Over the years, I have become friends with many of the refugees living in my area of California. To celebrate one Sudanese refugee’s recent birthday, his 27th, we met at a pancake house for dinner. He has no family in the U.S. After eating, I pulled out 3 birthday cards from several of our mutual friends. They were just cards—not gifts or money orders or anything unusual. He gazed at this little pile on the table in front of him, and then slowly opened the envelopes. After reading the 2nd card and before opening the final one, he looked up at me, grinning widely. “Wow!” he said, “I’m getting a lot of things!”

I almost cried. Think about it: when was the last time you felt such a surge of gratitude for a few birthday cards? Refugee life is lonely. We can do much to ease refugees’ isolation by reaching out to them in simple ways. Wherever you live, it’s likely that there are refugees bagging your groceries, stocking retail shelves, cleaning hotel rooms. Next time you’re feeling annoyed because someone looks foreign and has a difficult accent, take a minute to wonder what their life has been and how they are coping today. Offer a smile. Introduce yourself. Thank them for being there. These are the ways we spread mercy beyond borders.

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