Sarah's Story Is Why We Exist.

Today is World Refugee Day. 🌏

It's a day set aside to honor the courage and resilience of people who have been forced to leave their homes because of war, violence, persecution, or instability.

For us, it's also a reminder that behind every label is a person with a story. And as we close our campaign, we want to share one more story.

Today, we'd like you to meet Sarah. We created this short film to tell her story—and, in many ways, the story of why UrbanPromise exists. If you watch one thing from this entire campaign, make it this video. 📽️→

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1QypzwfU9c

Sarah grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. As she describes it:

"It was normal — until one day it kinda wasn't."

The food ran out. The lines for bread got longer. The violence showed up in their neighborhood. So when Sarah was eleven years old, her family made the impossible decision to leave behind their friends, family, and the only home she had ever known.

Coming here was not easy, and as she tried to adjust to a new life in Nashville, she told us:

"There was a lot of me that I felt like had to be hidden."

Then, as a sophomore in high school, she found UPN. She spent the rest of her high school years as a StreetLeader and is now studying elementary education in college. This summer, she's returning as one of our camp interns, continuing to invest in younger students the same way others once invested in her.

As a StreetLeader, Sarah met a younger girl named Marianne — newly arrived, unable to speak English, and struggling to find her place. Marianne was around the same age Sarah had been when she arrived in Nashville.

As she says in the film:

"What I was able to give her that I didn't have was somebody that had been through the same struggles... I was able to reassure her that she could be herself."

They may not have had the exact same experiences, but Sarah understood what it felt like to be new and need someone who believes in you.

Since becoming a StreetLeader, she has spent years doing exactly that for others.

"I didn't feel like there was a place where I could be myself. But now I help others find it."

That's the story we celebrate on World Refugee Day.

Not simply that people survive displacement, but that they can flourish when someone invests in them and believes in who they are becoming, and then turn around and offer that same gift to others.

That's what we've spent the last few weeks celebrating through this campaign.

Five years of promises kept to:

Shamsia.

Abdiel.

Somaia.

Sarah.

Carla.

Anna.

Ivanka.

Bryan.

Masih.

And hundreds more.

Our birthday campaign ends today, but the stories continue to be written tomorrow and the next day, and the next. If you've given, share Sarah's story with someone. If you haven't given, please consider giving today. Every gift will help us continue creating a community of welcome, belonging, and becoming, where refugee and immigrant youth can step into their God-given story and discover who God created them to be.

With so much gratitude and hope for the future,

Shawna and Jonathan Sheahen

Co-Founders, UPN