Basma Alawee

“Learning from Within: Stories of Women in the New World”

Worship Leader: David Austin
Accompanist: Dr. Gary Smart
Guest Musician: Cameron Bainger, Pianist

About our Service:
Millions of women around the globe are pushed out of their homeland due to wars and political persecutions every day. The risky journey into their new lives have been rarely documented and shared with the rest of the world. Our handbook, Learning from Within: Stories of Women in the New World, is designed to empower and educate women through storytelling. It includes the stories of brave female refugees and immigrants whose survival and leadership can be an inspiration to many other women all over the world.

Special guests from ARTUGEE:
BBUUC will host a few local women refugee artists who will have some of their art on display and for sale after the service.

About our Speaker:
Basma is a wife, a mother, a humanitarian, a Muslim, an engineer, a teacher, a writer and an activist who arrived in the United States in 2010 as a refugee from Iraq. Upon arriving in here she realized she came with significant advantages: a college education and a fluency in English. Therefore, it became her passion to help others like her succeed. She has volunteered with Lutheran Social Services and World Relief to help translate and adjust new refugees to the US. She helped create online classes for Arabic speakers to get their GED and she worked on the board of the Southeast Immigrant Rights Network. In her latest endeavor she is the director of the “We Are All America” campaign in Florida advocating for refugee rights. Finally, as a result of all of her hard work, Basma was selected as the Florida delegate for the UNHCR Refugee Congress.

Pennies from Heaven is May 5
Please save all of your coins for the first Sunday of each month and remember, bills are welcome too! Pennies from Heaven donations are given to Meals on Wheels programs in Mandarin and Clay County and are alternated each quarter.