What's happening in Middle Eastern refugee camps?

Photo courtesy/Huang Mingfa

【I love "Mu" more and more】

Before I went to the Middle East, I had heard about the Syrian refugee ministry. Since I had never seen it with my own eyes, it was not that shocking. In May 2018, I had the opportunity to visit and see God’s deeds with my own eyes. I was so moved!

Lights in the refugee camp

Most of the Syrian refugees lost everything overnight, and many fled to neighboring countries. There are more than three million in Jordan and two million in Lebanon, accounting for almost 1/3 of the total population of these two countries. , which is a huge burden for these two countries. But they are accepting, and they also let people see that refugee care has become an important issue in today's society.

In the Middle East, we came into contact with Chinese brothers and sisters, and we followed the call of love. Our original intention was to spread the good news to the local people, and we began to care for the refugees a year or two ago. They didn't know how to start at first, but later a demon-possessed family came to them to cast out the demons because they believed in Jesus. With faith and the Lord’s holy name and power, this group of brothers and sisters exorcised the unclean spirits and opened the door to serving refugees.

The refugee ministry here is roughly divided into two categories: one is refugee visitation and care, and the other is opening refugee schools. Visits and care usually provide care and guidance to refugees according to their needs, and encourage and help them find employment. For example, teaching them to make key rings, cross-stitch or other handicrafts, so that they can be self-reliant; some young people also use their unique artistic talents to teach refugees to draw to support their families. The schools set up for refugees include primary schools, junior high schools and high schools. They mainly use local languages and also offer English, music, art, psychological counseling and other courses to help refugees find their dreams and receive the blessings from God in difficult environments. hope.

Most of the refugees we visited were scattered in different rural areas. Many of them lived in very simple tents next to fields, with severe water shortages and poor sanitary conditions. But every time I see us, I am always very excited. In such a refugee gathering place, there are about fifty adults and fifty children each. Before leaving after a visit, we always give them gift packages, and both adults and children receive prizes.

During visits, we can always hear them expressing their needs, especially in refugee camps in the wilderness of the Middle East, where resources are even scarcer. Therefore, any educational resources that American churches can provide, including Bible stories, music, art, etc., are very popular; children can Study hard and cherish these external supports.

The Chinese brothers and sisters have also put a lot of effort into these refugees, and have established long-term and far-reaching relationships with students and parents through school ministry. They hope to influence them with their lives, so that these Muslim people will have more and more opportunities to believe in the Lord. . Although the world sees disasters, difficulties, broken families and exiles, God loves Muslims and has opened a big door, allowing these refugee families to believe in the Lord one by one, and some churches have been established. God’s thoughts are greater than our thoughts!

Without seeing the conditions in these refugee camps with your own eyes, it is difficult to imagine their extreme lack. Living in North America, a country with abundant resources, I can enjoy God’s abundant grace every day. I personally feel very grateful. This trip to the Middle East allowed us to see our responsibility and the direction of our future efforts in their needs, which is missionary work. As the Scripture says, the harvest is ripe, but where are the workers?

incredible plot

This time I met a Chinese sister in the Middle East. She was young and single. Because of the call of love, she was willing to let go of everything. She left her hometown and came to this cross-cultural and dangerous place to deliver the good news of salvation and hope. It was not easy. She participated in visiting refugee families here, which was very adventurous and challenging. Some of the experiences were frightening, but they did not make her give up. If it were not for the call of love, it would be impossible to persist in such a difficult and dangerous thing. After listening to her life story, we were deeply moved. Her situation was just like what Brother Bian Yunbo described in "Dedicated to the Unknown Preacher"! Here I would like to express my utmost respect for these unknown preachers!

During this trip, I also met a refugee school teacher. He is also a doctor and a preacher. He preaches everywhere and is also involved in youth ministry. He is very burdensome to young people, especially young people who are Syrian refugees. His sermons were lively and dynamic, and he became a role model for young people. He specially came to the hotel to meet and chat with us and exchange opinions. He hopes that in the near future, we can provide more resources related to youth ministry to help and participate in Syrian refugee ministry. I also hope that we can share this vision in the United States and everywhere, and invite different church leaders and Christian business leaders to build them. His enthusiasm and proactive attitude left a deep impression on me.

One weeknight we went to a prayer meeting at a local church. It happened that the senior pastor spoke English very well and also taught at the university. I have never attended a prayer meeting that was conducted from beginning to end in Arabic that I didn’t understand, and I was able to worship, praise, and pray together with them. Afterwards, they asked me to share the purpose of coming to the Middle East, and I shared the destiny of the Chinese people in English (the pastor translated), which is to inherit the past and connect the future, pick up the stick of the gospel, and come to these Muslim countries on the Silk Road with love. Finally, the gospel was preached back to Jerusalem.

