This past week, I was able to volunteer with Friends of Refugees during a local mission trip to Clarkston, Georgia. For more information about Friends of Refugees and what they are doing for our refugee brothers and sisters in Clarkston, visit their website at friendsofrefugees.com.
I've never thought of refugees as brave, but that is how I heard them described this past week.
Brave.
It's easy to look at refugees and see people who need help. People who are struggling. People who have little hope.
And honestly, that's true. Refugees are in need of help. They are in unfortunate circumstances that many people have never had to and may never have to experience. If we truly understood what they went through, we would think they would have little hope to keep going.
Take a moment to stand in their shoes. One day, you're living your normal life. You're at home with your family when all of a sudden there's a knock on your door and you're told there's a group on the way to your home and you either have to leave before they arrive or you will be killed when they get there. What do you do? What goes through your head? What do you tell your family? What about all of your possessions? What do you do with them? What do you take? What do you leave behind?
When you're faced with this kind of situation, you don't have much time to think. You gather what's important to you, like your family, and you gather necessities, and you have to leave. You don't have time to pack up all of your things into a nice suitcase and put them in your car and drive away like you're going on vacation. You may even bring things that are extremely valuable to you, but when you only have space for one more thing in your bag, do you pack the Bible that's been passed down for generations, or do you pack shoes because who knows how far or how long you will have to walk and the ones you have on now will only last for a little while longer?
These are the kinds of decisions refugees must make, and they don't have much time to make them.
Think about the woman at home with her 2 year old daughter when she gets this knock on the door and is told she needs to leave– now. What does she do? She has an older son at school which is in the direction that the attackers are coming from. Does she risk her and her daughter's life to try to go find her son, who may not even be alive by the time she gets there? Does she leave her daughter with her neighbors, trusting they'll get her safely to a refugee camp while she goes to search for her son? What if she is never reunited with her daughter again? What if she gets to her son and he's no longer living? Is it even worth it? Should she and her daughter just leave her son behind, and that way at least they would make it out safely? This is a real story that I heard while volunteering with Friends of Refugees this past week, and I was at a loss. If I'm unable to decide what I would do in this hypothetical situation for me, how much harder it is for the woman who had to make this decision in literally just a few seconds.
The lives of refugees are changed in the blink of an eye, and while I wish this was an exaggeration, it's not.
Refugees go through things that are hard for us to talk about, but even harder for them to actually go through. From the moment they learn they have to leave, to getting their family as far away from the danger as possible, refugees go through a lot. Many of them don't even make it to a refugee camp. Many of them are internally displaced and all they want is for it to be safe for them to return back home so they can continue with their lives. Of the refugees that do make it to refugee camps, only about 1% of them apply to be relocated to a third country (the first being their home country, the second being the country they have fled to, the third would be where they go to try to restart their lives). Of those that apply, only a few of the most resilient ones actually make it through the entire process and get the opportunity to go to the third country (which, I might add, the UN usually picks for them).
The process seems pretty straightforward, but things are always more straightforward on paper than in practice. This "straightforward" process takes on average of 17 years. Seventeen years spent in a refugee camp. These are years of waiting to hear back from governments, years of waiting and hoping that their home can be safe enough for them to return to, years of waiting just to see what comes next because it is often times very unclear and uncertain.
Refugees go through so much before they can even think about resettling in a new country, and when they find out they have the ability to do so, they start a new process and go through even more to embark on this new journey.
Thinking about having to get up and leave my home with very little planning ahead of time is overwhelming. Thinking about where I could possibly go and what life would be like when I get there, is overwhelming. Many of the refugees who come to the US or other countries are in situations that we would never want to be in. Unlike immigrants and other people who come from other countries, refugees are not here because they want to be here. They are here because they were forced to leave. Like anyone else in this kind of situation, all refugees want is to go home.
After refugees flee from danger, arrive at refugee camps after walking miles and miles and miles, go through years and years of paperwork and interviews, and finally get approved to be relocated, they are able to start their new lives. While it is good for them to be placed in a safe country away from the hardship and dangers they were previously surrounded with, it's still not easy.
Any transition to a new country is hard, especially under these difficult circumstances. Imagine going to a country where you don't speak the language, don't know how things work, don't understand the culture, don't have many resources, don't know anyone except the people you came with, and yet despite all of this, you are expected to come here and start a new life. While refugees are given some form of assistance upon arrival, this is usually short term, and before they know it, they are expected to make it on their own.
Think for a second of what it would be like for one day, after fleeing attacks in the US and being in a refugee camp for years, that you have been relocated to a country in southeast Asia. Imagine what you would see when you land. Imagine how confused you would be. Imagine how new everything would be so new to you. And now imagine having three months to apply for and get a job so you can start paying the government back for loans they have given you to help you get there. Imagine you have a 6 year old child who now has to enroll in a Burmese school where no one speaks English, and the only classes are taught in Chin. Once your child begins to learn and understand Chin, what happens when they have a question on their homework but you don't speak Chin, therefore are unable to help them? These are simple things that we often don't think about when we think of refugees coming to our country. They are having to adapt in ways we don't think about because it's not us and it's not our situation, but it's happening right here in our homes.
Spending just a week with refugees has really opened my eyes to see more than just their struggle. Yes, I have seen and learned about the struggles they face. But I have also seen how brave they are. I have seen how resilient they are. I have seen how they can remain strong despite having faced so much. I have seen how much they value their community because although they may all come from various places, they have similar stories and experiences, and therefore can come together and support each other and lift one another up.
Spending a week playing with refugee children reminded me that they have experienced so much in the few short years they have experienced on this earth. Yet, through it all, they smile. They laugh. They sing. They play.
Spending a week holding refugee babies made me think of how much their parents, especially their mothers, have had to go through. I can't imagine being a refugee, much less being a pregnant refugee, or being a refugee with a newborn. Or giving birth in a refugee camp. And while these are things I can't imagine, these are things that many people have to do because they have no other choice.
I think of these refugee babies who will grow up in this new country, without much realization of what their parents had to go through in order for them to get there. The only memory they'll have of their home country is from stories they'll hear and pictures they'll see.
Spending a week being surrounded by refugees has shown me the beauty and love that goes beyond a certain culture or language. While I had limited communication with the refugees because of language barriers, it was beautiful to be with them and exchange smiles, thank you's, and helping hands.
There is so much to learn from refugees. Their dependence on each other and the way they hold onto their faith through everything they have been through is amazing. For them to say that God is good and that He is the only reason they have made it this far is so encouraging.
It's so easy to just put refugees into one category of people, but they are all individuals. They all have dreams, goals, and visions. They have things they love and things they are passionate about. They have things they hope to accomplish and things they have brought from their culture to share with and teach people who have come from different cultures.
I love the way they are eager to attend classes to learn English. I love the way that they come here and willingly take any form of work they can get– even if it is in a local chicken factory, after being a doctor or dentist or engineer back home. I love the way they are doing what they can do to benefit their children and families. I love the way they continue to be gracious to one another, and the way they show us what it looks like to live in the freedom that comes with forgiveness.
Refugees are not their trials. They are not just refugees. They are much more than the labels we give them. They are sons and daughters of God. They are valued. They are important. They are so loved.
Refugees are brave. They are strong. They have endured so much. They have such amazing stories and wonderful hearts. There is so much we can learn from them.
"When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt." -Leviticus 19:33-34
In our Father's love,
Elisha