International (MNN) — The
number of refugees has now officially broken the record of most
internationally-displaced persons in recent history.
(Photo courtesy of Sharnoff’s Global Views via Flickr)
According to a report from the U.N.’s refugee agency, the number of refugees topped 65.3 million at the end of the 2015.
It’s the first time the UNHCR has seen that number breach 60 million. The report was released yesterday on World Refugee Day.
These numbers reveal some staggering
new statistics. Each minute, 24 more people are forced to flee their
homes due to persecution, war, and violence. 54 percent of these
refugees come from Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Half the refugees
are children under the age of 18.
If all current refugees made their own country, it would be the 21st largest nation in the world, surpassing the United Kingdom.
This current refugee population is even larger than the number of refugees from post-World War II.
While Germany was the crux of the reason for so many refugees after
WWII, now Germany is actively involved in providing asylum for thousands
of present-day refugees. In 2015, Germany registered 1.1 million migrants seeking refuge.
Claudia Adame with e3 Partners was recently in Germany on a missions trip reaching out to refugees there.
She says, “We were working in Germany and so as far as we could tell,
the government has really done a good job of meeting [refugees’]
physical needs, whether they are in the processing center or in
secondary housing.”
An Iraqi refugee displaced by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS).
(Photo, caption courtesy VOM via Facebook)
When you are displaced, you no longer
have the community you grew up in. You don’t have the bakery down the
street you’ve been going to for 20 years, the school where you attended
elementary a few blocks over, your neighbors next door. It’s all gone.
As e3 Partners works with the growing refugee population, they have seen displaced persons with a deep longing for community.
“One of the things we saw that they
really long for is just the sense of community, sense of belonging. That
is something only people can bring, not programs,” Adame says.
“One example is a young man I met. We
were in a processing center which is where they have a lot of refugees
who are given temporary housing. He said he was single, but the people
there in that refugee processing center have become his family. So what
we saw was different cultures coming together and because of the sense
of so longing to belong, they had formed their own community, almost a
third culture.”
When e3 Partners carries out refugee ministry, they want to
send the message that while refugees are displaced, they are not alone
or forgotten.
Adame says, “One of our goals is to
be able to engage the refugee families and help them know they matter.
One of the way we start conversations is just letting them know we have
heard about what’s happening to them and about their journey, and we’ve
traveled from the US to come tell them that they matter, that the world
cares, and that we love them because God loves them as well.”
For the thousands of children among
refugee families, e3 Partners works to bring relief and joy to their
lives. “[We] work with children doing play and different activities for
them to just be children. They have been moved around from
place-to-place, and a lot of them have just suffered trauma and so many
changes. Giving them scooters and art and an opportunity to play brings
out that joy children need.
(Photo courtesy Christian Aid Mission)
“Also, [we work] to be there for the
parents. To be able to talk to them and listen to their story, their
journey; and find intersections where we can bring hope and let them
know again that the world has not forgotten them, that they matter.”
Several countries that refugees are fleeing from reside in
the 10/40 window, nations with high concentrations of people groups
unreached with the Gospel.
Now, it’s as if the 10/40 window is
coming to us in various parts of Europe and America. Because several
refugees’ former countries limited conversations about faith in Jesus
Christ, refugees are now curious about Christianity.
“It’s as if the world had been closed
to them,” Adame says. “When we started asking them if they know about
Jesus and what they believed, many of them said that before, they were
afraid to even ask about Christianity because literally their lives were
in danger. What they found is once they moved away from those dangerous
areas where those countries were closed, they had freedom to explore,
to search, and to choose.”
Adame shares, “One family we worked
with, the young man said they as a family had watched The JESUS Film in
their language three different times on the internet. That was something
they couldn’t do before. So there is a hunger for spirituality…. We saw
several who the Lord had prepared their hearts so when they heard the
full message of the Gospel, it was a natural next step that they wanted
to follow Christ.”
(Photo courtesy Open Doors USA)
However, e3 Partners doesn’t just
reach out to refugees, share the Gospel, and then pull out. They
maintain relationships and encourage new refugee Christians who can then
be a witness to others in their own shifting communities.
“We know when somebody comes to Christ, there is an immediate need for discipleship,”
says Adame. “So when the refugee community is being moved quite a bit
for different reasons, some families may be in a place for a couple of
weeks or months. So there’s a dynamic there that has caused us to shift
our strategy and be more focused on finding persons of peace.
“A person of peace is basically
someone God has already prepared. It’s a person who has a reputation in
the community so once they come to Christ, we disciple them and really
build into their lives so they can minister to their own families and
their own community.”
Adame asks for prayer. “[Pray] that
those who are seeking spiritual truth would be able to encounter people
who can guide them to who Christ is. We know that He is our healer, He
is our source of hope, He is our redeemer, and so the best thing we can
give them is the truth about Christ.
“For E3 Partners, [pray] that the
Lord would help us be good stewards of this opportunity, and would help
us collaborate with other ministries to bring spiritual truth and love.
Really the bottom line for us is to share God’s story and demonstrate
His love.”
There are several upcoming e3 Partners missions trips you can apply to join, and actively be the hands and feet of Christ.
Click here to learn more about e3 Partners and to support their ministry.
Source: Mission Network
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