River of Refuge newsletter, April 2025
Seven Days in Africa: ROR Case Manager Takes Mission Trip to Uganda
The East African nation of Uganda covers about 93,000 square miles and has approximately 46 million people.
It’s also a country where approximately 82% of households identify as Christian, and Uganda has tugged at Dianna Poston’s spirituality for years. Poston is River of Refuge’s senior case manager and founder of Someone That Cares International Ministry.
She finally made it to Uganda for a mission trip in February after a couple of previous attempts fizzled.
The trip, set up by a friend in San Diego, included ministering to children in an orphanage and a school about 100 miles apart in the towns of Masaka and Mukono. Poston was part of a trio that spent seven whirlwind days in Uganda (plus two travel days on both ends of the journey).
“The second we landed, we went and slept a couple of hours, got up, and we never stopped,” Poston said. The emotions of the trip made it impossible to sleep even when she tried.
She estimated they encountered thousands of kids of all ages during the trip. Sometimes, Poston said, you might see 2- and 3-year-olds walking with 5- and 6-year-olds through the clay roads with no adults in sight.
She recalled one Sunday morning service where kids were running in and out of the yard.
The work of a woman from Lawrence, Kansas, familiarized Poston with missionary work in Uganda. But Poston said her faith determines her travels, which have also taken her to El Salvador.
“I believe 100% that God is the one who puts the desires in my heart,” she said.
Poston is also highly empathetic. She can’t watch the news without crying and praying for victims of mudslides and tornadoes.
Poston did not contend with natural disasters in Uganda.
The weather was perfect — not unlike a nice spring day in Kansas City — and the people were amazing (“They all smile no matter what,” Poston said.)
Her experiences were both charming and harrowing:
The kindergarten-aged son of a host family thinking yogurt was covering her yard when he saw snow for the first time when Poston was on a video call with her husband. Riding in a van that the driver righted after taking a turn on three wheels near a steep embankment, the calm of the driver’s wife convincing Poston this was God’s way of teaching her to cope with fear.
The trip to Uganda reinforced Poston’s commitment to the families she assists at River of Refuge.
“It makes me crave more to help parents to thrive, to want to raise their children in healthy environments,” she said. “In Africa, when they have nobody, they depend on everybody, and so my part here is just to continue to carry love and let them know they’re not alone.”
ROR Hopes to Rev Up Support Through Car Shows
One of the beauties of the nonprofit sector is finding unexpected ways to get the word out about your work.
Such is the case for River of Refuge, which has the unique opportunity to engage the public through car gatherings scheduled to take place on its property on the first Saturday of each month from May through October.
The backstory is this:
AWOLsystems, a multimedia design firm, is a tenant in our building. Its CEO is a double-lung-transplant recipient and established Breathe Easy International, a nonprofit that helps patients with chronic respiratory conditions.
The CEO started Unnaturally Aspirated Events in 2017 to help raise funds for the nonprofit. Unnaturally Aspirated Events is the group holding the gatherings for automotive buffs.
The free events will raise awareness about Breathe Easy International and River of Refuge. ROR staff will be on hand, and we hope some of our families will attend as well.
“Anytime we can show people what we do, most people are going to say, ‘Hey, how can I get involved?’ That has been our experience,” said ROR Executive Director Pam Seymour.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
How valuable is the time volunteers donate to River of Refuge?
Last year alone, the value of the volunteer hours logged here would cover the cost of one occupied family unit for nearly 60 months. That is five years! The average family’s stay is four to six months.
The math is as follows:
River of Refuge benefited from nearly 2,300 volunteer hours, including the equivalent of nearly a full workweek donated by a mental health professional who assesses adults as they move into the ROR program. The volunteer hours equated to an in-kind contribution of approximately $40,850 based on the average Missouri volunteer hourly rate.
Those figures are meaningful throughout the year, but they are especially noteworthy as we celebrate April as Volunteer Appreciation Month.
We will formally recognize our volunteers’ hard work with a luncheon on April 26 from noon to 2 p.m.
We’ll present certificates of appreciation, a small gift, and a picnic-style lunch of hot dogs, chips, drinks, and desserts. Our organization thrives because volunteers donate their time helping with tasks like childcare, IT, filing, organizing, and cleaning.
We appreciate all of them so very much!
It could not be more fitting that, also on April 26, volunteers from the Raytown Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be tackling a huge cleanup on the lower walking trail in front of our building.
The trail used to be a haven where families could explore and get exercise. A quaint, old iron bridge spans a creek running through the property.
Over the years, the area has become a wooded mess.
We are thankful for this large group and will look forward to seeing what magic they can work while they are here. We hope they will take a break to join us for lunch and to meet other ROR volunteers, staff, and families.
Continuing the theme, earlier this month, volunteers from Messiah Church of the Brethren provided 300 filled Easter eggs for our Easter egg hunt as well as handmade chicken bags filled with candy.
Raytown Christian Church also provided filled Easter baskets for each child, as they have done for several years.
According to the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, the word “volunteer” comes from the Latin word voluntarius, which means “willing, of one’s free will,” and that in turn comes from voluntas, meaning “will” or “wish.”
The ChatGPT entry says the word entered English in the late 14th century and originally described someone who offered themselves for military service without being conscripted. By the 18th and 19th centuries, the meaning expanded beyond military use to refer to anyone who offers services freely or without pay.
I am happy that the willingness to serve has stood the test of time.
Until Next Time,
Pamela Seymour, Executive Director