In 1883, Emma Lazarus wrote a poem about the Statue of Liberty called \u201cThe New Colossus.\u201d Today the words of that sonnet appear on the pedestal of the monument. The Statue of Liberty stands to welcome the world with this silent cry,<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me your tired, your poor,<\/em> Today the United States remains a beacon of hope and opportunity for many people around the world and serves as a frontrunner for refugee resettlement. Thousands of individuals stand at our borders, asking for an opportunity to come in. Millions more await rescue from a life in limbo, having fled their nations for reasons of safety.<\/p>\n A refugee is defined as \u201ca person who has been forced to leave their home in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.\u201d Seeking sanctuary is not a matter of economic gain but of simple survival. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there are currently 68.5 million refugees in the world. The majority of them are taking refuge in developing countries, where access to medical care, education and employment is limited.<\/p>\n I have lived and served in the Middle East for over 13 years, ministering to refugees from Palestine, Iraq, and Syria. A handful of these millions have become some of my dearest friends.<\/p>\n I met Hasan and Sireen and their four children in 2014. They were newly arrived refugees from Syria. This family fled the civil war in their homeland and made the perilous journey to a neighboring country.<\/p>\n Their community had been destroyed by bombs. Schools were closed. Businesses had failed. Hospitals were overcrowded and running out of medicine. Friends and family had been killed or had died from the lack of medical care. Warring factions had infiltrated most of their city, making daily life potentially deadly.<\/p>\n After the dangerous journey to their new host country, they tried to start a new life, learn a new language and adapt to a new culture. They lived as foreigners in a strange land and were at the mercy of its people. A few of their neighbors reached out to them in kindness. Many ignored them completely, took advantage of them and wished them to be gone.<\/p>\n In the ensuing months, hundreds, thousands, and eventually millions of Syrians would make the same decision. Abandoning their crumbling nation to the forces of war, they looked to nations around them for refuge.<\/p>\n As refugees, they had no homes, no jobs, and no schools for their children. Most of all, they had no rights to expect such things from the government. They could merely survive.<\/p>\n Listening to their stories was like standing on the brink of hell. They told of murder, corruption, betrayal, death, fear, and danger. Adults and children alike saw and experienced atrocities we can hardly imagine.<\/p>\n And while the healthy were able to flee, the sick and the elderly were left behind to endure the war. Many children today are being raised by parents with post-traumatic stress disorder, barely able to care for the physical needs of their families and completely unable to care for their emotional needs.<\/p>\n And yet there are some who seek to live each day with purpose and find ways to succeed. I was humbled by the generosity of refugees who barely had enough food for themselves but gladly hosted me and my family for meals and tea. I was inspired by children who helped their parents care for siblings and took advantage of every opportunity to learn\u2014even if they couldn\u2019t go to school.<\/p>\n All of us are created in the image of God, designed to know Him and have a relationship with Him. All of us are fallen, sinful human beings, in need of a Savior. All of us are created with a longing for something more than this world offers us\u2014something safe, unbroken, loving, peaceful. For the most part, all of us desire to care for our families, work jobs that are fulfilling, see our children succeed and live in harmony within community.