To be quite honest I was and am still very ignorant on the refugee crisis around the world. Like many, I only know what is portrayed in the news or what I’ve heard from others around me. We are currently partnered with Oasis, an organization in Larnaca, focused on supporting refugees in Cyprus. On our second day here our team attended an orientation that was extremely eye opening and heart stirring. So I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned and a little bit of what we’ll be doing this month.
First of all I’d like to throw out some terminology and distinguish between International Migrants and Forcibly Displaced People. International Migrants are those who choose to live outside of the country of their birth (this includes both legal and illegal migrants). There are currently about 244 million migrants in our world today. On the other hand, Forcibly Displaced People (FDPs) are those uprooted from their homes involuntarily often due to war, violence, or other humanitarian disasters. There are currently around 68.5 million FDPs in our world today, which make up about 27% of the world’s International Migrant population.
Refugees are a sub-category of FDPs that have had to cross an international border in search of safety. There are 21.3 million refugees in our planet today. Here’s a graphic to help place all these numbers in context:
“Every minute 24 more people become forcibly displaced.”
& here’s another good info graphic with some really good and interesting information about FDPs and refugees around the world:
I was really surprised to learn the 85% of refugees are actually being hosted and received by developing countries! The news in the U.S. makes it seem as though we are receiving great numbers of refugees when in reality we are only helping and welcoming a small percentage. I understand that people stand on all sides of the spectrum when it comes to whether or not we should receive refugees in our country and I don’t want to argue or debate with anyone but simply highlight and share little bit of God’s heart for the strangers in our land:
- We are called to neither mistreat nor oppress strangers in our land but instead to love them as ourselves, for we were also once strangers. We should love and serve refugees with compassion and empathy.
‘You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. “You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.’ Exodus 22:21-24
‘Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ Leviticus 19:33-34
- We have the responsibility to reflect who God is. God cares for and is hope to the hopeless. We should share His love and hope through our interactions with refugees.
‘The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly.’ Psalms 146:7-9
It is really sobering to try to imagine living in a country and situation so terrible that you would choose to leave your country, your home, your comfort, your family, your culture, and your language just for the hope and possibility of something better. This is beyond an illegal immigration problem. Asylum Seekers (hoping to become recognized as Refugees) are people who have lost everything, they have nothing to return to in their countries. Often times their family members have been murdered or have died in transit to another country. They have to live in camps and have little to no rights in the countries they are in, they have limited work opportunities, are constantly seen as “other” by the citizen’s of the countries they are in.
It is only by God’s grace that we were born in America. We could have easily been born in a different country under very different circumstances. How would you like to be treated if you were forced to flee your home country due to extreme circumstances? Let us treat Refugees in this way so that they would come to know Him!
‘From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.’ Acts of the Apostles 17:26-27
Christ calls us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, clothe the naked, heal the sick, visit the prisoner. Inasmuch as we do these things for the least of these, we are doing them unto Christ himself. And he will give the righteous eternal life; but to those who do not do these things he will not recognize nor bring into His Kingdom. (Read Matthew 25:31-45)
‘But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.’ Luke 12:48
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- Pray, Pray, Pray — For the refugees and displaced people all over the world. Specifically for those that we will encounter and interact with this month, that they would be saturated in God’s love and comfort. That we would serve them and treat them with the utmost respect and that they would feel heard and loved by us.
As always don’t hesitate to reach out to me for prayer or if you have any questions about anything I’ve shared. I love you and am so honored by all of your love and support!
*All statistics/images used came from www.IAFR.org and www.UNHCR.org*
