as we wrap up this this there we could go for like six part part six to this um what do you want our audience whether they're watching us or they're listening to the podcast what's one or two key points that you really want them to if they didn't hear anything else that you really want them to hear from your stories for me I just want the the public to be aware that we do have refugees that are here and their life circumstances are not what they asked um it's not something they did to themselves it's just a a situation that was put upon them because of where they originally lived or um where they're from just the persecution that they were there and that they are here legally and they do need help um in order for America to do well we have to help these refugees assimilate because they whether you help them or ignore them they are there and they these children are the future of America and so together we can help them assimilate to make America better when they're so young it's better for us to teach them the proper etiquette the proper ways to behave in America how to navigate this country and how to navigate and how to be a productive citizen in this country or to keep living off of us taxpayers right and I I don't think anybody wants these refugees to live off of our tax tax dollars so just a little bit of volunteer time a little donation can go can go such a long way to making a difference to these refugees lives yes how about you David um what I would say is anybody that actually wants to give back to their Community but they're afraid to there's nothing to be afraid of these whether it's the Burmese or the Afghans who are all they're all Muslim there's nothing to be afraid of these people will all love you and well they welcome every single volunteer who's ever come with us and I I'll be I will testify to that um I guess it's been about a year since I've kind of got kind of dip my toes into into helping your organization volunteering with your organization and I knew nothing I really didn't know the the Muslim culture I really didn't know anything about refugees and I was you probably could tell my sense of uh um nervousness nervousness it's like what do I do what do I do um but yes they immediately they seem to like know okay you're here to help me and I'm gonna let you okay and I'll let you and then I will love you for it and it that's what keeps us going back and but I will say um really you guys have inspired my husband and I to go back week after week as well because um a we you model it for us we can see that what you do really do impact them and that they love you back so then we are not afraid to try yes right so and and I think it's important for this podcast asking for you all to hear the stories because it's not scary they're nice people and they really truly need the help in every little bit um even just spending time because they're lonely yes they left everything that they have they're lonely in in the community they have are all um Refugee community and sometimes they just need people who don't also have problems um to talk to and the more Americans they get to interact with yes the easier it is for them to assimilate yeah so we go and we say hello how are you and we don't you know and and ask them to say it back um just all part of welcoming them to our community and and be part and partaking part of our community well thank you guys so much for joining our podcast and sharing so openly and vulnerably and we hope that everyone who's been watching maybe you can find a way um that you can participate uh in helping whether it's the refugees or any other needs again there's probably more stuff in your house that you need so maybe look around your house maybe there's something that you don't need anymore but it'd be a treasure for them so thank you for coming and we'll see y'all next time bye bye thanks for having us and that brings us to the end of another exciting episode of hello world please support our podcast by hitting the Subscribe button also don't forget to smash that like your likes will help our podcast reach more awesome people like you lastly tap that notification Bell to receive instant alert whenever we drop in a new episode we can't wait to see you again on our next episode until then keep on being a positive force in this world