Just Listen

Today, I had a “Hello” waiting for me on my FB messages when I woke up. I did not know who the person was, but that is often the case with my author page, so I said, “Hello” back. The person’s name was Mataa and I just felt I was supposed to do it.

Within a couple minutes, this unknown “voice” wrote me and said, “Can I tell you my story.” You know what I said, “Of course.” Everyone has a story and the first part of healing from a trauma is telling your story to a person who really listens to you. I’ve been in that position, so I said, "yes."

This person, whom I was later to find out is a 19-year-old man from Sudan, told me his horrific story. I waited until he was finished. I told him that was horrible; I'm sorry he experienced that. I knew somewhat the kind of trauma he went through because I have heard refugee stories that make your blood go cold and your heart stop in the last 7+ years I have worked with refugees. 

I asked what he needed. He said he had never been to school until he arrived at the refugee camp in northeastern Kenya. Now, he said, he is in form 2 and the school requires fees to be paid to continue his education. He doesn’t know how he will finish school. That is what he wants, to finish school.

We spoke some more. He asked where I live and work. I asked if he is a Christian. He said he is. We chatted some more. At the end of the conversation, I asked him, “How did you know about me? How did you find me?” He said, "I have seen your Facebook site and saw you are a caring lady. I knew you would listen to my story. You are a Christian."

Some days all we have to do is just listen, truly listen. That is our gift from God when we repent. That is our gift to other people who are in pain. Just listen. God does it every day when we come to Him in our quiet times and when we have our private devotions with Him. He listens and says, “That’s MY daughter.” "That’s MY son.”

Just listening is a GIFT.

In Their Words

What colors and sounds come to mind when you think of fleeing your country in fear and desperation? Are brilliant yellows and glorious greens in your mind’s eye showing you sunny days and prosperity? Do lilting laughter and babbling birds tickle your mind’s ear? Perhaps your mind sees black, gray, and brown making you think of destruction, despair, and decay? Possibly crying and wailing resound like a percussive peal of bells in your mind’s ear from death by starvation or gun fire.

The latter are not the sounds or colors most people hear daily. They are unfathomable to millions of people. People of the world cannot imagine living through these daily cries of horror, pain, and desolation. They cannot comprehend this myriad of mental and physical assaults each day. Still, 20+ million people daily experience this life.

The life of refugees and asylum-seekers occurs because of conflict and environmental disaster. Conflict most often is politically based. It arises from prejudice, greed, selfishness, hatred, and fear. Environmental disasters such as earthquakes, droughts, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and fires cause people to leave their homes and countries, too. For people who exist in these situations, no end to despair seems to exist. With nothing to lose, they flee within moments, days, or weeks of the conflict or natural disaster. Often, they leave with only the clothes they wear, thinking primarily of saving their lives.

These stories do not arise only from one region of the world. They come from around the globe. The media in first-world countries portray most refugees coming from war-torn areas in the Middle-East and in north Africa where religious or political strife causes fear, persecution, and death. Refugees and asylum-seekers come from around the world. After the hurricane in Puerto Rico, the floods in Bangladesh, the tsunami in Indonesia, and other places where catastrophes occurred, people left destitute and un-aided sought rest and help in other countries. They hoped one day to go home.

The stories below form the first of several articles in this series that will reveal to us daily experiences of refugees and asylum-seekers. Refugees wrote their stories in answer to three questions. The names used are pseudonyms to protect the refugees. This interviewer only made grammatical changes to their written answers. The refugees in this article are from central African nations. Three questions were asked of each refugee and asylum-seeker. They were as follows.

1.      What was life like in your home country?

2.      What made you decide to leave your country?

3.      What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

Interviews

Jean Baptiste

Question 1: What was life like in your home country?

Life in Burundi was good before 1993, but after that became worse because of the war.

Question 2: What made you decide to leave your country?

In 2004, I started university studying electrical engineering. By the time I was into my second year there, the rebels came to my school and were forcing everyone to follow them and join the army. I left Burundi and went to Tanzania where I lived in the bush without spare clothes and food. By God’s grace, I managed to communicate with a Tanzanian person and explained to him where and how I was suffering in the bush. He helped me a lot to escape the army by hiding me in his and friends’ houses. They told me someone could take me to Malawi where I could get a small job.

