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| Photo courtesy of UNHCR - http://www.worldrefugeeday.us |
Today is World Refugee Day. It's a day to acknowledge the millions of people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes because of violence or persecution.
Only a small fraction of those refugees end up permanently resettled in North America, the U.K. or Australia, but it's those "lucky few" that I would especially like to remember today.
Only a small fraction of those refugees end up permanently resettled in North America, the U.K. or Australia, but it's those "lucky few" that I would especially like to remember today.
I get the impression that many Americans believe that once refugees
arrive in the U.S., most of their problems are over. They've gotten out
of the war zone and arrived in the land of wealth and opportunity: education,
healthcare, and technology are at their fingertips.
Yes. In many ways, life is safer and better here. I would
never want to deny that, nor how grateful most refugees are to come.
However, arrival in the U.S. doesn't magically fix everything.
Refugees still face language barriers, un-/under-employment, unfamiliar
customs, and the aftereffects of trauma. Many are separated from at least
part of their family, sometimes permanently. Many go without healthcare
or food simply because they don't know how to use our systems. Many want
an education but their long work days make it almost impossible.
Those are the big things, though. It's the "little,"
moment-to-moment challenges that I think we overlook most often. The things
in life that are so much a part of our lives that we don’t even realize we ever
had to learn them.
What a refrigerator is. How to hold a pencil. How to buy
food at a grocery store. How to read the walk/don't walk symbols at
crosswalks. How to know that when you buy toothpaste it comes in a
box, even though when someone hands it to you it's in a tube. How weekly
garbage-collection works. How to stand in a line. Not only how to
read, but--in some cases--how to understand that marks on paper can even have meaning.
Picture encountering that much bewildering unfamiliarity, on top of the
other "big" challenges. Picture leaving a home where you were
eloquent and skillful and respected, only to find yourself in a place where you
don't even know how to prepare dinner or how to greet your neighbor; a place
where people assume you're stupid.
In spite of all of this, most refugees who come to the States approach
their new surroundings with an astounding level of energy and success.
Most I've met are quick to smile and eager to learn. It's a
beautiful testament to human resilience and the courage of the individuals
themselves.
It's never easy, though.
I'd like to call people out today, to pray for the world's 43.7 million
refugees and displaced people. Pray for the people who are in the middle
of fleeing and don't know where to go or if anyone will take them. Pray
for the people sitting in over-populated refugee camps, sometimes for decades. And pray for the
small fraction of refugees who have been resettled in our land of opportunity,
that they would be encouraged and blessed and thrive in their new home.
Pray also for us, as a resettlement country, that we would see and
remember and love these people among us.
Some places for more information about refugees and their lives:
