Speaking only for myself, I feel I am doing the holiest of work when I try to support the refugee children, whether they be shy girls from the Congo. or the soccer boys from Myanmar. There is something powerfully raw and vivid about the life of the refugee.

I sometimes feel that every great and spiritual human is standing over my shoulder, and I humbly try to walk in their great shoes: Gandhi, Christ, Dr. King, The Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Pope Francis, Thomas Merton, Abraham Lincoln are all hovering above me or standing behind me, and even though I am a fly next to them, I know they would embrace these children and welcome them.

They all preached caring for the vulnerable. These are the vulnerable.

They have known terror, loss, endless anxiety, despair, loneliness and isolation. Like many of us, they are searching for dignity, for their place in the world. They are the innocents, they never sought to flee their homes, or come to  ours.

They seek only to fit in and live the ordinary lives of children. They and their families want to rebuild their lives, that’s all. Most of them have lost a mother or father, a grandma or grandpa, friends and aunts and cousins, sometimes in the most brutal way.

They are walking uphill here, amidst growing hostility, with little support, their school is a haven and a refuge. They have not come here to harm us, they are not our enemies, they do not seek to take our jobs.

Thanks for supporting them. The RISSE Amazon Wish List has transformed their school, and hopefully, will transform it further.

I am working alongside RISSE, but on different things. This year, I hope to get the RISSE soccer team to the Powell House, a Quaker Youth Retreat in Old Chatham, N.Y. I am seeking to raise money for the $2,100 food and board fee.  I hope to raise money or seek funding aid so that these children can get out of the city for a week this summer, when there is no school, and get out to the Powell House summer camp for a week.

I am seeking to support and equip the soccer team from RISSE, an integral part of the community forming there, and an activity that brings together kids who speak different languages and come from different countries. If you can or wish to support my work, you can send a contribution to me at P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark the payment “refugees.”

And thanks. I believe this is sacred work for me. I am committed to it. We are doing a great thing here.