Jesus Was a Refugee

In the shuttle on the way to the conference I’m attending this week:

Guy headed to Lockheed Martin Conference:  So, are you in town for a conference?

Me:  Yes, outside Fort Worth.  It’s a church conference about minitry to refugees.

GHTLMC:  You mean those illegals who want to take over our country?

There is a lot of misunderstanding about refugees.  Yes, they are immigrants, but no, there are not illegal and they are fleeing their homeland.  The man I had dinner with last night cannot return to Iraq where he was once Moderator of the Presbyterian Church because people want to kill him.  

Even Jesus was a refugee if you remember.

These are people who have fled because of race, religion, nationality, or participation in a particular social or political group.  There are throngs of them in the world today, and if you are like me, when you see crowds of wandering people, you see problems.  You don’t have to be an MBTI introvert to avoid them. 

I’m reminded at this conference, that when Jesus saw crowds he felt compassion rather than annoyance or fear.  Jesus saw people not problems. 

Imagine if we were on the run from our own country, and after a long trip to a strange place, someone met us at the airport, took us to a furnished apartment with familiar native food ready to eat on the stove and helped us figure out how to catch the bus and get language lessons.  Imagine how much we would appreciate and love those people, how much we would appreciate that country that welcomed us generously.

This is the work of Jesus.  Check this out – even if all you can do is donate old towels.  But we can probably do more.