The Most Diverse Square Mile in America

Much of our ministry time is spent in Clarkston, a small community about 20 minutes from downtown Atlanta. The New York Times has called Clarkston "the most diverse square mile in America" because of the number of refugees that live there. Walking around apartment complexes in the area you can find people from Iran, Myanmar, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, and many other countries. I was told 74% of the high school students in Clarkston come from 50 different countries! Visiting the neighborhood is like stepping into another world. Women wearing colorful cloth wrapped around their heads and long robes covering their bodies hang laundry on the bushes and stair rails. Kids in mismatched clothes and flimsy sandals run from apartment to apartment and play on the swing set in the middle of the complex.

Over the past two weeks my roommates and I took a couple of afternoons to help World Relief* set up apartments for incoming refugees in Clarkston. We began by loading a van and truck full of beds, bedding and pillows, kitchen supplies, a table and chairs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet paper, towels, a couch, and a few other necessities. Then we drove to an empty apartment and began setting everything up. During a small break in the moving commotion, all was quiet, and we stood in the dining area. We had the opportunity to pray over the home, praying that the Lord would put influential Christians in the life of the family moving in and unveil their eyes to the truth of our Savior.

Please continue praying for the refugee families moving to America. This past Tuesday nine more families came, and it is very likely they are all in need of a relationship with Christ.

*World Relief is an evangelical refugee resettlement agency. Every year, thousands of refugees, usually victims of war and persecution, are helped to replant their lives in the United States. World Relief staff and volunteers come alongside America's newcomers, helping them adjust to the culture, find employment, learn English, take steps towards citizenship, and build a future for themselves and their children.