Our mission is to equip and sustain Christians across Phoenix to walk in love with their refugee neighbors. Our vision is for every former refugee in Phoenix to be compassionately embraced as kin by the Body of Christ and thriving.

Our Story

Phoenix Refugee Connections began in 2008 as a small group of Christ followers with a common goal to empower their refugee friends to become thriving, self-sufficient American citizens. This de-centralized network presently is facilitated by Mary Kaech, Mars Adema, Shannon Ly and Nathan Hale.

  • In 2008, a group of friends walking in relationship with their refugee neighbors across the Valley began meeting regularly to share resources, encourage each other, and collaborate toward the common goal of seeing these new neighbors not just survive, but thrive. Led by Bonnie Lloyd, these initial members of the Phoenix Refugee Connections (PRC) network came from several different churches and had a vision to see even more churches embrace our forcibly displaced neighbors, personally living out God’s many commands to welcome the stranger and love our neighbors as ourselves.

    In 2015, as refugees became a popular topic of discussion and churches increasingly asked for help navigating these discussions, PRC began offering biblically grounded, fact-based workshops (based on the training of Tucson Refugee Ministry) for education and networking, in addition to consultations for local-church leaders seeking to mobilize their congregations. After five years of active participation in the network and mentorship from Bonnie, Mary Kaech began taking on much of these tasks. Soon, it became clear the network needed more than spare time from volunteers in order to meet the growing local demand. Mary assumed leadership in December of 2017, raising financial support to build and expand the impact of PRC.

    Over the past 12 months, Phoenix Refugee Connections has gathered and equipped more than 620 people from 60+ churches to love their refugee neighbors.

Leadership

Mary Kaech

Executive Director

Mary Kaech first learned about refugees in Tucson in 2003, through the South Sudanese "Lost Boys" community. Spending time with them helped her see some of the beautiful riches our refugee neighbors bring to this country and the enormous challenges they must overcome to thrive here.

  • After moving to Phoenix in 2006 and volunteering at the Lost Boys Center for a few years, Mary saw a need to mobilize others in building a community where our refugee neighbors could belong. She focused on her own community—local Christian churches—while working at international nonprofits which allowed her to visit many places along the global "refugee highway." She has been part of the Phoenix Refugee Connections (PRC) network since 2009.

    Mary holds a master's degree from Arizona State University (research focused on refugee resettlement and nonprofit management). She and her husband, Mark, worship at Christ Church Anglican and have three daughters, a son, and four grandbabies!

Mars Adema

Director of Programs

Mars Adema started learning about refugees through a biblical lens in 2017 and began to dig more deeply in 2020. This has included volunteering at The Welcome to America Project with her family, serving meals to Afghans living in a hotel in the East Valley, befriending a Rohingya family, leading Bible studies to help others in her circle learn about refugees through the lens of Scripture, and mobilizing her local church to serve in several other ways.

  • As passionate as she is about the flourishing of her refugee neighbors, she's equally as passionate about mobilizing the Church to get involved and not miss out.

    Mars' experience in finance and teaching ESL has equipped her to serve and empower those who are forcibly displaced. She worships at Mission Community Church and delights in taking adventures with her husband, Jeff, and three lively sons.

Nathan Hale

Director of Operations

Nathan grew up overseas as the child of missionaries in Benin, West Africa. There, he developed a deep appreciation for God's gift of diverse cultures and a heart for recognizing and living as part of the global community. Nathan is passionate about equipping local churches with the vision and training to embody Christ’s love by serving refugee neighbors and creating spaces of belonging and hope.

  • His background as an Anglican priest and as a web designer equips him to balance strategic vision with practical implementation, working to make sure PRC’s operations run smoothly and effectively.

    Nathan worships at Desert Mission Anglican Church (where he also serves as Rector) with his wife Amber and their three children.

Shannon Ly

Social Media Content Curator

Shannon first learned about refugees from her now husband.  His parents were Cambodian refugees who survived the genocide and were some of the first refugees admitted to the state of AZ in the early 80's.  Learning first through them and, ever since, through a myriad of refugee communities around the country she has come to believe the beauty and value they add to this country are invaluable.  

  • Shannon, her husband, Michael, and their three children worship at Redemption Church Tempe.