The ministry included providing food and shelter and transportation to the San Diego International Airport. This group of Ukrainians was comprised of relatives who were leaving by plane for Atlanta, Georgia to be with other relatives, with the exception of one who was preparing to fly later in the day to Seattle, Washington to be with his sister. This refugee was the sole individual among them who spoke English.

I was delighted with the opportunity to pray with the group and share a message of faith and hope and gratitude for God’s intervention in bringing these Ukrainians to America. I also shared in bearing the costs of the humanitarian support with the church. David Okhotin, pastor of the Russian Baptist Church of San Diego, phoned in to assist in translating for Rev. Biadog and me as we ministered to the refugees.

Various refugees shared, through the English-speaking Ukrainian translating, the atrocities they experienced in Kiev, Ukraine. They fled for their lives amidst the bombing, the ruble. Others went without water and food for long periods of time. Some experienced great fear and inner turmoil to leave their homes and country and nearly all of their personal possessions. They were heartbroken, but so grateful to God that they did escape and get to the United States. The church opened its doors to them and is allowing waves of Ukrainian refugees to spend the nights in their sanctuary.

The overwhelming thought I experienced from my encounters with the refugees and this ministry is the lesson of what the Bible teaches about hospitality: welcoming strangers and treating them well with the love of God. Hospitality is a virtue that is both commanded and commended throughout Scripture. The Word of God commands us, saying, “When a foreigner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The foreigner who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:33-34, MEV).

For me, this seemed like a homecoming, because not only have I been to the Ukraine twice and welcomed by Ukrainians to conduct evangelistic crusades, engage in relational evangelism, and engage in interviews about the military chaplaincy, but also because this time I was on the welcoming end of Ukrainians coming to my country.

A special report from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission.

Academics are calling it Europe’s “migrant” crisis, and some sympathetic media are terming it as the continent’s “refugee” crisis, both focusing on the “problem” faced by Europe. Lost in these analyses is the suffering of nearly 600,000 people, some of them Christian, who, fleeing war, persecution and oppression, have crossed the dangerous Mediterranean Sea to reach a region that is unwilling to give them asylum.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that at least 3,100 people have lost their lives in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year, due to bad weather conditions and overcrowded vessels of smugglers and human traffickers they used to cross the sea. And many of the tens of thousands, including women and children, who have made it to Europe are being detained without food or water. Others are being abused or exploited, as they remain without shelter or hope.

The governments of the frontline states of Greece and Italy as well as the European Union are faced with an unusual situation, not knowing what to do with the people who are arriving not only from Syria, but also from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Iraq.

More than 450,000 people have arrived by sea to Greece, of which at least 277,899 are from Syria, 76,620 from Afghanistan, 21,552 from Iraq, and 14,323 from Pakistan. In Italy, the number of arrivals is at least 137,313, of which 35,938 are from Eritrea, 17,886 from Nigeria, 10,050 from Somalia, 8,370 from Sudan, and 7,072 from Syria.

How they are treated depends on how we see them. In international law, which provides for assistance and protection for those fleeing persecution or conflict, an asylum seeker is someone whose claims are yet to be proven, after which they can be called refugee. An economic migrant, on the other hand, is someone who arrives in a foreign land for economic gain.

Given the nationalities of these people, they all appear to be legitimate asylum seekers, and must be treated accordingly.

Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is mindlessly killing civilians in Syria amid a bloody civil war against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and has captured large territories in Iraq. The targeted killings and persecution of Christians in Syria and Iraq are nothing less than genocide. More than 700,000 of Syria’s Christian population of 1.1 million have been displaced due to attacks by ISIS. And in Iraq, at least 125,000 Christians have fled their homes in the Nineveh Plains to the autonomous Kurdistan region.

Afghans are fleeing attacks in the wake of insurgencies by the Taliban and Islamic State’s local affiliate. Eritreans are running away from forced lifelong military conscripts by their authoritarian government.

 

The book being discussed is: Church Refugees: Sociologists Reveal Why People Are DONE With Church But Not Their Faith by Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope.
 

Don’t miss my interview with Josh Packard this Tuesday night. Thanks Pneuma Review for asking me to review the book which led to an interview with Josh. The book is: Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith by Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope.

Watch the recorded Interview now