An American Christian's Response to the Refugee Crisis

Photo Credit: Brandon Stanton, "Humans of New York"/ http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

"We survived but we’re dead psychologically. Everything ended for us that day. That was our destiny. That was our share in life.” That is a quote from a Syrian man, talking about himself and his children after the death of his wife during the civil war, and their escape to Turkey. One of the many stories shared by humanitarian and photographer Brandon Stanton (known for his ongoing social media photography project, "Humans of New York"), this particular photo grabbed me for reasons I can't quite put into words. 

You can read the rest of this story here (it is part 4 in a 7 part interview with the man in the middle). It made me tear up. It filled me with rage directed towards the perpetrators of this civil war. It gave me some complex feels. But, more than anything, as I started to think of the reactions of some of my American friends, family, and acquaintances towards the plight of these humans, I got really, really angry.

Hey, Christians? Yeah, you who claim to have something more to share with the world? The ones who say that everyone has a greater destiny than they can possibly imagine, because of a God who created them for greatness? Are you offering compassion of any kind? Are you showing love in some way? Here's a great way you could show the love of Christ to families like this: practice the Biblical virtue of hospitality and let them come to a place that is safe and where they can be shown the love of Christ that you supposedly have to give.

"When I offered a blanket to a man in the name of Jesus, the man said, 'Who is this Jesus? Since I left home he has given me food, a place to stay and now a blanket. I want to know him.'" 

Photo Credit: YWAM Madison. To donate to their upcoming outreach to Greece, go here.

At first I wasn't sure about how we as a nation should respond. As grieved as I was about the situation of these human beings, I was still unsure as to how I wanted my country to act in response. After all, isn't a government's first and only responsibility towards the welfare of it's citizens? 

But I'm currently enrolled in a Bible course that is all about how to take the teachings and principles of the Bible and use them for a revival in our culture, and I was starting to feel pretty freaking hypocritical about even hesitating to offer a helping hand. I believe that was the Holy Spirit working on my heart, moving me towards a more Biblical response.

I cannot in good conscience stand by and let the greatest opportunity to show love to the destitute that has happened in my entire generation to happen without trying to take part. If there is something my country can do I want it to do it, supposed national security risks be damned. All we do by rejecting relief opportunities is breed further resentment towards our nation by the rest of the world anyway, so in the long run it is, from a purely selfish standpoint, in our best interest to help these people (although I do realize that looking at what's best for it's citizens in the long run isn't exactly what the current generation of leaders excels at). 

In the words of Uncle Ben, "With great power comes great responsibility", and in the words of John the Disciple, "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?"

Photo Credit: christmasforrefugees.org

Compassion doesn't mean to feel bad for someone on the other side of the world and pray that they'll be okay. That's a great starting point, but if that's all you've done, you haven't actually shown compassion. Compassion means to suffer with them, or, to use a biblical phrase, "to bear one another's burdens, and so to fulfill the law of Christ". It's not just a suggestion of Christ, but a command, to show compassion, which means actually doing something to show that person that you are walking with them in times of strife.

Now, I'm in no way suggesting we just let the tax payer dollars pay for these people's needs until they (if they can ever) go home. If the general, non-Christian population of this country doesn't want to help, I'm not expecting them to. They have a right not to. 

All I'm asking of the U.S. government is to let these people into our nation. From that point onward, I'm calling out American Christians to put their considerable amounts of money, time, and resources where their mouths are and to step up in an act of faithful obedience to our call to serve the poor and needy (I'm not assuming that every Christian in America is in a place to do this, but I do think every Christian in America should be trying to figure out how they can).

I spent just a few weeks working with Afghani and Pakistani refugees in Rome last year, making friendships and hearing heartbreaking stories, and just that little bit of interaction has brought this current crisis very close to home for me. I met some truly extraordinary men who had simply been put in circumstances more extraordinary then they could handle. 

A group of Afghani refugees in a park in Rome that we helped serve a meal to with a local church.

Most had fled from the Taliban, and most had left their families in the relatively safe country of Iran to go and try to find work in Europe. Whether that was the most loving thing for them to do for their families or not is not what I want to comment on, but rather I'd like to highlight how brave and self-sacrificing they were to attempt a journey like that. My heart broke for each man I met, and if I felt free to do so, I would go back tomorrow and spend more time with them, trying to learn their language and culture and trying to help them help themselves and their families. 

However, with where I feel God calling me in my life right now, I can't just hop on a plane and go to Greece or Turkey to help out like I want to, and like many of my friends are. BUT, if these human beings, made in the image of God, have the chance to come to my neighborhood, you can bet your britches I will be trying as hard as I can to help them to feel welcomed and loved in this time of overwhelming transition.

"Do unto others as you would have done unto you" is a really simple guideline for showing love. All it requires to utilize is a small amount of empathy, and then you'll know if you're actually showing love in a Biblical way. If you can put yourself in someone else shoes, then you know how to treat them and how best to serve them.

So, to summarize my rant, I really really really want to help and I am pissed off that there are so many people who claim to share the same God and the same values as me that are asking our politicians to keep me from being able to help. 

To those people I have only this to say...please, shut up and let them come. 

"Let the little children come unto me."

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This was mostly copied from a Facebook rant I made, only to realize it was pretty long and that I hadn't posted to my blog in awhile. For a brief update on how my missionary schooling is going: It's hard but almost over. Over Christmas break I'll probably finish my update about my outreach in Africa. I haven't had time to finish that because of my current business with my coursework. After that I will hopefully have some exciting news about where I am headed next in my missions work.