Ever wonder what it would be like to be torn from your home and forced to retreat to a border country in order to remain alive?? Your house and all of your possessions have been burned to the ground... family members and friends have been killed. Not only is your home no longer an option, but your very country is now a hostile place to you and it is with great urgency that you get off of it's ground. It's so far from reality for us that it seems more fitting in a movie. Yet this is life for millions. (Hey, on the movie note... watch Rambo (the one made in 2008). Strong language, but a very real picture of the true story happening TODAY in Burma).
Tonight at midnight we will be receiving a family that fled Burma and has been living in a refugee camp on the Burma/Thailand border. After they land, Ledi, a Congolese case worker will greet them and bring them to their new home at Serrano Village. She will show them how the showers work, how to use the dish soap, how to use the toilet... that they each have a bed to sleep in. Then, around 2 or 3 a.m., she will leave and they will be left alone in this strange place to begin picking up the pieces of their shattered lives.
If you have ever been overseas and plopped right in the middle of a foreign land, you know the unnerving feeling of having all of your comforts and abilities to navigate stripped away. In many cases, English is spoken in most airports and large cities in the world. Sadly for our new neighbors, they have no English skills. Imagine the shock -- liken it to being dropped into Beijing. You cannot read the signs, ask anyone for help... you don't even know how to buy groceries!! The result is a group of people that are accustomed to community and using their hands to make a living now trapped by fear inside of an apartment week in and week out. The mental and emotional impact in the days, weeks and months ahead in the lives of each new arrival will bring them just short of insane. I'm not exaggerating... many refugees struggle with alcoholism and suicide as a numbing alternative to their new reality.
So what does all of this mean for us? I suppose one thing we can all do is search our hearts regarding our feelings toward "immigrants" or people who now call America home for whatever reason. It is true that many come in search for a better life... but some come in search of keeping life. "This land is your land, this land is my land... this land was made for you and me" -- can you say in your heart that you would have a smile on your face that stretched down to your heart if you sang this to an Asian person who didn't speak a word of English? And as far as you could tell didn't have any drive to learn it?
The truth is that at some point all of our families came here to improve the future for the generations to come. Yet because many of us feel so American, we can quickly look at people from other nations and feel a sense of selfishness and dominion that clouds our ability to feel compassion and simple kindness. Have you ever pondered that you could have been born into a war-torn village in the middle of Iraq? Or even more controversial... in the middle of a crime-ridden, disease-infested, gang-dominated colonia in Mexico? As a mother, I would be lying if I said I wouldn't do anything in my power, including breaking the law, to move my family to a place with safe neighborhoods where my kids could walk to school without fear of being killed. We can forget that in the middle of these political arguments lie people. People. People with hopes and dreams. Not of a nice retirement or good colleges for their kids, but survival. Just survival. Let us search our hearts when we see these "intruders" in our country... and remember it isn't our country, it's God's, and He gives and takes away. Let us be thankful that He has chosen at this time to allow us to share this land with whomever He allows to enter in... and maybe, just maybe... He brought them here so they might know of the One who has preserved their lives and desires to give them life and give it more abundantly through faith in Him.
Kelli, what a touching story. You are an amazing writer, and I am touched by your words, and even more so your example. You are living the word. Matthew 6:19-21 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Your love and compassion for these "broken" people is incredible, and I admire you for it. I am sure that I could not put myself in your position, so I will do what I can to support you from here. Much love! Shelley
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