All in 2 Weeks Time

Last night I attended a training on volunteering with incoming refugees. The more I learn about the process they go through, the more my heart hurts for them. I've known on principle that the move & transition itself has to be incredibly difficult. How could it not be? You leave all you've ever known, you are afraid for your life, and now you're thrown into a completely foreign culture and given 6 months to adapt until you are on your own. WOW.

During this training, I learned for the first time a basic time-line of the incoming refugees first week in the States. It is a WHIRLWIND! The stress must be fierce.

(Image above of an incoming Burmese family being greeted at the airport)

• 3 days out-- The agency receives an arrival date, including flight arrival details
• 1 day out-- The agency sets up an apartment for the family using donated furniture & some purchased items... including culturally appropriate groceries & supplies
  
• ARRIVAL DAY-- The agency greets the family at the airport & (in the same day, or night-- even if they arrive at midnight) provides a housing safety orientation at the new home
• Day 1-- The next day (jet-lag & all), the agency accompanies new refugees to social security office to apply for new social security cards for the family (because they cannot begin receiving food stamps or other government aid until their have a receipt for their social security application), then they return to the agency offices for a general orientation & to complete social services referral forms
• Days 2 - 5-- The family receives health screenings and are connected to city clinics (they have to give stool samples to ensure they don't have parasites, they have to get vaccines, and get a general "all clear" on their incoming health issues)
• Week 1-- Within the first week, the adults are enrolled in ESL classes (free for 4 months) and begin job training & their job search... children are immediately enrolled in AISD schools

Can you even imagine having to race through all of that in the midst of a major cultural upheaval. Its sounds exhausting. :(

Missed Opportunities

Once upon a time, I went to UT. At the time, I was an athiest, a complete "b", and also a sorority girl (laugh all you want, I am laughing right along side you). While I was at UT studying journalism my entire life was consumed with class, studying, and partying. I had no idea of all that campus life had to offer. Never heard of a single student organization. Never noticed any other ethnicity while I was in class. Never paid attention to ways I could get involved in serving my local community. What a loss!
This fall, I have had reason to be back on UT's campus several times since the semester kicked off, and my perspective is soooo different. I look at everything, and everyone, so differently. And I am lamenting all the missed opportunities that passed me by when I was a student.

Tonight, I went to a volunteer orientation for Refugee Services of Texas that was held on campus. 90% of the attendees were students who learned about the opportunity through various campus emails & groups. These students had a heart to serve refugees from some of the most war-devastated regions on the world. They were passionate and empathetic... anxious to get involved and make a difference!

Monday night, I went to a facilitator orientation for the International Office's Language Circle program. 99% of the attendees were students who were excited to take advantage of the opportunity to meet international students and help them practice English. There were also Language Circles for American students to learn/practice a second language-- like Turkish, Portuguese, Arabic, Korean-- led by native speakers from those places. I had no idea this was ever an option when I was in school. But what an creative avenue for culture & language sharing right there on campus!

Last week, I heard about a group that serves lunch, for free, every Wednesday to international students just to show them hospitality and be available to help them navigate Austin, UT, and life. Over the semester, they build relationships and encourage (often times) lonely, homesick students.

And this coming weekend, I am attending a "Backyard Barbecue" held on campus by one of the schools there to welcome international students. It is hosted by a program where local Austinites & UT students can be paired up with an international student (or student & their family) to be their "friend" for the semester... helping them to learn about Austin, America, and local family life. Its a chance to give them a feeling of home away from home just by having someone they can call or reach out to when they have questions, need to talk, and just want to have some fun.

My personal tilt (now, as opposed to back when I was a student) is that I LOVE internationals! I love learning about other cultures, I love traveling to other cultures, and I love welcoming other cultures to my hometown Austin. I am so impressed by all the chances current UT students have to meet & befriend & learn from other students who are here from foreign lands... what truly broad opportunities UT offers now. They probably offered all this back when I was a student too-- but I was to self-absorbed to notice, much less get involved. What a shame!

Tonight, I am sad to have missed all this back then... but I am praising God and thanking Him profusely for opening my eyes to these things now (and for letting me still be involved, even though I haven't been a student in more than a decade!).

