EMQ » January–March 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 1
By Jude Simion and David Rihani
The Refugee Highway Partnership (RHP) is a global network of organizations and churches who share a vision to see the church minister among those who’ve been forcibly displaced, including refugees and asylum seekers. The RHP seeks to connect and mobilize leaders, churches and organizations to effectively engage with forcibly displaced people. It seeks to create a community that facilitates more effective ministry, stimulates strategic initiatives, and envisions and equips the church.
The global crisis of forcibly displaced people is one of the most urgent issues facing today’s Church. According to the United Nations, over 71 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes, about half of them children. Statistics also show that less than one percent of those will be resettled, and less than that will ever return to their original homes.
As believers, we’re called to care for the strangers among us. But this ancient theological imperative poses a challenge for the modern global Church, with controversy and political debate often clouding our efforts to make a meaningful impact. How do we show compassion to refugees in this complex environment? What role should each of us play in this mission field?
These questions drive our work at the Refugee Highway Partnership. We are a global platform of churches and faith-based ministries taking collective action to serve refugees in crisis. Our mission flows from aGod-inspired love for refugees, the biblical mandate to care for aliens, and our conviction that we can do this best in collaboration.
When we think about refugees fleeing their homelands, we envision them on a highway – a long, lonely journey in search of a home. As believers in “transit” or in “settlement” countries, our diverse coalition of members comes alongside these weary travelers. We offer a beacon of light and a warm meal on the table, in both the literal and figurative senses.
The Hands and Feet of Jesus
Historically, local churches have often served as “first responders” in refugee crises. In many areas of the world, they have welcomed and provided immediate aid to refugees, often closing the gap between refugees’ needs and government-provided services.
I (David Rihani) grew up in Jordan, a country with a long history of accepting refugees from conflict-torn areas across the Middle East and Caucasus. As a child, I listened to my grandfather’s stories about an Armenian family of refugees who lived with them.
My childhood church, in the Jordanian city of As-Salt, housed and cared for an influx of Palestinian refugees in the late 1960s. At that time, Jordan had no designated governmental agency handling the refugee crisis, and the church embraced the refugees with open arms.
I (Jude Simion) grew up in war-torn Sri Lanka and have experienced internal displacement. I have seen local churches be a primary responder offering food and shelter. Now I live in Australia, a country where the church has a legacy of caring for refugees and helping them integrate.
We believe that churches are tailor-made for practical, effective response to refugees. They bypass red tape and work directly with families, integrating them within the church and the community at large. And importantly, churches minister to refugees’ spiritual needs in a way that few other organizations can.
But with the rise of institutional humanitarian response, local churches often defer their response to aid agencies or government service. While their response is essential, they cannot replace the role of the local church. Too often, we’ve delegated the compassionate work of the Church to other organizations. As the church we must remember our calling to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
When we talk with church leaders about serving refugees, they often defer to agencies like World Vision, World Relief, or Compassion International. These organizations do essential work. But they don’t replace the role of the Church.
God commands the Church, not organizations, to love the strangers among us (Lev. 19:34). That’s why Refugee Highway Partnership’s calling is to call back the global Church as the first responder. We invite every local church, in its own way, to answer the invitation to be part of God’s work.
Building Community
So, how do we envision and equip the Church for compassionate response to refugees? We start with creating community. The Refugee Highway Partnership builds this community by connecting organizations. This is the key to breaking down silos and other barriers to partnership, streamlining our efforts, and operating in our areas of strength. When we collaborate, we can go farther and make a greater impact.
Joining our efforts helps to broaden our influence in the international community. Refugee Highway Partnership serves on the Refugee Task Force of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), working together to amplify our voices for people who are displaced. The WEA serves on the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Within this unique partnership, we work hand in hand to advocate for refugees around the world.
We engage the refugee church (refugees who are believers themselves), international mission organizations, aid organizations, and churches in host and settlement countries. Host countries are places where refugees stay temporarily, while settlement countries are their ultimate destination, often in the “global north” of Western Europe and the United States.
The Refugee Highway Partnership has brought a new level of collaboration to this work. In the past, partnerships have been limited in scope, usually operating within one country or region. We intentionally embrace everyone who’s involved in this work, including the refugee believers themselves and their churches.
Creating an equal, inclusive network of all these stakeholders is
critical. We must not only minister to refugees but also respect their agency
and self-determination, hold space for their struggles, and listen to their
input. Lord willing, refugees will carry the work forward in the future, with
us in a supporting role.
Refugee Highway Partnership operates in eight regions around the world holding
round-table events in each region and as a global network. It’s an incredible
opportunity to meet face-to-face and hear from our brothers and sisters in
places like Africa, Asia, Brazil, and the Middle East. Each of us has our own
stories and challenges, and we all learn so much from one another. Working as
part of a diverse team to advance God’s kingdom is an extraordinary blessing.
Serving on the frontlines of the refugee crisis, we experience intense highs and lows. So, in addition to coordinating organizational efforts, we foster relationships to encourage one another. We’re in this work for the long haul, and we can’t go it alone. For this work to be sustainable, we must bear one another’s burdens and renew our spirits with God’s Word.
Global Challenge, Local Context
Understanding and effectively responding to the refugee crisis in a global context can be incredibly challenging. The reality for North America and Europe is different from the realities of the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and, to a certain extent, Latin America and the Caribbean.
For instance, Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world, and it hosts over one million refugees. How does the Ugandan church cope with this tremendous need? How can we come alongside them in practical, appropriate ways? In many areas of the world, Christians are a minority in numbers, yet they want to make an outsized impact in refugee ministry. How can we equip them for this work?
These are the challenges we face in global ministry. We’re constantly sharing knowledge, resources, and connections, as well as advocating for refugees’ rights and needs in the international community. But in the end, effective refugee response must align with the unique local context. There’s no blanket solution, because what works in one community or country may fail elsewhere. We must have the humility to listen and learn from those who are closest to the crisis.
We have a unique role to play in helping local churches to prepare for embracing refugees over the long-term, beyond just providing food and shelter. Many churches have a heart to help, but they need support and training in how to deal with the often complex, difficult issues that accompany refugee ministry. This is a tremendous responsibility for us as we look toward the future of strategic partnership.
As we acknowledge the challenges in refugee ministry, we know that the global Church has a huge opportunity to engage. We need them to believe the scriptures that speak about refugees. When He speaks to the Israelites in exile, God reminds them, “Remember how you lived in Egypt.” The scriptures always bring the people back to that feeling of being in exile or being a refugee. Most of all, we need the global Church to try to feel what refugees are going through. With that empathy, they can pray for refugee communities, refugee churches, and refugee responders, particularly on World Refugee Sunday each June.
And finally, we can extend hospitality to refugees in our own communities, seeing this as a missional opportunity. In the modern-day diaspora, refugees bring a new life to the Church. Church is an intercultural community that brings together people of all tongues, colors, and nationalities to create a beautifully diverse portrait of God’s work.
To learn more about Refugee Highway Partnership or connect with a regional network, visit refugeehighway.net.
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Jude Simion is the chair of the WEA Refugee Task Force, a facilitator of the Oceania RHP region, as well as serving as a key leader in the global Refugee Highway Partnership. Having pioneered many innovative refugee support programs, including humanitarian response initiatives, he passionately promotes church response in addressing issues of global displacements.
David Rihani is the vice president of the Jordanian Evangelical Council and the founding board member and president of the Assemblies of God Church in Jordan. He is a key leader in the WEA Middle East and North Africa region, as well as serving with the global Refugee Highway Partnership.
