Have you ever prayed for God to let you hear His voice and show you how He wants you to be His hands, His feet, His eyes, and His heart to do His work? Bruce McAdams heard that Call and acted on it. Upon receiving a call from Lutheran Services, Bruce made a trip to the MUSC Dental School to provide transportation for an Afghan refugee. There he met Nadia Paikan, a 28 year-old mother of 4. Bruce took Nadia and her two sons to a podiatrist for an in-grown toe nail.
Rewind to Sept. 21, 2021:
The world watched in horror, the terror in Afghanistan as the Taliban seized power, cutting off avenues of escape for the Afghan people. Nadia fled to the airport with a 2 week-old daughter, a 19 month-old daughter and her two sons, then ages 6 and 9. Her husband, who worked at a radio station, was prevented from leaving because he had been grabbed by the Taliban. She and the children had already left to go to the airport. They had discussed that if this should happen, that she would take the kids and leave. They are able to keep in touch though she still worries. She also left behind her mother, father, and four siblings.
Nadia has an attorney who speaks Dari who is helping her to be granted asylum here so that she can apply for a green card. Lutheran Services of the Carolinas is paying the attorney fees. Nadia lives in a two-bedroom apartment in N. Charleston and she works 4 days a week at the Istanbul Shish Kabob Restaurant. Before we started providing transportation to and from work, she would take her two young daughters to daycare by bus and then ride the bus to work. At the end of the work day, she would ride the bus to daycare and then back to her apartment with the girls. Her boys go home after school to an empty apartment and wait for Nadia and the sisters to come home.
MPPC members from the Local Impact mission team and The Academy of St. John church school class have also heard God calling and are providing transportation for Nadia. Other church members from MPPC and other congregations in the area have been providing furniture, diapers and other household items. Soon, Bruce plans to organize providing regular transportation to and from the grocery, in-home learning English sessions and driver’s training. Sudais, the eldest, is almost fluent having been learning English since living in the United States. Nadia has expressed many times to Zainab, her caseworker, how grateful she is for the ways we have been able to make positive changes in the lives of herself and her children.
MPPC is working with members of Providence Church and All Saints Lutheran; together we form a Circle of Welcome. Bruce keeps us all posted as to donations received and what is needed. While Lutheran Services drives home that the refugees need to become independent and self-sufficient, Nadia needs more support, care and help than other Afghan refugees who have come to Charleston, such as single men and families with both parents present, in order to become self-sufficient.
So, this is how God awakens his people to hear His call and follow. Love your neighbor, Jesus told his disciples.
If this story has stirred your heart, please contact Bruce McAdams or Pastor Bart to see how you might be a part of God’s calling to help this family.