Christian Conscience
When a Story Becomes a Person
[this blog post was written by Kelly Dolan, World Relief’s Content Strategy Manager.]
If you can’t remember anything about World Refugee Day 2015, you’re not alone. If you’re like me, you didn’t even know such a day existed. I mean, we knew (roughly) what a refugee was because we’d occasionally hear a story in the news about those who had been displaced. But that’s all the refugee crisis was for a while—a distant story.
But then one morning last September, our computer and TV screens were filled with the now tragically iconic picture of the lifeless body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, his body washed up on a Turkish beach. As we learned more about one refugee child, a story in the news suddenly became a person.
This happened before I came to work for World Relief, before I was learning and telling the stories of refugees on an almost daily basis. I’m honestly embarrassed I didn’t know more about the refugee crisis before the photo surfaced.
After all that’s happened this year, more of us are aware of World Refugee Day 2016. And many of us care about refugees in a new way. But now there’s a different kind of story that’s filling our computer and TV screens. It goes like this…
“Refugees are dangerous. They’re violent people. They’re a threat to whatever country takes them in. The only way we can truly protect our country from terrorism is to keep refugees out.”
I’m guessing you’ve heard that story at least once already today. But without being rooted in any facts or personal narrative, that’s all it is—another story. It’s a story based on fear. There are some who want to use recent tragic events to tell us a story that creates fear. It may be a convenient story for their agenda. But it doesn’t make it true.
So today, on World Refugee Day, we want to not only tell you a different story, but to introduce you to a person. Meet Samir, a young man from Syria who has experienced much pain and much suffering, but has also found much hope.
If you’ve been afraid of refugees resettling in your town, our hope is that by meeting Samir, you’ll see your new refugee neighbors a bit differently. We hope it inspires you to meet more refugees. Because when you meet a refugee, a story becomes a person. And it’s much harder to be afraid—and so much easier to extend a loving welcome—when it’s a real person, not just a story in the news.
Also, let’s use today as a reminder to do everything we can to make sure that our new refugee neighbors like Samir don’t see us as just a story. Today, let’s commit to extending ourselves to our refugee neighbors so that as they are in the process of adjusting to a new country, new culture, potentially a new language, and discovering their best contribution to a society far from the place they once called home, we become real people to them as well.
As a story becomes a person for each of us, may God bring hope, healing, and peace to us all.
Want to know exactly how you can help refugees? Here are 6 ways.
Want to support World Relief as we serve refugees? Commit $15/month through Unlock Hope.
The Wounds of the Vulnerable
Like many in the United States, the World Relief staff woke this morning to the news of terror attacks in Belgium. The details and footage out of Brussels brought to mind the attacks on Paris just three months ago. We were reminded once again of the deep unrest felt throughout much of our world, and the level of violence and bloodshed that terrorist groups are willing to exact upon innocent civilians. We, like many others, weep and mourn for the losses suffered by our global neighbors in Belgium.
We also mourn the violence in Istanbul and the fear experienced by the general population as they were told to avoid public places even prior to Saturday’s bombing. We mourn for cities like Chicago where—while there hasn’t been an explosion of violence attracting an ongoing stream of media attention—there is a steady stream of violence and tension as people are killed on the streets every day, sometimes by the very sector of uniformed people whose responsibility it is to bring safety.
This morning’s news also reminded us that there are thousands of people in regions all around our world who suffer the threat of violence and bloodshed on a near daily basis. This fact does nothing to minimize the horror and tragedy those in Belgium have experienced today. But it does reinforce our deep concern for the vulnerable across the globe—those for whom poverty, injustice and war have inflicted deep wounds. These are wounds that will not heal on their own, and will likely take years (or even generations) to heal. But if the cycle of poverty, injustice and war continue in these regions, there is little hope the wounds will ever disappear.