<\/p>\n When I partnered with a local organization in the Middle East to work with Syrian children, I had the joy of showing them God\u2019s love. I was reminded every day that our Lord wants them to know Him. I taught them worship songs and saw them come to life as they worshipped their Creator.<\/p>\n We are Christ\u2019s body here on Earth, and we are called to share the gospel of repentance and forgiveness. We must ask ourselves, \u201cWhat do refugees have to do with us?\u201d<\/p>\n When the lawyer in Luke 10 put Jesus to the test regarding what it would take to make it to heaven, Jesus put the question right back in his court. The lawyer gave the right answer\u2014\u201cLove God with everything you are and everything you have and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself\u201d\u2014but Jesus challenged the lawyer to do exactly that.<\/p>\n Luke tells us that the lawyer sought to justify himself asking, \u201cAnd who is my neighbor?\u201d (Luke 10:29, ESV).<\/p>\n Jesus then told the story of the Good Samaritan. A man falls prey to robbers and is left near death by his attackers. A priest and a Levite, God\u2019s chosen people to minister to the nation of Israel, saw the man\u2014half dead\u2014and walked away from him.<\/p>\n Then along comes a Samaritan who sees the man, has compassion and does everything he can to care for his needs. This true neighbor, the Samaritan with whom Jews wanted nothing to do, illustrates the mercy of God.<\/p>\n Jesus calls us to show mercy. It was Jesus\u2019 command to the lawyer who knew in his head what God commanded, but whose heart hadn\u2019t opened to the fullness of God\u2019s perfect love for the whole world. It is also Jesus\u2019 command to us.<\/p>\n To the Syrian and Afghani refugees fleeing civil war, we must show mercy. To the Central American refugee fleeing gang violence, we must show mercy. To the Sudanese refugee fleeing violence and war, we must show mercy.<\/p>\n When we see the hurting and the wounded, what should fill our hearts? Compassion. What should mark our actions? Mercy. If we harden our hearts, and convince ourselves that refugees aren\u2019t our problem, we miss out on the incredible privilege of showing God\u2019s mercy to precious human beings created in His image.<\/p>\n What the world sees as a global refugee crisis is one of the church\u2019s greatest opportunities to share the gospel with people groups that were once difficult to reach. People from Syria and Afghanistan may be more open to the gospel than ever before. Many of them are looking to make homes in nations where there is freedom to follow Christ.<\/p>\n The Lord can use the atrocities of war to birth churches among these people groups. Perhaps in generations to come, they will return and rebuild their countries upon the truth of the gospel.<\/p>\n When refugees come to us, let\u2019s not walk to the other side of the road and act as if caring for them isn\u2019t our problem. Let us look upon these broken communities with compassion. Let\u2019s do everything in our power to care for their needs.<\/p>\n This was originally published in the\u00a0Encourage magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,610],"tags":[618,149,572,436],"class_list":{"0":"post-4053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"category-justice","9":"tag-618","10":"tag-encourage-magazine","11":"tag-justice","12":"tag-refugees","13":"entry"},"title_es":"\u00bfSon bienvenidos los refugiados en tu coraz\u00f3n?","content_es":"En 1883, Emma Lazarus escribi\u00f3 un poema sobre la Estatua de la Libertad llamado \"El nuevo coloso\". Hoy en d\u00eda, las palabras de ese soneto aparecen en el pedestal del monumento. La Estatua de la Libertad da la bienvenida al mundo con este grito silencioso.\r\n \"Dame tu cansado, tu pobre,<\/em> tus masas acurrucadas anhelando respirar libremente,<\/em> el desdichado rechazo de tu inmensa orilla.<\/em> \u00a1Env\u00edame estos, los sin hogar, lanzados por la tempestad,<\/em> levanto mi l\u00e1mpara al lado de la puerta dorada!