The Sisters of Divine Providence from Kentucky answered the call to help a refugee family from Afghanistan.  Though it was a whirlwind of preparation, they succeeded!  Here is their story.

 With training sessions and background checks recently completed, all that was lacking was the phone call, and it came quickly: a family of five from Afghanistan would be arriving at the airport in two days. It was short notice, but the Kentucky Refugee Ministries wanted to know if they could help. It didn’t take much more than a heartbeat for the CDP Support Team to respond with an enthusiastic “Yes!” and an urgent question of their own: “What can we do?”

The next 48 hours were a whirlwind of activity and excitement. Sisters Mary Duddey, Alice Gerdeman, Mary Jennings, Leslie Keener, Kay Kramer, and Margie Verhoff, along with CDP Associate Ginny Kane and Associate-to-be Robin Kelly sprang into action. Gathering the next day at the house in Northern Kentucky where the young parents and their three children ages 3, 2, and 6 mos. old would live, the team readied the rooms. Donated furniture, beds, blankets, cleaning supplies, pots and pans, baby items, food, toys were put in place. The scramble was on to find other needed essentials in various convent cupboards and at the local St. Vincent de Paul, Kroger and Dollar Stores. The empty house was swiftly becoming a home, and by early Friday afternoon things were as ready as they could be. Three team members went to the airport and awaited the family’s arrival with KRM staff and a translator present via telephone. Soon, the family was also there: a sleeping baby, two vivacious young children, and a couple of very tired, bedraggled parents.

It was barely two days after the initial phone contact that another call was made to let the team know that the very grateful family was at their new home and loved it. The toys of course were an especially big hit with the children! But while the first whirlwind was over, the real commitment had just begun, as the Sisters have made a three-month commitment to support this family in any way they can. Regular visits and phone calls, assistance with transportation, caretaking and shopping are just a few of the practical ways that commitment will become concrete during the months ahead—months also awash with joy and gratitude for the opportunity to be Providence for a family beginning a new life among us, and to pray for them as they transition into a very new reality!

What a wonderful commitment this community has made and the impact of it on this particular Afghanistan family!  It just proves that being Providence for others is so very possible!

Barbara McMullen, CDP