Our highest commitment as an organization is to mobilize local churches in the United States and around the world to serve the most vulnerable. This includes empowering churches to meet the immediate needs of their communities, but it also goes far beyond this. Wherever people are vulnerable, we want to empower the local church to break the cycles of poverty, injustice and war that are inflicting and re-inflicting wounds on these communities. We want to stand in solidarity with our vulnerable brothers and sisters, whether they be in Brussels, Baghdad or Birmingham, Alabama.
Just this week, we launched a new initiative to help church leaders in the Middle East serve refugees who are fleeing the genocide against religious minorities. We seek to empower these church leaders to meet the immediate needs of the victims of genocide. But we also seek to empower them to build relationships, provide programs and economically develop their communities in a way that will lead to holistic and systemic change for their entire region. Our hope, our longing prayer, is that God will use the resources of the U.S. Church and the brave efforts of the Middle East Church to write a new history for these vulnerable people. A history where wounds are healed, and where communities who are now only surviving may once again thrive.
Our thoughts and prayers—and our resources and actions—must be with the vulnerable around the world. That we might stand for the vulnerable. And that we might play our part in God’s work to address and heal the wounds of the vulnerable.
6 Ways You Can Help Syrian Refugees Today
You’ve read the statistics. You’ve seen the images. And you’ve heard the stories of the Syrian refugee crisis. But you haven’t known what you can do to help.
You are not alone.
March 16, 2018 marked the seven year anniversary of the initial conflict in Syria that has led to a refugee crisis of historic proportions. The numbers are staggering—half of the population of Syria has fled the country, and 5.6 million people now live as refugees in neighboring countries. Yet recent research shows that individuals and churches are struggling to engage the crisis in a meaningful way.
While the reasons for this lack of engagement vary, one reason is that many people simply don’t know how to engage. A problem as complex as the Syrian refugee crisis can be hard to get your head around, let alone know what you can do about it.
Because of this, we at World Relief have tried to provide specific, straight-forward opportunities for each of us to help meet the immediate and long term needs of our Syrian friends and other refugees in the Middle East.
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Help refugees rebuild their lives in the U.S. Join the campaign today.
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Make a one-time donation to our work with refugees in the Middle East and here in the United States. Our partner churches and organizations are already in place, distributing welcome kits to newly displaced refugees, creating child friendly spaces for children displaced by conflict, providing psychosocial counseling to traumatized women and helping refugees arriving to the U.S. become independent and integrated in their new country.
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Watch and listen to four leaders share their unique perspectives about making a difference in the lives of refugees in the U.S. and around the world.
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Volunteer at a World Relief U.S. office. Help us meet the needs of refugees by providing compassionate and holistic care from the moment they arrive at the airport through their journey to self-sufficiency.
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Continue to learn more about the crisis. This list of resources provided by We Welcome Refugees is a great place to start.
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Pray. Download a prayer guide that guides you through a week of daily prayers for refugees.
No single one of us can solve a problem as vast as the Syrian refugee crisis. But every single one of us can do something. Today, may each of us choose to engage—to provide help where help is needed—in some meaningful way.
What Will You Leave Behind?
For almost two thousand years, Christians of many denominations have observed the season of Lent, beginning with the observance of Ash Wednesday. While the exact practices of Lent vary from one individual to another, one common practice has been to fast, or give up something, between Ash Wednesday and Easter. By abstaining from a vice, a specific indulgence or luxury, those who follow Christ give up something we would otherwise rely upon, letting our hunger for that thing drive us towards deeper dependence on God as we prepare for the redemption we celebrate on Easter Sunday.
In a sense, we who fast in some way during Lent leave something behind for a period of time. We know that at some point we may return to that thing. But for 40 days or so, we do not take it with us, do not rely upon it in the same way we otherwise would.
As is the case with many of the practices (like Lent) that our early church fathers and mothers introduced, the work God might do in us during throughout this season will look different for each of us. There’s no exhaustive list of what God does when we leave something behind, letting its importance to us diminish, allowing room for the Holy Spirit to increase God’s importance and form us spiritually.
