Find refugees in your state/province Find an ethnic group in North America |
Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries (ARIM) was created to coordinate, facilitate, and expand Adventist ministries to refugees, immigrants, and visitors to North America, especially those of unreached people groups. Our mission is to:
Terri Saelee coordinates Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries through the office of Elder Ernest Castillo, Vice President of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Telephone: (608) 443-6575 Email: terri.saelee@nad.adventist.org Bio: Terri (West) Saelee discovered refugees while attending Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska when she responded to a bulletin board request to give Cambodian refugees rides to church in their language. That summer she went as a student missionary to teach English and Bible in the refugee camps in Thailand. Six months turned into four years as she discovered the joy of refugees when they learned about God. Returning to finish her education, Terri discovered refugees in the States who spoke the languages she had been learning in Thailand. Responding to God's leading, she had the privilege of launching SEARCH (Southeast Asian Refugee Community Helps), a joint outreach of Weimar College and the Sacramento Japanese Church, and leading the team of volunteers in reaching out to Lao, Hmong and Mienh refugees in Sacramento. This led to an indigenous Lao congregation. In 1995, Terri married Ko Saelee, a church planter from Thailand who had come as a Student Missionary from Thailand Mission College (now Asia-Pacific International University). Together they planted a Hmong congregation in Sacramento and are now reaching out, with their three children, to Hmong refugees in Wisconsin and Minnesota where they now serve two Hmong congregations, one in Madison, Wisconsin, and one in St. Paul, Minnesota. Terri coordinates ARIM (Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries) from home. Welcome to the website designed to network to bring refugee needs and resources together. Please bear with us as we develop our new site. We welcome your ideas, suggestions, and contributions. Contact us. |
