A volunteer had a blessed experience with one of the patrons at last month’s LLP event and wanted to share his touching story:

She had the loudest and brightest hijab in the Laundromat. She was also young and smiled more than the other Muslim women. Her husband was tall and large. I spoke to her husband first and helped him start the washing machines when they were ready. He said he needed to go to work and that his wife would do the drying. An hour later she flagged me down to start a series of dryers for her with my magic laundry card. Like her husband, she was noticeably grateful for the free help. Since we had made eye contact several times this morning, I asked her how she was doing.
“Fine. Very well. Thank you much.”
“Where are you from?” She said she was from Sudan. Not South Sudan—Sudan.

“Oh really? We supported South Sudan’s independence last year.”
“But it is terrible in the North” she said, as her engaging smile disappeared.
For the next ten minutes she relayed how she had been threatened and tortured by the Sudanese government.

Just then someone poked my arm, needing me to start their dryer. This conversation was too intense to drop. I handed them the magic card and asked them to bring it back. They did.

“Why were you tortured by your government?”
“Not the government. The security forces. They tortured me because I went to Darfur to help the people.” 
“Are you from Darfur?”
“No! I tell you already, I am from Sudan. Because my training is medicine, I go to Darfur to help people. The man who runs my government, he burns entire villages in Darfur. I go to help them.” 
“And they tortured you for providing relief?”
“Yes. They tortured me five times. And they make me to have sex.” 
“What??! Are you saying they raped you because you provided relief to Darfur refugees??”

She nodded her head resolutely. The certainty of her answer and the surprising lack of anguish or shame on her face confirmed the validity of the reports that I’ve read—that rape is a primary tactic used by governments, tribes and clans in African countries. One in four African women is a victim of political or tribal-motivated rape.
“The last time, they say the next time they come, they will kill me. That’s when I go to American embassy and ask for asylum. They give me permission to come to USA as Visitor. Then I can get work permit, then Green Card. This is my home now. I want to stay here.”

Another request to start a dryer. I handed someone my card without breaking eye-contact with my guest. We talked a little more about how her life in America is freer and safer, and how she is finding community among other Sudanese and African immigrants. Her smile returned and I could see she was genuinely thankful to have a new life here where she and her husband and her newborn child could live in safety.

But this was too emotional to just discuss and then leave hanging. God has us at this Laundromat today for a reason. There is something this woman needs that God wants to give her.

“Can I pray for you?” I asked.
“Yes, of course” she said as she smiled, assuming that I wanted to pray for her in the privacy of my home.
“I would like to pray for you right now.”
“Oh!” she said, her head pulling back and her hand blocking her heart, “But I am Muslim.”

–Quick, brain: Think of something.–

“That’s wonderful” I said, watching her face to see how she would react to what I was about to say next.
“You know that Koran says much about Isa” (Arabic for “Jesus”).
“Yes” she nodded.
“And the Koran says that Jesus blesses people, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, yes” she agreed.
“And if I pray to Jesus and ask him to bless you and your family in his name, he will bless your family, correct?”
“Yes, yes!” she said with a growing eagerness.
“Then let’s pray!” I smiled.
“Okay” she agreed, not really knowing what to do.

I closed my eyes and thanked Jesus for protecting her life and for bringing her family safely here. I asked him to heal the wounds and scars of the past—I could hear her agreeing out loud with this—and to bless her new life here as well as her husband and their newborn child.

“In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I looked up and she was standing there with a thankful look on her face. I know Muslim women aren’t supposed to touch men who aren’t their husbands, but the moment came over me and I told her that I wanted to give her a hug, to which she complied. I told her to let us know if she had any other needs in case we could help.

Then it was on to the next washing machine.

I have no idea what she will tell her husband tonight.
I have no idea what it must feel like to be prayed for by someone else, maybe for the first time in your life.
All I know is that I was obedient and took the chance I’ve been hoping for. The rest is up to God.

Perhaps we’ll see her next month.

School is out for Summer!  Let the 100-degree days begin…  Nothing better to kick the summer off than serving the local Irving community and getting those clothes clean!

