Genocides, droughts, bombings and refugees are all things that I study as an international studies minor. We read about them in the news and in our textbooks, take quizzes and discuss international issues. A week or two ago as I was reading a news website to study for a quiz, I watched videos of the destruction in Aleppo, Syria. I watched a lot of videos about the destruction and saw pictures of injured children and mothers and fathers crying for their children. I saw a picture on World Vision’s Facebook page of a Syrian little girl and her mother.
With so much suffering around the world, it’s easy to see humanitarian crises in Syria, North Korea, South Sudan, Yemen and so many other countries as merely current events. Still, every person suffering inhumane conditions has family, friends, likes and dislikes, fears, and dreams. They are all people just like you and me. I often forget how blessed I am to be sitting in a comfortable college classroom discussing the US and Russia’s failed ceasefire in Syria, rather than hiding with my family in Syria feeling the actual effects of the failed ceasefire.
One of my journalism professors always reminds us to look for the people affected by a news story. It’s far easier to do that when you’re writing for a local newspaper and are able to interview someone in a town affected by local issues. International news always felt more impersonal to me. In some ways, it felt like it was less important to care issues that do not affect my close friends and family. However, there are real human beings on the other side of the world affected by these issues. There are always real human beings affected by these issues.
I hope to volunteer at a refugee center someday. For now, I just lift those who are suffering in those news stories up in prayer. Maybe someday God will grant me the opportunity to help those those who are suffering around the world in a more personal way. Maybe I can help them simply by sharing their stories.
