Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Conception: Empowering to Serve Refugees



We each have heard about or know at least one person who is a refugee. News media report of nations upset by corruption, war, greed, and natural disaster. The United Nations High Council on Refugees (UNHCR) defines a refugee as, “A person who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. That refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. These refugees most likely cannot return home or fear to do so” [https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/what-is-a-refugee]. Another thing to understand is refugees do not come only from Middle-eastern countries. They come from the Far East, Europe, east Europe, Africa, and North and South America. People from first-world countries even seek asylum.

With the 20+ million refugees and asylum seekers on earth, how does one help? Where do they start? What should they do? With the first article in this series, we remembered everyone, not just Christians, is to help their neighbor. God made each person with the innate capacity to empathize, love, and care for others. As Christians, we know we are to love our neighbors, those who find themselves in need whether they are family, friend, or foe. This article will help each of us as we seek God’s wisdom on how to serve refugees in our communities. The best place to begin is with God.

Conception

As with the beginning of any program, task, or organization, before it can start, an idea for the program must occur. For a faith-based refugee program, the beginning is no different. A conception of the idea must come from God. If a person wants to help someone, she could buy clothes and take them to the person in need. What if the person was a different size than the clothes, or the person no longer lived in that place because he didn’t have rent money? Perhaps the person was starving, instead of shivering. When you give the person unneeded clothes, are you helping or just appeasing your conscience? For this reason, conception must come from God. Prayer, inspiration, determination, and further prayer should occur during the conception stage of ministry.

Prayer

If we truly want to follow God, we should seek His will. Just because a vacancy exists for a person to work in a ministry doesn’t mean God wants you used there. Pray and keep praying until God tells you where to work (Matthew 7:7). From personal experience, when at term’s end on the mission field, the ministry in which I worked was completed. Determined from that point not to do just anything, I waited on God. I spent November and December seeking God’s will. I returned to the field not knowing, but continued praying through January and February. Eventually, God told me to look around and asked what I saw. I saw refugees, no longer just people from another country. (Funnily, I qualified for that title). I saw people who fled for their lives, needed help, and hurt from trauma. This example of waiting for God with expectant prayer emphasizes determined and expectant praying must come before inception (Habakkuk 2:3).

Vision

When you’ve prayed and God has shown you the work He wants to do through you, you don’t jump right in and work. You begin by understanding the situation in which God wants to use you. A worker must be educated before he goes to work. He must receive the vision as God ordains it. This worker must recognize the people being touched by the ministry. He must understand what work needs to be done and how. This inspiration, this vision, comes from God.

Determination

A very important part of conception is for the worker to have the determination to follow God’s leading. Whether it costs him nothing or costs him his all, his calling by God should sustain him in the work. When the worker’s heart grows heavy from the suffering, and when the needs of the work require his money, time, and mind to be “all in” to make a difference and stay the course, he must be determined to stay where God called him, following God’s leading. Praying until God tells you in what ministry to work, no matter how long it takes, is of great importance.

Prayer

Conception is incomplete until prayer enwraps the whole program. Prayer should lead you to seek God’s will, His vision for you now, and to keep you determined-steadfast-in the task He gives you. It should be included at the end of conception, too. Without prayer enwrapping conception, the boat has wind and goal, but no rudder to direct it. If Paul had not sought God’s guidance, he might have gone to Rome too soon and the Emperor may not have heard the gospel. God must be the One who steers the ship. Having His vision and determination to do as He called you is invigorating, but do not set sail without God. He guides the direction in which you are to go and minister.

Conclusion

You may have refugee friends or know of refugees, and their plight breaks your heart. To begin work, you must seek God for His vision. This requires prayer. You must be emboldened to remain steadfast and determined in the work, not wavering when days are difficult and require more than you think you can give. This conception of God’s will for your life must be draped with prayer from start to finish. Without prayer at the end of this stage, the vision has no aim, no direction.

To begin work for the Lord in aid of refugees, God must call one to the task. With that calling comes His vision, the strength to remain steadfast, and the drive to do whatever it takes to complete the task. With the conception God gives, an inception-a start-can occur. Inception takes a person from envisioning and empowering (conception) by God through three phases of preparing and doing ministry to help refugees.