They were greatly moved after hearing this and told me that they had received the same revelation during the prayer meeting that day. What a sympathetic feeling! Finally, the pastor hopes that we can come back often, regard this church as our spiritual home, help and mobilize them to participate in global missions, and fulfill the call of the Lord’s Great Commission.

On the way to the airport, the driver was a local young man. As soon as we got into his taxi, he kept chatting with us. There was a Bible next to the driver's seat. Due to different cultural and religious backgrounds, I asked him tactfully if this was a Koran? He replied it was the Bible. I showed him my identity as a Christian. Since then, he has been testifying to us, telling us how God miraculously led him to believe in the Lord. In two weeks, he will be baptized into the name of the Lord in front of everyone in the church, and he has decided to devote himself full time to his life. Come serve God, be fully committed to preaching the gospel for the Lord, saving souls and turning His country around.

The young driver also stopped three times in total during the 30-minute drive. The first time was to buy a cup of coffee and a bottle of water for each of us, because he thought the local coffee was very famous and wanted us to try it. After we finished drinking the coffee and told him that the coffee was delicious, he stopped the car for the second time and bought each of us a bag of coffee beans to take back to the United States. He also bought a large beef tomato, saying that he had never eaten it before. Cow Tomato doesn’t count as having been here. But because there was no fruit knife in the car, he stopped the car for the third time and borrowed a fruit knife from a store owner to cut all the beef tomatoes. He also bought some salt so that we could eat it in the car. Such enthusiasm and kindness are not often encountered in the United States. Not only did he buy us things, he also told us that he still had two empty rooms in his home and asked us to come back and use them at any time. What God has prepared for us is really something that our eyes have never seen, our ears have never heard, and we have never even thought about it in our hearts. It is really so rich!

Discussion on Business Mission

In addition to the above valuable experiences, it is also worth mentioning the feasibility of business as mission in the Middle East. Some of the brothers and sisters here must become local permanent residents due to their status, and obtaining legal status through business activities is one of the ways. This is different from the traditional missionary model that ordinary Chinese people know.

In Muslim societies, the traditional evangelical model is no longer suitable. Not only is it difficult to stay, but it is also difficult to get a visa. From the history of Western brothers and sisters coming to China or Taiwan in the past, we can see that in addition to their evangelical mission, they also have a strong cultural mission—to establish relationships with local people through education, medical care, poverty alleviation and other preliminary work, and lead them step by step. People believe in the Lord. This is an example we can learn from.

Currently, in cross-cultural areas, there are many existing or possible business promotion models:

‧Tourism model: This is currently very popular. It has a cultural mission to help brothers and sisters in these areas. It also helps local people develop their economy through cultural exchanges and promotes local culture to all parts of the world. ‧Restaurant industry. Wherever there are Chinese people, there are Chinese restaurants.
‧Develop local unique products. For example, many businessmen use salt stones or slurry from the Dead Sea to make expensive cosmetics and sell them all over the world. If you can participate in the research, development, promotion, sales, etc. of this industry, there is the possibility of business missionary work. Another example: using local olive oil to develop and make handmade soaps and selling them all over the world to help local disadvantaged groups have a regular income.
‧Open a language school: teach English or Chinese, etc.

It is worth mentioning that although the Chinese brothers and sisters here are not yet familiar with or good at business practices, we firmly believe that those who come with faith will receive God’s help and blessings. Their presentation can be regarded as an invitation to others, hoping to inspire mature Christian entrepreneurs who are really good at doing business to come here and become leaders of business missionary work. Believe that God has His time and way to impress Kingdom entrepreneurs. These business missions will become one of the mainstreams of cross-cultural ecumenical missions in the future.

hope and vision

On the highway heading to the airport, we saw cities and mosques one after another outside the window. We raised our hands to pray for these cities. God showed us at that moment: He wants to bring resources from all over the world to these cities. towns, brought to these Muslim countries, because God wants to set up a throne here so that the people here have the opportunity to know the unique true God, worship Him, and serve Him. The people here must quickly return to the embrace of the Lord Jesus one by one and let the culture of the kingdom of heaven become their new culture.

We are grateful for the opportunity to come to the Middle East and engage with Syrian refugee ministry. The harvest field here is huge, and the needs are also great. But where are the workers who do the work?

I hope that more people can participate in missionary missions to the Middle East. This kind of experiential missionary work may become a turning point in our lives. Even if you are just visiting refugee families or teaching English, I believe people will have different experiences. Because these things that are done to the least of these brothers and sisters are done to the Lord Jesus.

Huang Mingfa, a native of Taipei City, currently lives in New Jersey and is the convener of the "Bethel Center". Love traveling, photography and learning.