I left Tanzania with no government papers. They helped me cross the border. It was not easy for me in Malawi. Communication was difficult. I sold water and peanuts for food. By God’s mercy, I managed to get a small amount of money. I was living on the street. I met some guys who were going to Mozambique, and I decided to follow them. Mozambique was worse for me because of the Portuguese language.

Question 3: What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

In 2007, I moved to South Africa. I was sleeping under the bridge for three months in the cold. To survive, I begged on the trains. I managed to get a job as a car guard and I was happy to get a small bit of money. [A car guard is an informal guard that sometimes receives tips from the car owners while they shop.] From there I started to communicate with my parents via letters. In their minds, they thought I was no longer on this earth. I did an electrical course and got married. God blessed me with 3 kids. I have a family and friends. I have spiritual parents who are local Baptist missionaries. I am a servant of God as a pastor for other people from Burundi at a Methodist church. I don’t have a job that pays and life has been hard physically and spiritually. I struggle to get government papers from home affairs, first refugee status then work permit. That is the thing that makes me worry most in South Africa. Without papers, I cannot work a regular job.

Alleyah

Question 1: What was life like in your home country?

In my country of Burundi, my life was wonderful. I was a student at university majoring in economics, but after that the war started and everything was ruined.

Question 2: What made you decide to leave your country?

I decided to leave my country because there was no peace. People killed each other because of insecurity. After my brother was killed, I decided to leave my country.

 

Question 3: What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

Oooh, my life here in South Africa is very, very difficult. I have no job. To get a job is a very difficult thing. Sometimes if you get a job, they pay you a small amount because you are a foreigner. Some companies don’t want to hire foreigners so that makes it difficult to get money for rent and food. It is difficult to get the government documents so we can stay here legally and work. Because of these things, we have so many problems here in South Africa.

Pierre

Question 1: What was life like in your home country?

Life is difficult in my home country. Something which makes life very difficult in my home country is poverty. It is not easy to get a job because there are not enough companies where many people can get a job. Even when you get a job, the money you get per day is not enough for all you need. Per day, they pay $1. Imagine if you have a family, how you will be able to feed your family with $1 a day.

Another thing that makes life very difficult is insecurity. Since 1993, there has been no peace in our country because of war. All presidents want to reign many years. That makes the political opposers (rebels) fight to chase away a president who doesn’t want to share the power with others.

The country's economic problems come down to these problems-poverty, insecurity, and war. It's why so many people flee from our country to South Africa where they think life might be very good.

Question 2: What made you decide to leave your country?

In 1994, I left my home country to go to Tanzania, my neighbor country, where I spent fifteen years as a refugee because of war. I started studying in primary school and finished secondary school where I got my degree.

Life was not good because I could have no job in the refugee camp. We were not even allowed to go out of camp to search for something to eat. Although the situation was not good in my home country, I decided to go back home with my brother.

When I returned home in 2009, I got a job in the government because UNHCR (United Nations High Council on Refugees) helped the refugees who repatriated to their country. To get a job in my home country, you have to be a member of the political party that is in power. They forced me to support them but I refused because I remembered what happened in the 1993 war when ten people in my family died because they were in a political party.

After four years back there, I was teaching and they (the president’s supporters) told me to join in their political party in order to make all people love and support their party. It was the president's second round. I refused again to join their party. What happened? They sent five policemen in the night to catch me at me home and they hid me for seven days in an unknown place. My family weren’t happy and went out to search for me, but they didn't find me. The policemen hit me and did anything they wanted.

After seven days, they took me to court and accused me of having five guns in my house. They said I trained people to fight against the government. Immediately, they took me to jail where I stayed imprisoned for seven months. When they called me to court three times, I explained what happened to me and how they did violence to me. The judges listened to me and decided to release me from jail. The government allowed me to continue my daily job with no problem. I continued my job as well as I did before.

Unfortunately, I received three letters warning me to stop teaching otherwise they would cut my head off. I didn't stop teaching. After that, I heard men knock on the door during the night. They wanted to kill me so I opened my back window silently and ran away. I walked all night climbing up the highland to save my life. I passed through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. That’s why I am now in South Africa.

Question 3: What has life been like in your host/adopted country?