Women's International Cooking Collective

This past weekend, I hosted my first ever "Women's International Cooking Collective" at our house. When Andy & I moved in January to our new place, the kitchen-- which is huge & gourmet-esque-- begged for me to combine it with some of my passions... namely, hanging out with international women & learning about foreign cultures. Through much brainstorming with Andy & friends, I decided to start this group.
The idea: Once a month, I invite a different international friend in Austin to come and teach me (and a crowd of other internationally-interested Austinites) how to cook their local foods and tell me about their home-country. Not only do I get to learn how to cook awesome global cuisine & hear about foreign countries from natives, but I also get to make or enhance friendships with internationals right here in my city! Win, win!

Our inaugural month was June. Destination: INDIA! My friend Skipper invited her neighbor, Sharda, to serve as our "guest chef". About 12 other Austin gals who I'm friends with joined in the fun. We spent 3 hours watching Sharda cook Spinach Paneer (but we made it with tofu), Indian Fried Rice, and Indian Chai Tea. We all wore aprons and wrote down the recipes on matching index cards. During lulls in the cooking process, we had a short list of questions to ask Sharda about India, Indian culture (both at home & here in Austin), her family, her life, her religion, and even down to her favorite Bollywood movie!

Then came the taste-test. Mmmmmmmm! We all fixed test plates with a generous spoonful of each dish and our own cup of tea. To be honest, my experience IN India was not that great with the local foods, so I was somewhat nervous that our first month's dishes wouldn't be my fav. But, I admit, they were soooo yummy! Sharda was an excellent chef! I even got 2nd & 3rd helpings of the Spinach Paneer. Plus, she left me with the remaining Chai Tea packets so I can make my own cardamon tea any time I want!

I had sooooo much fun! And I am pretty sure all the other girls did too-- including Sharda! I already have countries lined up for the rest of the year... what a FUN way to spend time with ladies I love getting to know!

(**Something I learned from Sharda was that Southern Indians have a traditional spice can-- hers is pictured below-- and they keep their top 5-8 favorite spices in it... always ready to go. Her mother gave her this one before she moved to America so she could always have the flavors at home right at her fingertip!)

That's My Austin

Help Refugee KIDS This Summer

Each summer, a local non-profit organization (Austin Area Interreligious Ministries) hosts a 6-week program for newly arrived refugee children to prepare them for their first experience with U.S. schools. When refugee children arrive here, they usually know no English and have different educational backgrounds. Some may have never attended school; others could have had their education interrupted year after year because of civil war. Nothing in their backgrounds prepares them for what it's like to be a student in the Austin Independent School District. From transportation, to proper behavior; from study skills, to computer literacy; from social interaction to attire - everything is confusing to a newly arrived refugee. And to complicate matters, they don't know enough English to ask questions.

The goal of AAIM's refugee youth summer program is to make the first year of school less intimidating for the refugee children who have come from very different educational environments. The children are taught by volunteer teams led by professional teachers with experience in teaching English as a Second Language. The curriculum stresses English, basic math and school skills, plus the program offers the children opportunities to learn more about Austin through some field trips.

Volunteer Needs...

• 10-15 adult volunteers a day for each week of the program.

• Adults with the availability and a heart to serve our local refugee population.

• Parents with teenage children, between 12 and 18, are welcome to participate together.

• High school students 16 or above may participate on their own after a one-on-one interview.

• Younger volunteers must have a parent or parent-approved adult volunteering at the same time.

Details...

• Youth Program runs from June 14-July 22, 2010

• The Volunteer Commitment is to serve a minimum of 1 week of the program's 6 weeks

• The Volunteers work Monday-Thursday from 9a-12p for the week they have committed to.

• The Youth Program is hosted at a downtown church.

• The Youth Program will host refugee children aged 6-18 from countries like Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Burma, Bhutan, Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Cuba.

• The Youth Program will likely have 50 children during the summer.

• Volunteer Training is Tues May 18th in the evening.

For more information or to volunteer, please email Lu (luz@aaimaustin.org), or call 512-386-9145 X 12.

Video Post: Interrupted

Interrupted from Threads on Vimeo.

Found this video online today (part one of a series you can buy from Lifeway). It captures the seed-planting part of a story of change. When you get down to it, this theme is how God has been stirring and continues to stir further my heart since 2007. I have a LONG way to go yet, but I am not giving up on God's work in my heart.

The video series is an accompaniment to the book Interrupted, written by Jen Hatmaker.