And yet this year there is perhaps a particular quality to our practice of leaving something behind. Since last Easter, the Church has been moved by the stories of millions in the Middle East forced to leave behind almost all that they own. As bullets and bombs that were once miles away suddenly advanced to the streets where they lived, they fled for safety. Fleeing in the middle of the night, they took next to nothing with them, leaving behind homes, cars, family photos, precious heirlooms and more.
This lenten season, as we leave behind things of varying importance to us, perhaps the Holy Spirit will introduce yet another way in which we are spiritually formed. Perhaps God might give us a subtle yet profound reminder of our brothers and sisters forced to leave behind their very lives, a reminder that moves us to new levels of compassion. And perhaps we might even practice—in some small way—the spirit of dependency our refugee friends practice on a daily basis, a practice that would lead us throughout Lent and beyond to experience true justice with ourselves, with our neighbor and with God.
How do we foster generosity in the next generation?
In this season of giving, how do we foster generosity when so much of the modern Christmas experience through the eyes of a child is about getting?
We talked with Joanne Graffam about raising cheerful givers. As a mother of four and grandmother of kids ranging from ages three to 14, Joanne and her husband Alan have taught their children and grandchildren to live by 2 Corinthians 9:7, proclaiming “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Reflecting on her upbringing, Joanne shared how her parents taught her what it meant to give. And when she married the son of Dr. Everett Graffam, Executive Director of World Relief until his retirement in 1978, her interest in giving to World Relief was sparked through the stories Dr. Graffam frequently shared about the needs of the people in the many places he visited. Alan and Joanne have passed along these lessons to their four children through conversations at home and mission trips to Paraguay, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Russia and around the U.S.
One simple way the Graffams foster generosity in their family is through a holiday tradition. At Thanksgiving each of their children and grandchildren chose a gift from World Relief’s Catalog of Hope. There is much joy in seeing how each one, young and old, chose a gift that reflects their interests and what’s been laid on their heart. At Christmas, each child and grandchild will receive a card provided by World Relief that explains how the chosen gift will make an impact through World Relief’s work in the area of either health and child development, economic development, disaster response, refugee and immigration services or peace building.
This straightforward tradition practiced by the Graffam family is rooted in the true meaning of Christmas and allows the power of generosity to be experienced on a tangible level both by both the giver and the receiver. Because of people like the Graffams over 3.5 million people across the globe have been served by World Relief in 2015. And because of younger people being intentionally shaped by the Graffams–and all of you similar parents and grandparents out there–World Relief will continue making an impact for good across the globe for years to come.
And by the way, it’s never too late to start teaching your children or grandchildren about the power of generosity.
How can we empower the vulnerable in a holistic way?
In every passing moment, children are orphaned by disease, women are widowed by violence, families are devastated by natural disasters and refugees are fleeing their homeland due to persecution. These stories of the vulnerable can be heartbreaking. Here at World Relief, we work with local churches to holistically serve communities.
This Christmas season we are challenging 1000 people to join World Relief by giving $100 to help support needs of the most vulnerable:
Your gift helps support our 5 key initiatives across the globe:
- Health and Child Development
- Peace Building Programs
- Refugee and Immigration Services
- Disaster Response Initiatives
- Economic Development
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You have the chance to make a difference now.
Acceptance. Friendship. Hope: Good Neighbor Teams go beyond supplying material needs to refugees
World Relief currently provides refugees with resettlement assistance that includes housing, employment services, micro-enterprise loans and immigration services. But we cannot do it alone. We depend heavily on volunteer and church support, both financially and in practical ways. Churches and small groups around the country are mobilizing into Good Neighbor Teams to serve newly arriving refugee families for a period of six to 12 months—supplying material needs like food, clothing, and transportation, and tangible services like school registration, community orientation, job preparation and English tutoring.
Good Neighbor Teams also recognize the importance of offering even greater gifts to refugee families. By valuing the stories, dreams and contributions of the newcomers, churches and small groups are extending the gifts of friendship, belonging, and acceptance to those who are entering an unfamiliar world.
