Multi-National Ministries
The Summer is coming to an end, but I can’t help but think about the awesome moment I had at the beginning of the Summer. I had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful people, who are doing some beautiful things in our community. It is very seldom, that you meet people and you can instantly feel their spirit. I had that feeling when I met Laurie Graves and Devin Bledsoe.
Laurie and Devin are staff members at Multi-National Ministries in Memphis, TN. For over 27 years, Multi-National Ministries has shown kindness to refugee and immigrant families living in Memphis-helping them to feel accepted, understand the culture, achieve academic success and feel the love of God. Multi-National is not about politics, petitions or protesting; they are just trying to follow God’s command to love their neighbors (no matter where they come from) and make the city of Memphis a better place. That’s why I am very excited about Multi-Nation Ministries. It’s just a beautiful feeling, knowing God’s people still exist.
Multi-National Ministries is the oldest refugee/immigrant organization in Memphis, TN. The organization started 27 years ago on Popular and Cleveland before they move to their new facility on 815 N. McLean. Their new home is 5,000 square feet and is where more than 700 individuals from five continents and dozens of countries with many different languages, religions, and cultures gather for English Classes, Homework Help, American culture experiences, Bible Club, holiday parties, and a lot more. I had the pleasure of visiting the facility and it very nice; it felt like home.
Multi-National Ministries believe the best thing for our city is for everyone who lives here to be well-educated upstanding members of our community; in this way, all of our lives will be enriched. Multi-National Ministries practice these beliefs with classes they offer weekly.
Here is a brief list of the weekly classes;
English For Mom & Preschool Readiness
Monday & Wednesday 9:45-11: 15 AM
Coffee, Conversation, and class-While women are improving their English their young children are in Preschool Readiness, being prepared for school through guided play and activities.
Contact: [email protected]
MNM Youth
Monday & Wednesday Evenings
Totally cool and fun stuff for Middle and High school students. Monday and Wednesday evenings are always Especially full of fun.
Contact: [email protected]
Monday Reading
3:45-7: 00 PM
A paired reading program to help improve the reading/English skills of PreK-4th-grade limited English-speaking children. Volunteers are matched with children with whom they read to each week. This is a Great volunteer opportunity for the whole family!
Contact: [email protected]
Tuesday/Thursday Homework Help
3:45-6: 00 PM (If you can only come 4:00-5:00, that would be Great, too!)
Just helping elementary-aged refugee and immigrant kids complete their daily homework assignments. Because most of these children do not have English speaking parents at home to help, this program is Really important!
Contact: [email protected] and [email protected]
Wednesday T.A.R.G.E.T. Kids
3:45-6: 00 PM (If you can only come 4:00-5:00, that would be Great, too!)
Creative snacks, lessons, and activities to help elementary kids learn to “live life on target!”
Tell the Truth
Accept Responsibility
Respect yourself & others
Good Neighbor
Everybody plays fair
Take care of each other
Contact: [email protected]
As you can see, Multi-National Ministries offer a lot of great classes to help enrich our community. They are also looking for great individuals to volunteer and help their mission.
If you would like to volunteer, you can email [email protected] or [email protected]. The next step is to show up at that certain program time and fill out all the needed forms and background checks or visit their website (www.multinationalministries.com) to fill out the forms.
Parents, you can register your child/children for Multi-National Ministries Programs on their website; (www.multinationalministries.com).
“We can choose to actively and practically be nice to those who are different from us – different cultures, different religions, different races. We can make friends with someone that others might ridicule…….We can smile at the person we pass at the store – even though we know we don’t share the same language. We can make an “outsider” feel welcome. We can try to put ourselves in another person’s shoes…and then treat that person as we would want to be treated.” Laurie Graves – Executive Director of Multi-National Ministries 
SmileMemphis is honored to shine a light on Multi-National Ministries. We are very excited about the wonderful things they are doing for our community. Just like Laurie said; we can smile at a person, even if we don’t share the same language, but we do share the same heart and respect for each other.