My life was not good in my adopted/host country. One year ago, I spent six months without a job. I was not able to pay rent or get money to buy food. I was asking help from everybody, especially Christians in the church, so I could survive.

Another problem I was I was not able to speak English. That means my communication with the citizens of this country was not good. Because of what happened to me in my home country-the violence done to me, I am not able to do hard, physical jobs because my health is not good. I work temporary, part-time to keep my life/health good. Even when I get a job, I only get enough money to pay rent. Sometimes I don’t have money to pay rent and buy food because I am not permanently employed. I am worried about my future!

Conclusion

These refugee stories come from people who fled two countries. They come from at least two different faith backgrounds. Persecution does not occur against only one faith system. Prejudice abounds. In these three stories, each of the people-men and woman-stated war, political corruption, greed, and fear were the motivators for leaving their home countries. They loved their home nations. Each of these refugees/asylum-seekers was in a university or planned to attend one. They were intelligent, contributing members of society, yet they were persecuted.

Race, religion, and intelligence did not define who would experience persecution in these people’s circumstances. Fear by one political group of another caused persecution in these three lives and the lives of their families. Jean Baptiste, Alleyah, and Pierre want to return to their home countries, but for now they cannot. Fear of persecution and death by the reigning political party cautions their decision-making.

How should we respond to these three people and others like them who fled their countries to protect their lives? How do many people respond to them? We must remember, refugees and asylum-seekers are not a “them.” They are “us”, humans seeking safety for them and their families, hope for the future, peace, and a chance to contribute positively in the world. Refugees, generally, are not a threat, but a people needing help because of horrific circumstances before and appalling situations afterwards. What we do when they seek to preserve their lives determines what most defines us. Will we be compassionate or merciless while striving for our own self-interests? Our self-interests should be united with our care of all people. When we do not care, we withhold and suppress one of the greatest parts of who we are, a part of what makes us human and not an animal. Compassion, care, mercy, and love comprise the greatest part of our human-ness.

When a person or people group faces mass conflict that seeks to destroy lives for personal gain, prejudice, or power, people should respond by giving assistance and relief. When natural disasters cause people to face starvation, thirst, disease, and exposure to severe weather elements, humanity should respond with compassion, mercy, and love in tangible ways. Instead of these catastrophic experiences dividing humanity into “us” and “them,” it should cause a greater bond to occur and create a “we” who unite for our brothers and sisters. Whether you are Christian or follow another faith system, we each understand these words written by Paul. What he said is written in our beings; we each seek love and relationship. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, & 13 [NASB],

Love is patient.

Love is kind and is not jealous.

Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly.

It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three, but the greatest of these is love.

Dragged Away With a Net

The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, drag them away with their net, and gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad. Habakkuk. 1:15 [NASB]

“God, where are you?” we ask at times. “Don’t you see me? Don’t you hear my cries for help? Why aren’t you saving me?” These were basically Habakkuk’s words in verse one. He knew he was God’s appointed prophet to the Judeans. God told Habakkuk to tell the people His judgment would come upon them for their wickedness and injustice (vs. 4).

First Habakkuk cried out for the people to God, then he spoke to the Judeans for God. With verses five through eleven, God continued to proclaim through Habakkuk. He explained His judgment of Judea would come through the dreaded and feared Chaldeans (Babylonians). The Chaldean nation was particularly barbaric in warfare. They defeated the Assyrian warriors who themselves had a reputation for ruthlessness and savagery in battle. Since the Chaldeans beat the Assyrians, they were more feared, and Habakkuk and the Judeans were afraid.

With verses twelve through seventeen, Habakkuk returned to speaking to God. He questioned how God could watch and seemingly approve of the evil He allowed upon the Judeans through the Chaldeans. He said, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?” (vs. 13) Was Habakkuk questioning God’s decision as Judge of Judea? Or, was he asking a rhetorical question in the midst of the prophecy to help the Judeans understand better why God would use the Chaldeans as His tool to enact His judgment? I would prefer it be the latter.

