Hope Away From Home

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:34.

Today, over 100 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced. 100 million people, an estimated 41% of which are children, have had to leave everything behind due to conflict, violence, human rights violations, persecution, natural disasters, and other crises in their homelands. 

When these displaced persons seek refuge in other countries, they often arrive grieving, traumatized, and vulnerable - now living among a new culture that speaks a different language and feels worlds away from the community they used to call home. These families leave behind familiarity in hopes of finding safety. 

In light of the struggles these families face Refugee Hope Partners in North Carolina partners with RiverCross. Since 2019, RiverCross has been training their staff and volunteers in the core essentials of trauma-informed care equipping them to walk beside refugee families through their resettlement with empathy, and giving them tools to respond well to the difficult stories the families share.

RiverCross also hosts camps and clubs for middle school girls in this community that are anchored by our audio dramas. As children engage with these stories, they start to process all they and their families have endured since leaving their homelands. Just this past week, one of the girls shared for the first time about her life in the refugee settlement. This was a tremendous milestone. RiverCross audio dramas opens the hearts of adults and children so they discover hope and are set free to thrive - even far away from home.

*Although the stories we share are true, some identifying details have been changed.