A refugee is someone who has had to flee his homeland in order to survive. This usually means living in a UN-sponsored camp somewhere with no possibility of working or otherwise providing for himself and his family. In many places people have been living in these camps for years, sometimes even decades. Their only hope is to eventually be moved to a country that accepts a certain number of refugees. Often,they have no choice in where that country is. If their case is accepted, they go. This means that people from tropical jungles can end up in cold Northern countries, or that subsistence farmers can be sent to urban areas. These destinations are frequently in places where the newcomers don’t know the host language, food, or customs. Put yourself in their place. What would you need in order to start living again? Who could you lean on? How would you feel?
Of the 14 million people in the world now living as refugees, 9 million of them have been living in camps for ten years or more. The United States has the policy of accepting around 60,000 refugees per year for resettlement.
These facts were presented in a training session on how to befriend refugees that we attended last weekend at a local church. It was eye-opening. This is an area of intervention that seems ready-made for Christians. It is also an area where Christians around the world are already doing much, both in the original camps as well as in the resettlement process. We as individuals have a role that we can play in continuing this ministry of help in our communities.
Since our denomination is partnering with a church in Nepal, we were interested to learn that Nepalese make up one of the largest refugee groups being resettled here in the county where we live. This is one of God’s surprises since we were unaware of this before moving to the area. These Nepalese are one of the populations that has been living in camps for decades. Some of them are already Christians, having heard the Gospel while in the camps. Bill has worshipped several times with the church organized by one of the groups that lives nearest our town.
As an immigrant-background people, the Lord’s command also applies to us:
“When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34
Who are the “aliens” (refugees or immigrants) living near you that you can love and treat as native-born?
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