A Veil Should Not Make You a Target

I am so disappointed. Today, while at Jamba Juice with a friend, I watched a sweet-looking veiled woman stand outside the window to get out of the rain while she waited on the bus. She was cradling her infant child in her arms & passing the time, minding her own business. While she stood there, a scraggly looking man approached her and started to try & talk to her. I couldn't tell if he was drunk or just weird. But she was immediately uncomfortable. Visibly uncomfortable. And this guy just kept harassing her. She starts pacing and trying to shoo him away. And believe it or not, this guy tries to ask to hold her baby! Are you kidding? He's making big motions with his arms and reaching in towards her chest to take the child.

The poor woman started running back towards the bus stop to get away from this inappropriate man. The guy started yelling after her "I just want to talk." He wasn't being mean... just ridiculously ignorant of personal space and boundaries. Thankfully, just then, the bus pulled up and she got on. I almost ran outside to interrupt, but the whole thing was over pretty quickly.

This scenario made me so angry. But what made me even more angry is that it's not the first time I have seen something similar to this take place. On a number of occasions I have seen veiled women in our town be approached by men in inappropriate ways. Its not even necessarily sexually inappropriate-- just a strange, power-trippy kind of inappropriate. It's hard to describe unless you've seen what I'm talking about. The behavior I've witnessed doesn't feel like the same kind of behavior I see in ordinary male-female inappropriate interactions.

It's like some guys think veiled women are free game. They can say what they want or act as inappropriate as they want. They feel some sick power trip over them. Maybe they think they can scare them. Maybe they think its okay to treat them worse. I can't say what they are thinking. But it makes me sick. Mad. Fiercely protective.

I know many women take on the veil in order to be modest and less noticeable in public life (this is a broad generalization, and I recognize there is a lot more to it than that). But I'm sad to say that in some cases, it has the opposite affect. And that breaks my heart. I LOVE these women and cannot stand their mistreatment.

I don't have a solution. Just wanted to post my observations and vent.

Half the Sky

On March 4th, a one-night event is coming through Austin (and plenty of other nationwide cities). Click here to read more & find tickets in YOUR TOWN. From what I gather, its essentially a celebration of International Women's Day... so they are having a discussion from the authors of the best-selling book Half the Sky. I think they are having video updates from some of the stories shared in the book of the women, the world over, who are impacting their community and breaking the cycles of poverty & oppression. Also being screened is a new short-film on the subject, directed by Marissa Tomei. I'm going! Are you? Grab and friend, buy tickets online, and go out to dinner after and discuss how yall can get involved!

Muslims in America

Today, some friends and I went to tour a local mosque in Austin as part of a class that works to build bridges between Muslims and Christians in America. The Imam that showed us around also prepared an excellent presentation for us about what it's like to be a Muslim. Our mutual hope was to gain greater understanding of our neighbors right here in Austin.

The intro to his presentation was a great music video put together by a Muslim COUNTRY singer! Here is the Youtube version of the video. It gives American Muslims a chance to tell you about themselves (it's similar to the "cardboard stories" video our church did this past spring). Thought yall'd enjoy learning something about the brothers & sisters that also call America "HOME!"

VOLUNTEERS Needed for Refugees in Austin

I met with the director of the Refugee ESL School Program this week and she shared a very dire need for volunteers. The city-wide grant for all Refugee ESL classes is managed by AAIM (Austin Area Interreligious Ministry). They offer FREE ESL classes to all incoming refugees. And in order for a refugee to receive government assistance in the first 4 months they are here, they must be registered for the ESL classes.

In recent months, due to the economy, Texas has been receiving an abnormally high number of incoming refugees (b/c Texas isn't suffering as poorly as other states in terms of jobs). Which has led to a flooding in the classrooms where these refugees are trying to learn English. The classes are overflowing with students and the paid ESL teachers and the childcare staff are in need of some help.

AAIM is looking for VOLUNTEERS for the following:
** classroom teacher aides for 4 different ESL classes
----- 3 classes offered M, Tu, W, Th from 9a-12p at a church downtown
----- 1 class offered Tu, F 6:30-8:30pm at YMCA Lamar/Rundberg
----- you can volunteer to serve in any of the classtimes, just once a week (or every other week)
** childcare helpers for the refugee families (pre-school)
----- they would like to have 2-3 childcare workers for each daytime class, and 1-2 workers for the PM class times
----- childcare workers can have (and bring) 1-2 children of their own if needed.

I currently volunteer as a teacher's aide and have to say it is EASY! The teacher is totally responsible for the classroom... my job is to help her with demonstrations and build relationships with/encourage the students. I also served with the kids this past summer and they are so easy & precious.

