Mooresville man finds home for refugees

When Mooresville resident Ron Major was a child, he felt a strong calling to be a missionary. He envisioned a life full of bugs, snakes, jungles and heat.

But his life turned out very different than he imagined.

“I got married, raised my family and pursued my career,” the retired real estate developer said. “Then I realized my service as a missionary actually involved ministering to refugee children.”

And that’s what Major’s been doing for the past 12 years with children from all over the world.

The refugee ministry Major co-founded is a joint effort of Cornelius’s Community in Christ Lutheran Church, where he is a member, and Charlotte’s Resurrection Lutheran Church, as well as other community partners. The outreach started as a boys’ club offering soccer and Bible study.

“Our refugee ministry is a place where all are embraced, all accepted, all loved, all supported,” Major said.

Two years ago, Major, his 16-year-old son, Devon, and Charlotte resident Patricia Edmondson started a free tutoring program for the children – most of whom are Montagnards, an indigenous people from Vietnam, who routinely face persecution in their country, Major explained.

“Most of the children were not allowed to be educated in their country,” he said. “We’ve had 8-, 10-, 15-year-old children arriving in this country unable to read and write.”

Community in Christ’s Associate Pastor Travis Norton sees ministering through the program as following Jesus’ own example of servanthood.

“Just as Jesus knelt down and washed the disciples’ feet, Christians should kneel down in service to others.” The children have “a great desire to take advantage of the American dream,” but face obstacles, Norton said.

“Besides the language gap, they get beat up at school,” he said. “They live in dangerous neighborhoods, where they feel like prisoners in their own homes.”

Edmondson helped remove some of those obstacles for 15-year-old Van Kpa. Because of bullying, Kpa was afraid to attend school. Through a scholarship, he now attends Charlotte Catholic High School and lives in a safer neighborhood with Edmondson, a retired attorney and former teacher, during the week.

Initially, the Majors and Edmondson met with the children in their Charlotte neighborhoods, but they moved to other locations to attract more volunteers.

Charlotte’s ImaginOn children’s library opened its doors to the program last year, but because of the library system’s funding limitations, the tutoring was moved to Huntersville’s North County Regional Library.

The program quickly grew to approximately 35 children each week. Forty volunteers helped run the program last year, but Major still had to turn students away.

The school-year tutoring began again Sept. 20. Volunteers work with children in 90-minute shifts, arriving anywhere between 6 and 7 p.m. each Monday. Tutoring consists of listening to children read and helping them with their homework.

“It’s simple yet very effective,” Major said. “We have tutors from age 10 to 89. Anyone in between these ages and can read qualifies.”

Major explained that some adult volunteers bring their children to help tutor.

“These parents tell us how much this has helped their own children to have an insight into how much of the rest of the world lives, to understand different cultures and to instill in (them) the spirit of giving,” he said.

Major hopes more volunteers will come forward to make a difference in the lives of these refugees. Besides tutors, the program needs drivers to take students to the library; volunteers to deliver donated food, clothing and furniture for the families; Boy Scout leaders for a new Montagnard troop; chaperones for field trips; and someone to set up appointments for Medicaid applications.

The needs of the refugees are many, but Major is confident God will provide.

“The Lord still delivers his people,” he said. “I am firmly convinced (he) brought these people halfway around the world for us to minister to.”

Want to help?
For more information on the tutoring program or how to volunteer, call Ron Major at 704-622-0517 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              704-622-0517      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.http://mooresvilleweekly.com/news/2010/10/mooresville-man-finds-home-for-refugees/

This story first appeared in the Oct. 15, 2010 issue of the Mooresville Weekly.