Refugees from the Middle East and Asia who have fled famine and violence
and resettled in the US too often are isolated, disconnected, living in
despair. Will their lives disintegrate?
Enter a group of ordinary Americans who recognized the need, created a
solution, got results--and found their own lives uplifted in the
process.
Author Patricia Martin Holt reports on Peace of Thread, a non-profit
founded by Denise Smith, an Evangelical Christian who lived in
Clarkston, an Atlanta suburb with refugees from 51 nations in a single
square mile. Smith had previously learned Arabic during six years of
mission work in Lebanon. She befriended refugee women and built on the
fabric skills that many women brought with them.
Now the women are creating handbags and accessories and selling them on
ESTY and in specialty shops. They are now feeling much more at home and
credit their fabric work for helping them transition to stable lives.
Patricia Martin Holt demonstrates that good-hearted people, including
Evangelical Christians from the South, are actively overcoming the
national climate of fear and bigotry toward refugees--and are taking
practical steps to overcome the problems of refugee resettlement. It
turns out that we can work for world peace simply by lending a hand to
those in need--in the same cities, counties, and neighborhoods where we
live.
Winner: 1st in Category 2020 NELLIE BLY Award. The NELLIE BLY Book
Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in non-fiction
for Investigative and Journalist Non-fiction. The Nellie Bly Book Awards
is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
