International (MNN) -- Today is World Refugee Day, and fittingly so. A recent report from the United Nations says the global refugee crisis is the worst it's been since 1994. Jeff Palmer with http://webmail.c.earthlink.net/groups/BGR - Baptist Global Response puts it into scope. "You're looking at 45 million people in the world that are displaced right now. It's the largest number that it has been in 10 years. That number is growing [and] actually has doubled." That's roughly one new refugee or internally displaced person every four seconds. The main contributor? War. "The countries that produce the most refugees: Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Syria... But then you've got the Sudans and the Democratic Republic of Congo." Nobody's prepared for it, either. Billions have been promised in aid, but not much is coming in. Everyone who's responding is stretched transparent. World Refugee Day is more than a call to awareness. It's a call to action: Pray, give, or go. Giving means resourcing in both funds and love. How? "It's a command, but it's also a wonderful strategy and opportunity. When we see a crisis around the world, it's also an opportunity for us to minister, an opportunity for the Gospel to go to an area of the world where folks maybe would never have a chance to hear it." We have more opportunities at MissionNetworkNews.org, keyword "Featured Links."

Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/18670

Burma (MNN) -- Burma is home to the world's longest-running civil war. Ethnic groups have been clashing with Burma's government since 1948. Many people only know life as a refugee; they've never had a safe place to live. Steve Gumaer and his wife, Oddny, started http://webmail.c.earthlink.net/groups/prd - Partners Relief and Development after seeing Burma's refugees firsthand. "There are between one and four million Internally Displaced People in Burma. Our work, in total, reaches somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 refugees and displaced people each year." That's the sound of a refugee camp on Burma's border helped by http://webmail.c.earthlink.net/groups/vbb - Vision Beyond Borders (VBB). VBB's Abigail Zimmer recently visited the camp and says refugee kids aren't letting circumstances hold them back. "They have big plans for the future. A lot of them you talk to want to be service workers, or they want to go back into Burma and minister to the Burmese there, or they want to minister to the people in Thailand; I mean, they want to help people, and it's so neat to see that!" In Mark, Jesus tells His disciples to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation." It's one thing to talk about the plight of refugees; it's another to do something about it. Is it time for you to "go?" Partners and Vision Beyond Borders both have opportunities. You can find details at MissionNetworkNews.org under "Featured Links."

Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/18669

USA (MNN) -- MNN writer Lyndsey Gammage has a unique connection with refugees: Emmanuel Atem and his three siblings came to America from Sudan with Bethany Christian Services. They joined my family in 2000 after war struck Sudan. Emmanuel explains: "The village was attacked. My mom was in the second village when the war broke out. We kind of lost her from there. I just ended up with my three siblings and uncle. Isaac was really little (my younger brother), so sometimes I had to carry him on my shoulders, try to carry food and water at the same time, and it was not really easy." Building trust for refugee kids is hard. "If they're willing to talk, listen to them and trust them, because they don't know you. But at the end of the day, they start trusting you and you trust them, and all of the sudden you become one big family." Emmanuel's prayer: "Dear God, with Your help and Your power, Lord, everything is possible. I pray that You will give families that have feelings and hearts to try and to help the refugee camps, to please give them the courage to do that. Because it's not only that they're helping the kid, but God they're showing Your Word. In Your name, Amen." Emmanuel's full story is powerful. Find it on our homepage at MissionNetworkNews.org.

Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/18671