<\/em><\/p>\r\nHoy en d\u00eda, Estados Unidos sigue siendo un faro de esperanza y oportunidad para muchas personas en todo el mundo y sirve como pionero para el reasentamiento de refugiados. Miles de personas se paran en nuestras fronteras, pidiendo la oportunidad de entrar. Millones m\u00e1s esperan ser rescatados de una vida en el limbo, que han huido de sus naciones por razones de seguridad. Un refugiado se define como \"una persona que ha sido obligada a abandonar su hogar para escapar de la guerra, la persecuci\u00f3n o el desastre natural\". Buscar refugio no es una cuesti\u00f3n de ganancia econ\u00f3mica sino de simple supervivencia. Seg\u00fan la Agencia de Refugiados de las Naciones Unidas, actualmente hay 68.5 millones de refugiados en el mundo. La mayor\u00eda de ellos se refugian en pa\u00edses en v\u00edas de desarrollo, donde el acceso a la atenci\u00f3n m\u00e9dica, la educaci\u00f3n y el empleo son limitados. He vivido y servido en el Medio Oriente durante m\u00e1s de 13 a\u00f1os, atendiendo a refugiados de Palestina, Irak y Siria. Un pu\u00f1ado de estos millones se han convertido en algunos de mis amigos m\u00e1s queridos. Conoc\u00ed a Hasan y Sireen y sus cuatro hijos en 2014. Eran refugiados reci\u00e9n llegados de Siria. Esta familia huy\u00f3 de la guerra civil en su tierra natal e hizo el peligroso viaje a un pa\u00eds vecino. Su comunidad hab\u00eda sido destruida por las bombas. Las escuelas estaban cerradas. Las empresas hab\u00edan fracasado. Los hospitales estaban abarrotados y se estaban quedando sin medicina. Amigos y familiares hab\u00edan sido asesinados o hab\u00edan muerto por falta de atenci\u00f3n m\u00e9dica. Las facciones en guerra se hab\u00edan infiltrado en la mayor parte de su ciudad, haciendo que la vida cotidiana fuera potencialmente mortal. Despu\u00e9s del peligroso viaje a su nuevo pa\u00eds anfitri\u00f3n, intentaron comenzar una nueva vida, aprender un nuevo idioma y adaptarse a una nueva cultura. Viv\u00edan como extranjeros en una tierra extra\u00f1a y estaban a merced de su gente. Algunos de sus vecinos se acercaron a ellos con amabilidad. Muchos los ignoraron por completo, se aprovecharon de ellos y desearon que se fueran. En los meses siguientes, cientos, miles y eventualmente millones de sirios tomar\u00edan la misma decisi\u00f3n. Abandonando a su desmoronada naci\u00f3n ante las fuerzas de la guerra, buscaron refugio en las naciones que los rodeaban. Como refugiados, no ten\u00edan hogares, ni empleos, ni escuelas para sus hijos. Sobre todo, no ten\u00edan derechos para esperar tales cosas del gobierno. Simplemente podr\u00edan sobrevivir. Escuchar sus historias era como estar al borde del infierno. Hablaban de asesinato, corrupci\u00f3n, traici\u00f3n, muerte, miedo y peligro. Adultos y ni\u00f1os por igual vieron y experimentaron atrocidades que apenas podemos imaginar. Y mientras los sanos pudieron huir, los enfermos y los ancianos se quedaron atr\u00e1s para soportar la guerra. Hoy en d\u00eda, muchos ni\u00f1os son criados por padres con trastorno de estr\u00e9s postraum\u00e1tico, que apenas pueden atender las necesidades f\u00edsicas de sus familias y son completamente incapaces de atender sus necesidades emocionales. Y sin embargo, hay algunos que buscan vivir cada d\u00eda con un prop\u00f3sito y encontrar maneras de tener \u00e9xito. Me sent\u00ed humilde ante la generosidad de los refugiados que apenas ten\u00edan suficiente comida para s\u00ed mismos pero que con mucho gusto nos hospedaron a m\u00ed y a mi familia en las comidas y el t\u00e9. Me inspiraron los ni\u00f1os que ayudaron a sus padres a cuidar a sus hermanos y aprovecharon cada oportunidad para aprender, incluso si no pod\u00edan ir a la escuela.\r\n
\nYour huddled masses yearning to breathe free,<\/em>
\nThe wretched refuse of your teeming shore.<\/em>
\nSend these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,<\/em>
\nI lift my lamp beside the golden door!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nLove Your Neighbor as Yourself<\/h3>\n