Rhetorical questions were, and still are, often used as a teaching tool. The knee-jerk answer would be what we wanted to be true. Yet, when pondering the question longer, we must agree the opposite answer is the truth. I would prefer Habakkuk be a man of God so strong in his faith that he would never deign to question God. Still, he was human, one who lived in Judea. He personally cared if his life and the lives of people he cared about would be destroyed. Habakkuk, being human like us, could easily have questioned God’s judgment. He, in essence, said in verse thirteen, “God, you are too good to see and approve evil. Why are you letting our enemies come and destroy us? You are supposed to be our God, our Protector. Where are you?” Was Habakkuk questioning the reality or God? Was he questioning the goodness and faithfulness of God? Was Habakkuk challenging God? Or was he using a teaching tool bringing the reality of the truth of the Judean’s sinfulness against God to the forefront of their minds? It could be all of them. I trust, as a man of God who was either a professional prophet or as a priest in the temple, Habakkuk asked a rhetorical question.

With this question, Habakkuk precisely pointed out for the Judeans God does not approve evil. He is too pure for that. God does not look upon wickedness with favor. Yet, He was silent as to the Chaldeans overtaking the Judeans because He used them to exact His equitable judgment against them for their repeated wickedness and injustice, their turning away from Him.

God through Habakkuk ensured the Judeans understood they continually sinned even after He repeatedly sent prophets to call them to return to Him. Because of their stubborn and willful hearts, God’s judgment would be enacted against them to correct them. He said in verse twelve, “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge (be the judgment); And You, O Rock, have established them (the Chaldeans) to correct.” The Chaldeans had not gained favor in God’s sight. He had allowed them unhindered access to His children to punish and correct them. Without God’s permission, the Chaldeans would have failed against the Judeans in 586 BC. With this judgment enacted, the Judeans remembered the God who called them His, made them a nation, and provided all things.

Sometimes life gets very hard and we wonder where God is. Isn’t He big enough and strong enough to take care of this, we ask? Other times when bad things happen, we know why. It’s obvious we made a bad decision. Why is it humans most often want to cast blame on another when difficult times arrive? Why do we want to blame God or consider Him small and insignificant? At those times, we think of Him like the Judeans. We think of God as not caring and not as strong as we thought when actually the difficult times come because He cares for us and is strong. Sometimes He allows bad things to grow us, to refine us. Other times God allows problems to arise against us as judgment and correction. We shouldn’t question God’s judgment and heart; He is faithful.

We are the unfaithful ones.

How long will it take for you to recognize rightly why difficult times are happening? How long will you blame God for them? Will it take you being utterly broken before you recognize God? Let’s not wait until it’s too late, and we are dragged away as a sacrifice to our troubles.

We can choose to learn from our difficulties or we can be bitter.

What we choose shows our faith and faithfulness to God.

O, Lord, help us to see You in all our circumstances, to see Your love and care in all our situations. Help us to learn to trust Your heart and to grow as Your children in relationship with You.

Who's the Boss?

“Their justice and authority originate with themselves.”

-Habakkuk 1:7b [NASB]

In Habakkuk 1:1-4, Habakkuk, a prophet of God, spoke about God’s judgment on the Judeans-why it occurred and when it would end. He explained God’s reason for judging the Judeans in verse four. The Judeans ignored the Law, never upheld justice, and the wicked surrounded the righteous.

With Habakkuk 1:5-12, He proclaimed God’s judgment on the Judeans. Habakkuk said through which nation judgment would come. He described the Chaldeans (Babylonians) so the Judeans would understand how intense the coming judgment would be. He used words like fierce, impetuous, dreaded, and feared. Habakkuk described them as having horses swifter than leopards and keener than wolves. He said the Chaldeans fly like eagles swooping to devour. They arrive in hordes of violence. The Chaldeans have no fear, Habakkuk said. They laugh at kings and fortresses. These warriors sweep through like the wind. With this description of an oncoming enemy, any person would tremble in fear for their lives and the lives of their children. They would lose all hope.

The thing we must remember about the Chaldeans is God was the One who used them. They were powerless without Him to overtake His chosen people. In verse five, Habakkuktold the Judeans, “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing things in your days; you would not believe if you were told.” God was the one who brought this judgment on the Chaldeans. Without His permission, the Chaldeans would not have defeated the Judeans. God used them as His judgment because the people of Judah turned their backs on Him, cast off His Laws, and worshiped other Gods. The people whom God chose, brought out of captivity, and to whom He provided land, provision, and protection determined to forget and not follow God.

