The figures regarding the world refugee situation are simply staggering.  According to the United Nations Refugee Agency:

  • There are over 68 ½ million forcibly displaced people worldwide – men, women, and children who have been forced to flee their home due to war, persecution, and famine.  That’s more than the combined populations of California and Texas – the two most populous of America’s fifty states.
  • Over 25 million of these are “refugees” – displaced people who have been forced to cross their national boundaries and are unable to return to their homes safely.  That’s more than the combined populations of the states of Pennsylvania and Illinois.
  • Each day, 44,000 people are forced to flee from their homes due to conflict or persecution.

Since 1975 the United States has accepted more than 33 million refugees for permanent resettlement within its borders.  That’s more than any country in the world. In fiscal year 2016, the United States admitted nearly 85,000 refugees into our country.

Since 2016 the American policies regarding refugees are in flux, with many of the changes introduced by the Donald Trump administration being challenged in the courts.  Nevertheless, in 2017 nearly 50,000 refugees were admitted into the United States.

Now, let’s be honest and realistic about the challenges nations face when it comes to receiving refugees.  Nations need to protect their borders. And they have the right to establish rules and regulations so that refugees can be assimilated into their new country, even as they’re protected from harm.  Given the sheer number of refugees and the magnitude of the work to register, monitor, and process them -as well as to make provision for food and clothing for those who usually arrive in a new country with few earthly possessions – we need to admit that there are no easy answers to such a complex humanitarian challenge.

What is clear, though, is that the Bible – particularly the New Testament – commends “love for strangers” – what most versions of the Bible translate as “hospitality”.  A “stranger” is someone who, for whatever reasons, has been removed from the place and the people that had provided him or her security in the world. “Strangers” are no longer parts of the communities, the work, and the religious institutions with which they were familiar.  Sometimes, tragically, they are separated from other family members.

And, at least in our nation and its current cultural climate, there’s usually a high level of suspicion about these “strangers” now within our borders.   They’re regarded as potential or actual threats to our national security, as criminals, as people whose mores threaten our cultural identity, as drains on our economy.  Nevertheless, Christians should see these “strangers” as opportunities to show the “love of strangers” – which is the literal meaning of hospitality. According to the Bible’s books of Timothy and Titus, elders, those leaders called out from local congregations to minister the Word of God and to rule the church under the authority of the Word of God, must be hospitable:  They must represent the hospitality of God in showing His love – not just to other Christians, but also to strangers. And in the Bible’s books of Romans and I Peter, all Christians are not only called to show love to strangers – but, according to the Apostle Peter, we are to do that “without grumbling.”

And refugees are a huge group of “strangers” to whom we are called to show “hospitality”.

How does the State Department seek to re-settle these refugees?   It works with non-profit agencies that receive some of their assistance from the federal government.  But it also works with local communities that are willing to lend a hand with the massive task of resettling those who, for whatever reasons, have been come to our shores from other nations.   And in those local communities there are always churches – churches that can and should be in the forefront of this kind of service.

One of the most remarkable local communities that’s in the forefront of both receiving refugees and working to provide them with housing, English language assistance, job training, and employment is the little town of Clarkston, Georgia.  It’s located northeast of the sprawling metropolitan Atlanta area.  While its population is only about 13,000 people, Clarkston, Georgia has helped over 40,000 refugees in the past quarter of a century.  It’s been called “The Ellis Island of the South” because of the number of nations, languages, and cultures represented there.   It’s a virtual United Nations, welcoming about 1,500 refugees per year – and refugees from some of the most far flung areas of the world.

 

And serving along with other Christians and non-Christians in this model refugee resettlement community is Evangelist Chris Cashen.  Having formerly served as a lawyer, Chris subsequently entered Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where he graduated with his Master of Divinity Degree in 2013.  Following three and a half years of service in the pastorate, in 2017 he was called by Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Doraville, Georgia for the express purpose of ministry to the refugee community in Clarkston, Georgia.  Today, on A Visit to the Pastor’s Study, Evangelist Chris Cashen will take us into the world of “The Ellis Island of the South” – Clarkston, Georgia.  He’ll give us a feel for the challenges and blessings of ministry to refugees, and he’ll be challenging all of us to show love to strangers – biblical hospitality that goes way beyond getting together for a meal with other Christians.

Evangelist Chris Cashen, –  welcome to A Visit to the Pastor’s Study….

Here’s a link to the full program:

 

Yours in our hospitable God,

Pastor Bill