Amar\u00e1s a tu pr\u00f3jimo como a ti mismo<\/h3>\r\nTodos nosotros somos creados a la imagen de Dios, dise\u00f1ados para conocerlo y tener una relaci\u00f3n con \u00e9l. Todos nosotros somos seres humanos ca\u00eddos, pecaminosos, que necesitamos un Salvador. Todos nosotros hemos sido creados con un anhelo por algo m\u00e1s de lo que este mundo nos ofrece: algo seguro, ininterrumpido, amoroso, pac\u00edfico. En su mayor parte, todos nosotros deseamos cuidar a nuestras familias, los trabajos que est\u00e1n realizando, ver a nuestros hijos tener \u00e9xito y vivir en armon\u00eda dentro de la comunidad. Cuando me asoci\u00e9 con una organizaci\u00f3n local en el Medio Oriente para trabajar con ni\u00f1os sirios, tuve la alegr\u00eda de mostrarles el amor de Dios. Me recordaron todos los d\u00edas que nuestro Se\u00f1or quiere que lo conozcan. Les ense\u00f1\u00e9 canciones de adoraci\u00f3n y las vi cobrar vida mientras adoraban a su Creador. Somos el cuerpo de Cristo aqu\u00ed en la Tierra, y estamos llamados a compartir el evangelio del arrepentimiento y el perd\u00f3n. Debemos preguntarnos: \u201c\u00bfQu\u00e9 tienen que ver los refugiados con nosotros?\u201d Cuando el abogado en Lucas 10 puso a prueba a Jes\u00fas con respecto a lo que se necesitar\u00eda para llegar al cielo, Jes\u00fas volvi\u00f3 a poner la pregunta en su corte. El abogado dio la respuesta correcta: \u201cAma a Dios con todo lo que eres y todo lo que tienes y ama a tu pr\u00f3jimo tanto como te amas a ti mismo\u201d, pero Jes\u00fas desafi\u00f3 al abogado a hacer exactamente eso. Lucas nos dice que el abogado trat\u00f3 de justificarse pregunt\u00e1ndose: \"\u00bfY qui\u00e9n es mi pr\u00f3jimo?\" (Lucas 10:29, ESV). Jes\u00fas entonces cont\u00f3 la historia del buen samaritano. Un hombre cae presa de ladrones y es dejado cerca de la muerte por sus atacantes. Un sacerdote y un levita, el pueblo escogido por Dios para ministrar a la naci\u00f3n de Israel, vieron al hombre, medio muerto, y se alejaron de \u00e9l. Luego viene un samaritano que ve al hombre, tiene compasi\u00f3n y hace todo lo posible por cuidar sus necesidades. Este verdadero vecino, el samaritano con quien los jud\u00edos no quer\u00edan hacer nada, ilustra la misericordia de Dios. Jes\u00fas nos llama a mostrar misericordia. Fue el mandato de Jes\u00fas al abogado quien supo en su cabeza lo que Dios orden\u00f3, pero cuyo coraz\u00f3n no se hab\u00eda abierto a la plenitud del amor perfecto de Dios para todo el mundo. Tambi\u00e9n es el mandato de Jes\u00fas para nosotros. A los refugiados sirios y afganos que huyen de la guerra civil, debemos mostrar misericordia. A los refugiados centroamericanos que huyen de la violencia de pandillas, debemos mostrar misericordia. Al refugiado sudan\u00e9s que huye de la violencia y la guerra, debemos mostrar misericordia. Cuando vemos el dolor y el herido, \u00bfqu\u00e9 debe llenar nuestros corazones? Compasi\u00f3n. \u00bfQu\u00e9 debe marcar nuestras acciones? Misericordia. Si endurecemos nuestros corazones y nos convencemos de que los refugiados no son nuestro problema, perdemos el incre\u00edble privilegio de mostrar la misericordia de Dios a los seres humanos preciosos creados a Su imagen. Lo que el mundo ve como una crisis mundial de refugiados es una de las oportunidades m\u00e1s grandes de la iglesia para compartir el evangelio con grupos de personas que alguna vez fueron dif\u00edciles de alcanzar. Las personas de Siria y Afganist\u00e1n pueden estar m\u00e1s abiertas al evangelio que nunca antes. Muchos de ellos est\u00e1n buscando hacer hogares en naciones donde hay libertad para seguir a Cristo. El Se\u00f1or puede usar las atrocidades de la guerra para las iglesias de nacimiento entre estos grupos de personas. Quiz\u00e1s en las generaciones venideras, volver\u00e1n y reconstruir\u00e1n sus pa\u00edses sobre la verdad del evangelio. Cuando los refugiados vienen a nosotros, no caminemos al otro lado de la carretera y actuemos como si cuidarlos no sea nuestro problema. Miremos a estas comunidades rotas con compasi\u00f3n. Hagamos todo lo que est\u00e9 a nuestro alcance para atender sus necesidades. Esto fue publicado originalmente en la revista Encourage<\/a> .","author_name":"Leila Haddad","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/Hadad.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-13n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}