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New Life Community Center
- a ministry to KaRen refugees Starfish Ministries is working to provide assistance to KaRen refugees, some of the the newest refugees arriving in Minnesota. The KaRen are an indigenous group who live primarily in the mountainous regions of Burma, now known as Mynmar, where they are the second-largest ethnic group in the country. The military government is trying to eradicate the people and their culture. They began arriving in large numbers in 2007 and the numbers continue to grow. Because they come from an agrarian society, the are ill equipped for employment in this country. And, since many of them have been hiding in Mynmar or living in refugee camps in Thailand for decades, they are often illiterate in their own language which makes learning English that much more challenging. Starfish Ministries is partnering with New Life Christian Reformed Church (CRC), a church now predominantly KaRen, to identify needs, connect refugees with existing resources, and find resources where none currently exist. New Life Community Center corner of Larpenteur Avenue and Aracde Street, St. Paul, MN In January 2010, Starfish Ministries leased office and classroom space within two miles of where most of the Karen families we are assisting live. On Tuesday evenings, volunteers are offering homework help/tutoring to around 25 elementary, middle and high school children. The space is also being used by the KaRen youth group from New Life CRC. Our
plans for the Center
include a
day time ESL
class (including childcare), a
computer lab for homework (youth) as well as for job
searches (adults), Bible
studies/social events, and beginning
in the
fall of 2010, an office for a KaRen community worker who will help us
discover: If
you are interested in helping us get new programming started or
volunteeering with existing programs, please contact Bonnie Smith at
651-457-2477 or |
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Testimonials
In 1988, people...protested to the government for democracy. They shot many...people with machine guns... Some people were not dead yet, but soldiers picked them up and put them in a trailer mixed with dead people. They caught many people, and sent them to jail.
Many people...escaped to the Thailand-Burma border.
--A KaRen ELL student