A lot of great things have happened since the last LLP event.  Our church, Irving Bible Church asked us to be a part of a Ministry gathering where a bunch of ministries had booths where the church members could walk up to and gather information about each ministry.   Through this we were able talk to some members that didnt even hear about this ministry and some were also interested in volunteering!

The last month of our Life After Laundry has been interesting too.  None of the weeks were consistent, but God provided clear direction each week of what we needed to do, from folding laundry one week for one of our regular LLP patrons, “A” , then the following week hosting a bible study with “A” and her sister “J”, followed by another study with a totally new group of people, then followed with a night of prayer for our dear LLP friends “T” and his mother “V” (who is moving to Florida).

We started a new thing last month called LLPirving’s “VERSE OF THE MONTH”.  Check out this month’s verse:

Due to a large amount of Hispanics in the area, we also decided to put together a Spanish version (still working on translating the title):

Here is the info for this month’s event: 

Time:  9am – noon (or whenever allocated funds for the month is spent)
Where: Amigo Laundry
3349 Country Club Drive W, Irving, TX

If you plan on doing laundry that day, please swing by for up to 3 loads of laundry free – no strings attached (we are there to serve).  We also provide free laundry supplies, refreshments, and children activities.

If you would like to make a donation or sign up to volunteer, please click on links above.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The first month’s meetings of Life after Laundry were pretty uneventful.  It was just the two of us (“T” and “E”).  We knew God wanted us to have a bible study for the community, but were unsure on the finer details (ie. which day, what time, how to get the word of the study out to the surrounding community). So we spent the first meeting sessions praying for God’s direction with this study.

On May 9th’s session, we hung up posters on the bulletin boards that the owner of the laundromat installed for us to use for advertising for our ministry and bible study.  However, instead of advertising for our ministry (since we have no problem getting word out by mouth) along with our bible study poster, we installed the LLP Verse of the Month:

We prayed that those in the community who don’t know Jesus would at least see this poster for a glimpse of His Word and get hope or encouragement, and maybe plant that seed of seeking God through our study.

We then made our regular visit to see “V” and “T”.  ”V” was struggling with finding work and with her lease ending at the end of the month, she decided that it was time to move out of state and back to Florida where her daughter lives.  We asked about her son “T”, but she didn’t know his whereabouts and we could sense that there was concern for his well-being.  We told “V” that we would stop by next week and drop off some boxes for her belongings.

Upon arrival back to the laundromat, “T” wanted to take pictures of our newly hung posters, since he initially forgot to do so as soon as we had hung it up.  This is where God stepped in for this study:  While “T” was taking pictures, “E” stumbled upon one of our regular patrons “A” doing laundry and folding clothes – a month’s worth of clothes.  So we ended the night helping “A” fold clothes and getting to know her more.  We also had the opportunity to inform her of our study and invite her to join us next week.  She was open to that and told us she would be there with friends!

Well, on May 16th’s session we walked in the laundromat, and we noticed the posters were missing from the bulletin boards.  We initially thought they were removed due to complaints from the patrons of the laundromat.  Also we didn’t see “A” at the laundromat either.  We were trying not to be discouraged.

But the manager came to us and told us that the posters had just fallen down – supposedly the thumbtacks doesn’t grasp to the board well.  What a relief!  So we got a ladder and started re-hanging the posters.  Once we hung the last poster up, there was “A”, her sister “J” and 4 of their children standing there looking at us – fashionably late, but we were happy to see them!

We immediately started eating dinner together and kicked off our first official lesson.  We spent about 30 minutes in discussion and prayer!  We pray to see them again this coming Wednesday.

After our study, we headed over the “V” and “T” place again and this time we got to see both of them.  We dropped off some boxes for “V”‘s move and held hands and prayed for both of them – “V” for her move and “T” for his personal issues that he is going through.  We reminded them of the study we are having and “T” is going to make a concerted effort to be there this time around.  We have “V” cell phone # so we will make sure to remind them this time.

So far May has been a great month for Life After Laundry.  There is still lots of work and prayer to go in building this sub-ministry, but with God leading the way, anything is possible.