Tucker is unable to travel to visit a refugee she is discipling who lives in another city, so the women moved their study online.Īt the end of one of their lessons, Tucker asked the woman, Kala, if there was someone with whom she could share the gospel. The pandemic has also changed the forum for discipleship. Tucker focuses on helping them build connection and trust within their community,ĬOVID-19 necessitated the closure of many outreach efforts, but Tucker and her teammates adapted their programs to meet in smaller groups and homes. Refugees in Tucker’s city often reside in small communities and are reluctant to trust. In their home country, refugees had strong communities, but war scattered their families and friends like shards of glass. The home visits allow them to be open about what they believe, ask if they are interested in studying the Bible and build a Christ-centered community. Tucker, other IMB missionaries and Christians are often invited over to refugees’ homes after the classes. The refugees have remarked on the untainted love they see being displayed by the local Christians. Local Christians are teaching the language classes, and Tucker says it gives the Christians a chance to serve and show their concern. Since moving becomes an ever-decreasing reality, they are seeing the value of learning the language. Some expected they would return to their home country, and others planned on resettlement in another country. Tucker said many refugees did not have a long-term mentality of staying in the country. Many of the refugee women did not go outside their houses in their home country for cultural reasons, and some assumed it would be the same in the country they fled to, so they viewed learning the language as unnecessary. Language classes have met a particularly important need. Tucker and her IMB teammates are using community outreach to minister among refugees. She accepted a position serving among the same refugee people group overseas. The Lord kept bringing to mind the faces of the refugee women at the center. Tucker had begun the process to serve with the IMB and prayed as she drove to a job-matching conference about where the Lord would have her serve.
Through listening to her story, the Lord planted a love of the woman’s people group in Tucker’s heart. Tucker’s home church, Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville and Nashville First Baptist Church partner with Tusculum Hills to minister to refugees.Īt the ESL center, Tucker met a woman who shared her story of fleeing her country, living in a refugee camp for five years, losing her husband in the camp and her difficult journey to the U.S. The Lord answered by directing them to open their facilities for ESL classes. She recalls hearing how Tusculum Hills began praying for the Lord’s direction and how they could be involved in reaching their neighbors. Tucker, a missionary with the International Mission Board, said there are 91 different people groups in Middle Tennessee and there are between 30 to 40 unreached people groups represented in a one-mile radius of the church. Tusculum Hills Baptist Church is located in this part of town, and before moving overseas, Tucker taught at an English as a second language center located in the church. Many of the refugees live in one section of town that has become a refugee resettlement location. Nashville, Tucker’s hometown, is home to the largest population of refugees from one Middle Eastern people group. NASHVILLE - Meeting a refugee at a community center in Nashville helped set the trajectory where Evie Tucker finds herself today, working among Middle Eastern refugees in a community center overseas.
The sign in front of Tusculum Hills Baptist Church welcomes attendees.
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