My hope behind this article is that those unknowing may see the truth behind the refugee crisis, and why they desperately need our help.
Now, I am going to be honest with you. A few minutes ago I typed, “hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled…” and then I stopped myself. I decided I should probably get my facts straight before I went and threw a bunch of numbers around.
9 million.
Read it again. 9 million refugees have fled what used to be the safety of their homes, to what? To find a better life? Because they wanted a climate change? Not really. 9 million refugees have fled what used to be the safety of their homes so that they may LIVE. I am aware that this can be very controversial because America can hardly support its homeless veterans, let alone the entire homeless population. This is why my emphasis is that these people are in dire need of safety, so that they may survive the violent and cruel oppression; it is showing no mercy when it comes to bombs and automatic weapons versus their lives.
They are searching desperately for somewhere to flee. Looking high and low for a place to keep them safe. Wondering, “If I get on this boat, will my family and I make it across the water alive?” We in America started by screaming, “Yeah! Run away! You got this!” These encouraging remarks are likely not making it all the way across the world to our brothers and sisters who are seeking protection, but hey, it’s the Facebook post that counts, right? The drama is so exciting. Everyone loves a good CNN thriller until the noise stops coming through the speaker and we begin to hear the voices outside our door.
*Knock, knock, knock* They have asked for our help and already over 50 percent of our great, Christian nation has boarded up their doors.
"So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” Malachi 3:5
I find it to be quite amusing when we blame it on the terrorists. Please, do not get me wrong, I take terrorism very seriously and it should never be overlooked or doubted. But, if ISIS wanted to plan some sort of attack, don’t you think they’d already have their people here, waiting for the word? We reject thousands of people in need of our help because we fear one of them may be the oppressor and in the process we become the ones doing the oppressing.
Dear fearful Christian, do you see that we have not been put here on this earth to be comfortable, but to fight for the souls of the people who cannot fight for themselves? Dear fearful Christian, are you aware that there are thousands of people asking for our love, and we are telling them no? Our God is a relational God, working through our hearts to reach the hearts of others. Dear fearful Christian, if your heart has been reformed by Christ, fear cannot hold you back. So, stop letting it.
Human beings who are frantic for protection and answers. You may not have the ability to give them those answers, but you do have to ability to deliver them an equally necessary, relational, and unconditional love. A love that, realistically, they have never seen or experienced coming from countries where Christians are widely persecuted. Thousands upon thousands of people desperately need Jesus in this time of mourning and confusion, and we are locking them out. We are telling Jesus, “This is what I can and cannot do, here are my boundaries. Keep the refugees out and I will love them from afar.” I am sorry, but I do not recall any story in the Bible of Jesus Christ exerting His love via care package.
“For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'” Acts 13:47
You may be fighting the idea that this is what God has for you, that this doesn’t only happen in history books and throughout scripture. It is happening, though. They are waiting at your doorstep so are you going to turn them away or are you going to welcome them in?
