The United Nations estimates there are 11 million Syrians and 4.4 million Iraqis who are refugees or internally displaced from their homes due to civil war and regional strife.
In Ankawa, a Christian district near Erbil, Iraq, priests Douglas Al-Bazi and Daniel Alkhari have transformed the grounds of Mar Elias Chaldean Catholic Church into guest rooms, classrooms, a playground, library, computer lab, and health clinic for 700 people who take shelter, some in caravans. The compound is called a center, not a camp.
“We wanted to be sure that people who have left their homes and come here feel welcome,” Al-Bazi told WorldWatch Monitor. “We treat them like guests, where we enjoy sharing life and where they can feel safe and relaxed.”
Overall, there are 11,000 displaced Christian families in Erbil.
Stearns said when he takes American pastors to visit places such as Mar Elias they have a lightbulb moment. Those pastors return to their U.S. churches to preach “barn-burning” sermons to motivate churchgoers to overcome their fears of terrorism and respond with compassion for Syrian or Iraqi families resettled in the U.S.
Stearns said part of the problem is that American churches want to “do something” about refugees, but don’t always understand how. He said churches often send the high school youth group on a cross-cultural, short-term missions trip, but that’s way too dangerous in the Mideast. “Churches need to partner with professionals,” he said.
While in Lebanon, Stearns asked a local pastor how to be effective in refugee ministry.
The Lebanese pastor replied, “love — we’re showing them the love of Christ and they are responding. (Refugees) are unwelcome, unwanted, and they have lost everything.”
But Stearns said the American church has been slow to respond to what he calls a “Matthew 25 moment” for the church, referring to the teaching of Jesus to care for the stranger as well as the hungry, the sick and those in prison.
Several faith-based groups have expanded programs to encourage individuals, churches and schools to get involved in refugee outreach. On June 26, World Vision along with Q Ideas, World Relief and other groups are sponsoring National Refugee Sunday to offer special prayers and raise funds to meet the needs of refugees.
As of April 30, the U.S. has resettled 1,736 Syrians in U.S. communities. Last year, President Obama called for resettling another 10,000 by Oct. 30. In March, the U.N. said 500,000 Syrians urgently need permanent resettlement.
(Timothy C. Morgan is an RNS correspondent)
This is another example of where the answer is so simple – that we go with our gut on how to treat others. Safety is a basic need for me, so I want others to feel safe and settled too. But sadly, the national conversation causes people to be frightened and doubt how we should act.