One Relationship at a Time

Long before Karen ever met her Afghan, Nepalese, Guatemalan, or Congolese friends in Phoenix, her life had already been shaped by cross-cultural relationships and the quiet faithfulness of people who lived their love in both ordinary and extraordinary ways.

The Hum of Other Cultures

Karen’s life has always carried the hum of other cultures. She grew up in a home where missionaries were constantly coming and going. Her father, a surgeon at a Swedish hospital, cared for them during furloughs. “So many missionary families from all over the world visited in our home throughout the years,” she remembers. “All activities led to the church,” she recalls.

In second grade, her family welcomed an exchange student from Indonesia. “It wasn’t common back then in 1962,” she reflects. Her father traveled to Ubangi in the Democratic Republic of Congo to assist missionaries, returning with slide shows that “opened up the world to a lot of people.”

Eventually, an American doctor invited him to help build a medical program – a hospital ship traveling the Congo River. Her family moved to Congo for her high school years. “I went to school with 30 different nationalities,” she says with a smile.

Those years planted something deep in her: a way of seeing people, welcoming differences, and of paying attention.

Arizona: A New Place, Familiar Threads

When Karen and her husband moved from Washington to Arizona during COVID, she expected her life to shut down like everything else around her. “At first, I saw that as so isolating… to be in a new area, shut in,” she admits.

However, the opposite happened. Through Zoom book clubs and new faith circles, she began meeting people across the Phoenix area who cared about social justice. “God’s larger canvas of my life has been in motion from my early years,” she reflects. “God has been leading me in full circle.”

In 2021, she volunteered by serving meals to newly arrived Afghan families after the fall of Kabul. She signed up for what she thought would only be a three-month commitment to walk alongside one family.

“Well, fast forward almost five years,” she says. “This family is my family.”

Friendships Formed in Ordinary Places

Karen’s relationships have grown through ordinary moments: sharing meals, running errands, and accepting invitations.

“I am a grandma to three beautiful, happy, smart girls from Afghanistan,” she exclaims. She goes to kindergarten graduations, Halloween parades, birthday celebrations. “The sweetest moment, the priceless moment, was when I received a recording on my phone: ‘Love you, grandma.’”

Through Phoenix Refugee Connections, she visited a Nepalese church and “made many friends.” During another occasion at a bilingual Spanish-English church, she met a woman who cared deeply for our unhoused neighbors. Together, they go to a park in the East Valley once a week to bring food and pray with anyone who wants prayer. “These times together… we have become friends.”

Wanting to learn Spanish, she began language lessons with a man in Guatemala. “The gift I have now is a new friend in Guatemala, and I feel a part of his life.”

And then came a friendship that felt like a nostalgic echo of her childhood: “I have recently met a man from Congo… Getting to know my friend, with shared meals in our home, has been an amazing gift! A God‑planned story.”

In Awe of Her Refugee Friends

“I would like to use the words in awe, and not surprised,” she says thoughtfully. “Their hope, their keeping on keeping on, their strength and courage, their authenticity.”

Her refugee and other immigrant brothers and sisters are deepening her faith. “They have literally brought me to my knees. Their total confidence in God’s leading and provision.”

Many long to give back to their home countries, even while separated from family. “They pray, asking God for guidance and how they can contribute and make a difference in others’ lives.”

Seeing God in Everyday Moments

“What I’ve learned is not something new,” she said, “but a beautiful reminder: Imago Dei. We are all made in the image of God, and God said it was very good.”

Karen sees God at work in the stories her friends share. “I have soaked in the wisdom of trusting in the impossible… I see God’s presence in them.” She often walks away from those conversations thinking, I want more of that.

Supported by PRC — Encouraged to Start Small

PRC has been a steady companion. “Workshops, book clubs… opportunities to worship with refugee churches… being part of their monthly prayer group.”

She remembers wisdom shared by PRC: “Starting small, becoming connected, walking alongside refugee neighbors is often quiet, slow relationship over time.”

Karen adds, “The larger canvas is God’s. We, in our spaces, can make a difference, however small.”

This is the heartbeat of her story. The quiet good is usually unimpressive, but it is precisely this kind of work that impacts lives and communities.

Looking Ahead With Hope

“We support each other in our friendships,” she says fondly. “God doesn’t want us to walk this life alone.”

She watches her friends build new lives here while still loving their countries of origin. One Congolese friend dreams of building a school for youth facing conflict and displacement. “He has written a beautiful, thought‑out proposal,” she explains. “I humbly walk alongside helping in any way I can, and praying for him.”

A Nepalese pastor she knows leads a church in Phoenix while discipling pastors in Nepal and India. “He is reaching some of the most unreached people with the gospel.”

She is humbled by their faith. “I am brought to my knees… humbled by the crumb of faith I have.”

And she prays for her non‑Christian friends: “Through our times together, I can share Jesus with them… Time, relationships, trust, laughter, being there opens up opportunities. In God’s time.”

Small Acts Bear Witness

Karen’s life – from Chicago to Congo to Phoenix Metro – has become a testimony to the kind of faith that is shaped by small acts of love. This everyday faithfulness carries real weight and is producing something deeply needed in our communities. And in the mystery of God’s kindness, those same small acts have given her what she longed for, too: a place to belong, a people to love, and friendships that have changed her life as much as she hoped to change theirs.