Guys-- this is super easy way to serve the international refugee community that is now flooding into Austin, Texas. If you have ever wanted to increase your exposure to the nations (without ever getting on an airplane), this is the perfect way to do it. I have built such sweet relationships with people from Iraq, Burma, Afghanistan, Sudan, Burundi, Congo, Nepal, Thailand, Cuba, etc. I don't speak their languages, but they are trying to learn mine.

PLEASE HELP! If you want to get involved (and you can seriously make it a short commitment if you need to)... email LU at luz @ aaimaustin.org !! Get your friends to do it with you... 14-20 volunteers needed!

Sudan Event in Austin This Week

My good friends Missy & Dave are coming to Austin! After my trip to Sudan this summer, Andy and I felt compelled to pitch in and spread awareness about the issues that are affecting the southern part of the country. Both spiritual and physical poverty are everywhere. And Missy & Dave are trying to do something about it. So we invited them to come tell their story to my friends living in Austin.

YOU'RE INVITED, if you live in Austin, to join us THIS THURSDAY (Aug 27) at Mercury Hall at 7pm.

We'd love to have as many people there to hear about what's currently happening in Sudan, and how Seed Effect (Missy & Dave's microfinance company) is working to alleviate poverty while at the same time spreading the gospel!

Andy & I are excited about the work God is doing among the poor in Sudan and we want YOU to have the chance to participate... Don't you want to impact poverty?

News8Austin Covers Refugee Story

Here is a news story about Refugees in Austin from News8Austin. And if you click on and watch the video of the story, you can see me in the background working with the kids (I'm wearing a green T shirt).

Refugee Kids Field Trip

This past week I volunteered with AAIM at their annual Refugee Youth Day-Camp. This program is designed to help refugee kids, aged 5-17, prepare for school. Many of the kids land in Austin for the first time over the summer and so we wanna give them a little advanced preview of what school (and learning in English is like).

This week, I got to meet children from Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Burma, Nepal, Iraq and Guatemala. Each child had his own special culture that they were so proud of, and yet they all had an eager curiosity to learn about their new home, Austin, Texas. Many of these kids have experienced some pretty rough things in their young lives, but they are slowly healing and starting over. Many don't know English, many are new school.

These kids will have to work hard to adjust. And learning will be exhausting for them ("My brain is soooo tired" and "My brain is spinning with words" were two comments I heard this week). But I hope they succeed. I hope this Day-Camp was encouraging for them... making them feel like they CAN learn, they WILL learn.

During the Day-Camp, we simulated school learning centers for 3 days, and then we celebrate at the end of the week by taking a field trip together. This week we walked to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. The kids learned fun facts about their new home state... and we watched a 15 minute documentary at the Texas Spirit Theater. I think the kids were definitely overwhelmed, but loved learning about Texas at the same time!

A boy from Afghanistan sat next to me at the movie and whispered, "I've never seen a movie in the theater before... they didn't have theaters where I am from." All the kids were so precious! They stole my heart!

Book Review: Interrupted

My favorite piece of summer reading so far has been Jen Hatmaker's latest book, "Interrupted." It's Jen's personal account of how God shook up her & her husband's faith and started steering them to interact with & befriend "the lost, the least, and the last" in this broken world.

They've been church-going people since they were kids & vocational ministers their entire adult careers... yet in 2007 they couldn't shake the lingering question inside their heads "God, isn't there more?" She prayed and asked "God, raise up in me a holy passion." And God responded.

"Interrupted" puts words to an inner angst that has gnawed at my insides for almost 2 years now. I have been a Christian just long enough to have gotten a good hold of the "routines" of American Christian life-- I go to church weekly, pray & read the Bible almost daily... I have attended plenty of "Bible Studies" and classes on what we think, I've studied theology, I've read a billion Christian books-- I have learned plenty (that is NOT to say I know it all, or even anywhere close to it). But at the end of the day, what was I doing with any of it? Mostly just talking to other church people about it.

I feel sometimes like we are all just "playing church", and that can be a suffocating place at times (just being honest) because... well, here's the way Jen put it: "Why did I spend all my time blessing blessed people who should be on the giving side of the equation by now?" (p. 21) Answer: because its safe and because its comfortable.

Joey Shaw charged a group of us one time with the parable of the shepherd who went in search of the one lost sheep-- he left 99 other sheep behind to go and pursue the 1. Joey reminded us that we like to stay with the 99 because that's easy, its comfortable, its safe.

But if we want to act like Jesus, we go out from the flock, in search of the lost, the least, the last.

I am hungry. Hungry to serve outside the four walls of the church. In Austin. My city is full of poor people, hurting people, hungry people, beaten-down and broken people. Do I know any of them? Do I spend time with them? Do I know their stories? Have I listened and loved well? How much of my life (my time, my energy, my money, my sleep, my home, etc) have I sacrificed in order to love them well?

I am increasingly wondering... not just "have they HEARD about Jesus?" but "have they SEEN & EXPERIENCED Jesus through MY interactions with them?"

This book will challenge you to live beyond Christian comfort and mediocrity. It will tempt you to be crazy enough to actually DO things Jesus talks about in the Bible.

Simple Ways to Live On Mission

Check out this short article from our church's "Missional Communities Blog" called EIGHT WAYS TO EASILY BE MISSIONAL.

UT ESL End of Semester Banquet

Hilary invited me to join her for her school's end of semester banquet this weekend. It was a nice dinner, a talent show, awards were given, and to wrap up, the students danced! I enjoyed getting to know them the few classes I sat in on. And I loved watching them celebrate with each other their successes from the year. Here are a few pics and a video from the night...



Some of Hilary's undergrad students performed a traditional Arabian dance.












Also represented at the talent show was a Turkish girl who performed a traditional belly-dance.



In this video, students from Hilary's Graduate level class were unified as they danced to a Latin song. Students from Costa Rica, Mexico& Algeria samba together, a Vietnamese student dances with a Libyan classmate's baby, a funny white girl adds her dance skills (ha ha, hilary!), a lanky Korean watches- arms folded, but with a smile--, a Guinean in a suit lets loose!

Thanks for inviting me Hilary!

Habitat for Humanity Egypt Director in Austin

I want to invite you to help me welcome the National Director of Egypt’s Habitat for Humanity, Yousry Makar. Mr. Makar is in Austin for a short visit and we are gathering anyone interested in learning more about the spiritual climate of Egypt, poverty & development in that country, or about Habitat’s work there to join us on Thursday, May 7th, at 7pm at The Austin Stone’s church offices. We will have a Q&A for Yousry and a short informational presentation, and we hope to encourage Yousry in the work of mercy ministry in Egypt.

Habitat for Humanity—Egypt’s mission is to demonstrate the love of Jesus, practically, by helping families to gain simple, decent, healthy, afforable housing in all parts of Egypt. Last year alone, Habitat built 2,445 homes in 25 different communities across Egypt. Although the cost of an average home built by Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. is $90-100,000, the cost to complete a Habitat home in Egypt averages $1300. Many lives are touched and entire communities are impacted, both economically and spiritually.

The Austin Stone sent a team to Egypt in February 2009 to work with Habitat for Humanity. They built homes in a small village in central Egypt for a week and loved every minute. They spent time with Yousry and are eager to introduce him to more of you from Austin Stone. Here is a blog post from one of the team members describing their time with Habitat.

We encourage you to come and hear more about Habitat this Thursday (May 7th at 7pm at the church office). Bring your family, friends, community group… If you can’t come, pass this along to someone you think might enjoy it. Please RSVP to atxanna@gmail.com so we know how many snacks and drinks to have on hand (but even if you forget to RSVP, you can still come).

300 New Homeless People in Austin Tonight

Due to the massive apartment fire in St. Johns' neighborhood this afternoon, the Red Cross is reporting there are now 300 people displaced and without shelter. Although the two most common contributing factors to homelessness are (1) poverty and (2) lack of affordable housing, another frequent factor is an incident of emergency. Once a family experiences an unexpected change in their situation, they can go from housed to homeless in an instant. That is what happened today in Austin.

Because so many of you I know will be helping to serve those displaced by this catastrophe, I thought I would share with you all some MYTHS & FACTS about Homelessness in the Austin area*.

MYTH: Those in homeless situations are mostly single adult males.
FACT: Families are the fastest growing population of the homeless. 40% of all those in homeless situations are families. (And, in the U.S. at large, the average homeless person is a 10 year old girl.) Unlike homeless single adult men, homeless families are often invisible to the public eye. Homeless families often live doubled up with friends or family members or in shelters, including domestic violence shelters.

