“Know that the Lord our God loves refugees and His Spirit is moving among them. I pray that their stories will capture your heart like they did mine because then you’ll be moved to do something, too. If you do nothing else, pray that they will find Jesus, pray they will be reunited with their families, pray that they will find purpose and meaning in their lives. We as a country, and we as the Church, have largely forgotten them.”
During the summer of 2016, I spent a week in Germany listening to and spending time with refugees from a handful of countries. At the end of our time, my team sat down to write down a summary of our time together and what we wanted to pass on to family and friends back home. We ended up writing what you see above.
It’s been almost two years now, but I still carry those refugee stories with me every day. Their eyes, full of so much heartache, are forever a part of my memory. Their stories have driven and compelled me to advocate refugees back in the U.S., in addition to inspiring me to start a weekly after-school club for resettled refugee students.
It’s been almost two years now, but I still carry those refugee stories with me every day.
Their stories push me to continue to live out the Gospel in tangible ways. Because these stories have been so powerful in my life, I'd like to share some snapshots with you:
- The man who invited us into his room and picked up his Bible, kissed it, and said, “This is the love of my life.”
- The young girls who had seen horrifying acts of violence, but yelled “CINDERELLA!” when they saw the Disney princesses blanket I brought to the park.
- The man who asked for permission to hug me after sharing his story during a Bible study. I asked our translator what he said. “He says, ‘I love you, my sister.'”
- The family, ranging from children to a grandmother, who escaped by crawling under gunfire.
- The man who volunteered to translate for us, then asked if we could bring him a Bible in his native language.
In the months since I returned home, people have asked me how they can best love and lift up so many around the world like the people I met.
Pray for the parents, who have the same hopes and dreams for their children as many of you reading this post do for yours.
Here’s what I tell them: Pray that refugees will find the hope and peace that can only be found in Christ, because many I met were searching in the midst of such personal turbulence. Pray that their families will be reunited, as many I met were separated from parents, wives, and children. Pray for the children, some of whom have seen horrendous acts of violence and have experienced trauma I still can’t fathom. Pray for the parents, who have the same hopes and dreams for their children as many of you reading this post do for yours. Pray that your heart will be open and broken for the millions of displaced people around the world. Pray, if you’re struggling with how you should react to the ongoing refugee crisis, that God will show you the unconditional love He has for refugees.
Will you pray with me?
World Refugee Day is coming up (June 20), and several Christian Reformed ministries are coming together to support congregations who are looking for ways to love their refugee neighbors.
If you’d like to receive the World Refugee Day toolkit when it’s ready in early May, sign up at bit.ly/refugeetoolkit.
[Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash]
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