Yesterday our ward held a Refugee Family Fun Run. This was an idea that came to me a few months ago as I lay in bed one Saturday morning. The spirit had been working on me little by little to help open my heart to the plight of the refugees. It started last October when the First Presidency issued a letter to the members of the church encouraging us to provide assistance to refugees around the world. The truth is, as a busy mom, I had been almost completely oblivious to the refugee crisis. This letter was the beginning of an awakening for me. Then in December, our family visited the LDS Humanitarian Center and learned about the incredible work that the church does throughout the world to help those in need. During part of the tour we watched a video and in that video the voice of Elder Holland talked about how we, the more fortunate, can be the answer to the prayer of people who have so little. That stuck with me. Then in March, during the general women's session of conference Linda K. Burton invited us to participate in the "I was a Stranger' initiative in which we were encouraged to pray about what each of us could do to help the refugees locally and throughout the world. After this invitation, other sisters in our ward began putting together hygiene kits, and cleaning kits for the refugees. One sister organized a meeting with Catholic Community Services who works to place refugee families here in Utah. In that meeting my heart opened up even more. As I listened to the statistics and viewed images of families, women and especially children living in refugee camps I felt a huge desire to somehow do something to help. But I didn't know what I could do. I considered being a mentor to one of the newly placed refugee families, but since there aren't any in our area, that would have been difficult. I pondered and prayed about it and that is when the idea of the Refugee Run came to me. I texted the sisters in my presidency to see what they thought of the idea and they all loved it, so I got approval from the Bishop and we started to plan. We found a sponsor to provide free t-shirts to the first 100 adult participants, we found a sponsor to pay for water and fruit after the race. Ben's sister Karen donated a finish line banner, and a couple in the ward, who direct the Doxa Threelay, let us use their race arch for the starting line and their sound system. Each adult participant was asked to donate $10, but they were told that they could contribute as much or as little as they wanted, and children could participate for free. All of the contributions went to the LDS Humanitarian fund. The LDS church works with UNHCR and UNICEF, among other agencies, to provide relief for refugees. I was hopeful that we would raise a lot of money to donate to the cause, but really nervous that no one would show up. The day of the race finally came and the turnout wasn't as big as I had hoped, but those who came were happy they did. I am glad that I followed through on the prompting to put this together. Today, during sacrament meeting, the Bishop asked me to share my feelings about the Refugee Run and my testimony. I was grateful for that opportunity. One sister in Relief Society said that we should have another one next month and in ward conference the Bishop asked when we could do it again. I hope that this activity has awakened in others a desire to help the refugees too.
I imagine families who have been forced to flee their countries. Who have left behind everything. Who have little hope for their future. I imagine them kneeling or sitting together in refugee camps praying for a better life. Yesterday, in a small way, we were the answer to someone's prayer.