When we read verse seven, we get a deeper understanding, with the Judeans, of who the Chaldeans were. He said, “Their justice and authority originate with themselves.” Wow, the Chaldeans decided they knew best and could govern themselves best without God. They made up their own truths of morality; it came from nowhere else. The Chaldeans were their own gods.

If we each will stop here and digest this fact about the Chaldeans, then reflect on it, we will realize we each do the same thing. Each day we decide we want something or want to do something so much, that we forgo the moral conscience with which God created us and which is stirred within each Christian by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We know the right things we are supposed to do, but choose to do wrong because of our human nature, our freewill. We make ourselves our own gods. Whoa! Did you get that? We become like the Chaldeans and the Judeans. Our justice and authority, at that time, originates with our own selves. We are sinners, just like the Judeans and Chaldeans, and we deserve the judgment of God.

(Paul wrote,) I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. [Romans 7:15-20]

This fact hits each of us hard when we stop as we read this and consider our sinfulness. We have two options once this occurs. We can regret and repent being amoral. God says He will forgive every person who repents and calls upon His name. John said in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess out sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [NASB] God waits for us to repent, though He calls out to us continually.

The other option when we recognize our sin is to remain turned away from God. This is willfulness, seeking what you want while not caring about the cost-to other people, to yourself, and to God. You see, God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to take the penalty, that’s the judgment, for each of our sins so we don’t have to pay this judgment, the price for our sins. What penalty is there for sin? Sin totally separates a person and all people from God. It creates a wall between us and Him. Jesus suffered persecution, torture, and death because He loves us even while we are sinners. Jesus loves us so much that He experienced the torture, persecution, and being nailed to a cross of wood. He felt the agony of the nails being pounded into his flesh, and gasping and drowning in His last breaths. Jesus did this in our place so we wouldn’t have to live that experience. If you decide not to repent, you choose not to accept Jesus paying your penalty. You embrace death instead of life. This choice means you elect to be permanently separated from God and His love.

Each of us, if we are honest with ourselves, think we know what is best for “me.” We say, “You’re not the boss of me!” That’s when we become like the Judeans, Israelites, Chaldeans-like all people. We become sinners in need of saving. It’s either that or God’s judgment.

Truthfully, which would you rather have? Now, what must you do to have that?

                        *Keep doing what you want and be separated from God eternally.

                                                                        or

                        *Repent, believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son, and receive salvation from

                        your sins and death.

You must choose. God won’t make that decision for you. Your parents and grandparents can’t make that decision for you. You must make the choice for yourself for salvation and eternal life. Just like each of us decides to do what we want even if it is wrong, each of us must choose to repent and accept God’s gift of mercy and salvation.

Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. - Joshua 24:14-15 [NASB]

Injustice Prevails?!

“The law is ignored and justice is never upheld.” Habakkuk 1:4 [NASB]

People cry out to God for the same thing about which Habakkuk cried out to Him. Wicked people appear to prevail. Corruption and crime are rife. Justice is perverted.

Habakkuk’s prophecy proclaimed God’s pronouncement against Judah. They sinned. God saw and would judge. Their enemy, Babylon, would overpower them. Still, God would save His people. The Judeans experienced defeat, but God would deliver them. He would be their mighty Warrior and judge their captors.

Babylon became a rising empire in 626 BC. They defeated Assyria outside Babylon. The Babylonians continued to strike the Assyrian empire and overtook the region. When the Assyrian empire fell, Egypt took Judah to be its vassal. By 609 BC, the Babylonians defeated Egypt and Judah’s loyalty switched.

During these changes of power over Judah, the hearts of God’s people cried to Him. They wondered if God still retained control over them and their land. The Judeans saw corrupted justice and abounding crime. The Judeans, as Habakkuk proclaimed for them, questioned where God could be. Was He hiding? Had God judged the Judeans and taken His hand of protection from them?

When evil seems to reign, remember God still controls all things. He’s omniscient and omnipotent. God knows all things and is all powerful. Nothing surprises Him. Nothing can take you permanently from God’s omniscient protection and provision. You’re His child. Once you choose God-believe in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ-nothing can separate you from Him. Laws may be ignored and justice be hidden, but God sees and is in control. Never fear. You’re a precious child of the High King!

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 [NASB]

God, please help us when we are weak and despair. Help us remember You are our Protector and Provider even in dark times.