As I write this memo today, I must be honest in saying that I’m struggling with the realities of the world today!
Migrant vs. Refugee: I am struggling with the media’s interchangeable use of these two words. They are not the same. Refugees cannot go back home. Their “home” government will not protect their safety. Syrians are refugees!
Prior to coming to Lithuania Christian College, I was responsible for millions of dollars of federal funds for migrant students in Wichita, Kansas. These were not refugees. They were still disadvantaged. But they were not refugees. I’m struggling with the stereotypes and inclusive/exclusive conversations that are currently part of the American and European political scenes.
Three-year-olds: I’m struggling with the mental images of three-year-old refugees, one being the dead body of a Syrian boy washed ashore in Turkey, and the other being my own father as a three-year-old escaping from Ukraine/Russia in 1926 with a bandaged head after the bandits beat him and killed a neighbor in the kitchen. Interestingly, both three-year-olds had hopes of going to Canada. My father made it. And I am now the second generation of privilege. But the recent story of the three-year-old is a story of failure to reach the intended destination.
Europe vs. Syria: I’m struggling with responding to the peril of the Syrian refugees flooding into Europe, knowing that there are many more millions of internally displaced persons within Syria. Are those who are already in Europe the “lucky” ones? Is the world adequately supporting the welfare of the “unlucky” ones?
I’m struggling with the biblical references to “foreigners” (let’s call them “refugees”). What are we called to do? Are these just suggestions, or are they mandates? How does this impact our response to our own very international student body?
- Exodus 22:21 says, “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
- Exodus 23:9 says, “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”
- Leviticus 19:34 says, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”
I’m struggling with the desire to do more for the massive refugee influx in Europe while acknowledging the very real needs within our own student body – students who are struggling with political and economic realities in their home countries.
And . . . lest “the paralysis of analysis” stop me from doing anything at all, I’ll pray for wisdom – for me, for us, for LCC.
May we, as a community of Christ-centered citizens of the world, respond appropriately to the needs of the world – right here at LCC, and as far as our sphere of influence takes us.
