Caring for Refugees Among Us
There is no denying that in today’s world, specifically the West, we are constantly thrust into spheres of division. Differing opinions are viewed as threats. So when confronted with something or someone different, the reaction is to immediately reject, rather than reaping the rich rewards found when our differences are recognized.
As Christians, we are given the opportunity to share the backwards way of Jesus. Our current era is one of those moments. Rising to the occasion, we are able to see how the words of Jesus go beyond mere rhetoric when they are accompanied by transformative actions.
No longer are we asking, “What would Jesus do,” but rather “How would Jesus do this if he were presented with these challenges?”
For various reasons, people groups are on the move. UNHCR’s latest update is that 108 million people have been forcibly displaced from their home countries by the end of 2022.
This staggering number continues to rise. As of mid-2023, over 36 million displaced people have been categorized as refugees: people who have been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Understanding why this number has increased so steeply is up for discussion. However, it is important to note that these displaced families are not so much concerned about the whys as they are about the hows:
How will my children eat? How will we survive another week? How will we find a safe place to live and how will I provide for my family when I arrive there?
The local church has the opportunity to recognize that we have many of the answers for which they are searching.
Showing Christ’s Love by Meeting Needs
Contrary to popular opinion, most refugees desire to one day return to wherever it is they call home. However, their need for belonging is even greater than their desire to return. What is evident is their readiness to seek work, enroll their children in school, and invest in their community.
In Acts 2, we see one of the characteristics of the early church is that there was not a need among them. Of those refugees who left because of religious persecution in 2016 (roughly 31,450), 61% were of the Christian faith.
What greater love can we give to Christians arriving into our communities from different parts of the world than declaring that we will stand by, welcome, and support you?
Because He First Loved Us
God is not asking the local church, your life group, or your family to solve the refugee crisis. He is asking us to make a place, as much as we can, like Heaven. When we commit to a family or support a refugee ministry, that refugee family sees Christ who first loved us.
We don’t do this so that we can claim to have the most diverse congregation on the block or make our sole aim to convert those we encounter. Instead, we serve refugees because we, as followers of Jesus, were once outsiders who were welcomed into the Kingdom of God.
Getting Involved
A number of refugee ministries are based in Houston. Each is eager and willing to equip the local church for ministry to refugees. From welcoming them at the airport to stocking their fridge, helping them register their children for school, and teaching English, practical opportunities abound for the church to show herself faithful and fruitful in this area of ministry.
We can either be staggered into inaction or motivated into practical compassion. Believe me when I say, that our society would be stunned to witness this kind of altruism.
When it comes to loving our refugee neighbors, we may disagree about policy, but we can certainly be unified in our commitment to the stranger among us as we seek to honor the one who made us citizens of Heaven.
Chris Hall is the Minister of Missions at Houston Northwest Church since 2015. When not writing, Chris can be found spending time with his wife and their two boys.