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.