Life Center North Church in Spokane recognized its vision and mission fit seamlessly into World Relief’s mission to empower the local Church to serve the most vulnerable. The church’s leadership trusted God to catalyze missionally-minded people from among its 1,100-member congregation to form an initial World Relief Good Neighbor Team.
The team, comprised of people of different ages and stages of life, came alongside recent refugees to Spokane, including the 11-member Muslim family from Somalia. Lead Pastor Mark Mead, who led the initial team, said, “We are connected to a mission beyond ourselves as we obey the Great Commission.” He expected the team would be a blessing to refugee families, but he wasn’t expecting the blessings that came to him and his church as a result of serving. In the next year, the church hopes to form six to ten more Good Neighbor Teams.
“We share the mission of Jesus and that is what attracts people to our group,” says Pastor Mead. “Thank you, World Relief for helping mobilize the local church to what moves the heart of God.”
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The hallmark of our country is to welcome the persecuted
Jenny Yang, Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief, joined Suzanne Meridien of Syrian American Council on Hashtag VOA (Voice of America) earlier today to bring clarity on how the Paris Attacks have created an uncertain future for Syrian Refugees in the United States and what we, as Americans and Christians, can do to welcome refugees.“One of the hallmarks of our country is actually to welcome the persecuted.” – Jenny Yang
View the full interview below:
A Christian Conversation about Refugees | Refugee Crisis
Like a tsunami, waves of terror from the Paris attacks are crashing upon American shores. Valid questions pour in about the U.S. refugee resettlement screening process. Securing personal safety – in the face of sometimes overwhelming fear – drives these understandable questions. Answers are not difficult to come by; but not every answer is actually grounded in the facts. Ideological agendas have seeded an answer-seeking rumor mill that spreads myths-as-fact via social media. As Charles Spurgeon quipped, “A lie can travel halfway around the world, while the truth is still putting on its boots.”
Church leaders like Leith Anderson, President of the National Association of Evangelicals, have called for reasonable security combined with Christian compassion, “Of course we want to keep terrorists out of our country, but let’s not punish the victims of ISIS for the sins of ISIS.” “It is completely right to ensure that the United States have a strong process to discern who are truly refugees and who are trying to take advantage of refugees,” says Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, but “we cannot love our neighbors at the same we’re standing aside and watching them be slaughtered.”
Screening out terrorists is imperative and is the responsibility of our country’s national security agencies. That said…as Christians, what is our unique responsibility as followers of Jesus in all of this? What should we be most concerned about – should it be our safety?
Let’s take a step back. What if we moved from a security-centered refugee conversation to a Jesus-centered refugee conversation? It might look like exploring the Scriptures surfaced in Relevant Magazine’s article, “What the Bible Says about How to Treat Refugees.” It might also look like Christians in the West learning from Christians in the majority world who face terror and persecution daily as explained in the Christianity Today article, “Terrorists are Now the Persecuted Church’s Greatest Threat.” It might look like Christians asking the question, “What is God up to?” like the Desiring God blog that sees a sovereign God purposefully bringing the nations (rather than fear) to our shores.
A Jesus-centered refugee conversation might cause us to remember that we are in fact following a Middle Eastern Refugee Savior whose family fled a genocide to Egypt. We might remember that our biblical identity as “strangers and aliens” because our identity is first found as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
And as we move from conversation to action, how might we respond? Welcome a vulnerable refugee family into your community by exploring how to become a Good Neighbor Team.
A Jesus-centered refugee conversation might look like learning how to follow a God who “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). This same sacrificial God commands us to “welcome the stranger” and “love him [the immigrant] as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34).
By Damon Schroeder II World Relief Director for US Integral Mission
Who is our neighbor?
Meet, Johnny, one of thousands of our volunteers across the globe choosing courage and generosity by welcoming new families to the U.S. Hear Johnny’s story and why he is committed to serving refugee families. “It is incumbent on Christians to love God and love others.” – Johnny
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