MYTH: Those in homeless situations are "street people."
FACT: Only 18% of those in homeless situations live on the streets. The majority (64%) of those in homeless situations live in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or doubled up with family or friends. 19% live in motels or rooming houses.

MYTH: Those in homeless situations are lazy and won't work.
FACT: 44% of homeless persons did paid work during the last month. Of these, 20% worked in a job lasting or expected to last at least 3 months, 25% worked at a temporary or day-labor job. Most work in minimum-wage, service, or seasonal jobs that do not pay enough to afford housing at the fair-market rate in our community.

MYTH: All those in homeless situations are poorly educated.
FACT: While lack of education and significant job training do contribute to homelessness, a health crisis, or natural disaster (or other disaster like the St. Johns' fire today) does not discriminate based on education. Many of those in homeless situations have a high school, college and even graduate degrees.

MYTH: All those in homeless situations get government assistance.
FACT: Over 40% of homeless persons are eligible for disability, but only 11% actually receive them. Most are eligible for food stamps, but only 37% receive them. Most families are eligible for welfare benefits, but only 52% receive them. Some 12% of children are denied access to school, despite federal laws.

MYTH: There are plenty of shelters to assist the homeless.
FACT: 52% of shelter requests by homeless families are estimated to have been unmet (last updated in 2001).

MYTH: Most people in homeless situations are chronically homeless.
FACT: The transitionally/situationaly homeless account for 40-50% and are homeless for 6 months or less; 70% of all those in homeless situations are homeless for less than 2 years. Others who are considered episodically homeless as they move in and out of homelessness account for 20-30% of those in homeless situations. This leaves less than 20% of all those in homeless situations who are actually chronically homeless.

(This picture is of a little girl who is homeless tonight, after the apartment fire destroyed her home. (via Matt Carter's Twitter)

MYTH: People are homeless because they want to be; they're happy that way, i.e..
FACT: The circumstances of homelessness are anything but happy. Families and children lose their homes, rooms, possessions, neighborhoods, friends, schools, pets, security, identity, self-esteem, and on and on.
-- 38% of those in homeless situations report being robbed
-- 41% of those in homeless situations report theift of their property
-- 22% of those in homeless situations report being assaulted
-- 7% of those in homeless situations report sexual assault
-- 1 of 8 women in homeless situations report being raped
-- 26% of those in homeless situations report infectious conditions
-- 46% of those in homeless situations report chronic health conditions related to their living situation and inability to access adequate healthcare
-- 69% of those in homeless situations report being arrested or harassed merely because of being homeless (i.e. they broke no law)
-- Nearly 100% of those in homeless situations report going hungry a portion fo the time they are homeless.

* From my Caritas Training Manual on Poverty & Homelessness in the Austin Area.

Who would choose these things for their life? Please reach out and help those in need as a result of the fire today. Follow @justinlopez on Twitter to get instructions for how you can volunteer, or check the facebook status' of the Austin Stone staffers, or the Stone website will have posts about it. The Red Cross is also asking for financial donations.

Sign up to volunteer collecting, organizing, and distributing donations at Ebenezer Church here.
Sign up to volunteer at Gus Garcia Rec Center (Spanish speakers / kidcare especially needed) here.

How to Help with the St. John's Fire Aftermath

If you attend the Stone, you know that we are always seeking ways to serve the St. John’s neighborhood. Today, a four-alarm fire in an apartment complex in that neighborhood has affected many families. These people are greatly in need of many everyday items that have been lost in the fire.

Donations will be accepted for these families from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday at Iglesia Centro Familiar Ebenezer. Directions are available here.

Items that are needed include:

• Canned food items
• Diapers and wipes
• Shampoo
• Soap
• Tylenol and Children’s Tylenol
• Hand sanitizer
• Feminine hygiene products
• Toothpaste and toothbrushes
• Baby formula and baby food
• Baby bottles
• Socks
• Underwear (both adult and children’s sizes)
• T-shirts (all sizes)
• Blankets

If you are able to help, please do so. Thank you.

Egypt's Habitat Director Comes to AUSTIN

Anyone out there wanna learn about the spiritual climate of Egypt, poverty & development in Egypt, and Habitat for Humanity-EGYPT... from an actual Egyptian man? Well, this week, the national director of Habitat for Humanity in Egypt will be in Austin and you can come to a small presentation/Q&A with him at the Austin Stone church OFFICES on Thursday, May 7th. Click HERE for details.

(That's him in the picture, visiting our team at the Cairo Bookfair.)