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I walk because God is El Roi

"Hagar and Ishmael" by Jean Charles Cazin

Remember Hagar? God had given Sarah and Abraham the promise of a child. The problem was that Sarah was too old to have a baby. Instead of believing the Creator of the universe (hindsight is 20/20, I know) she did what was a common practice at that time, she gave her servant, Hagar, to her husband to have a child on her behalf. Later Sarah despised Hagar and abused her . God came to Hagar, an Egyptian servant girl (who didn't know Him) in her distress twice (that we know of).Once when she was newly pregnant , alone and fleeing the abuse of her mistress Sarah, and another time, after having been sent away with her son, Ishmael, into the desert by Abraham. She sat a ways off watching her son die from lack of water. Imagine that. God met her and rescued her and her son. She called Him, El Roi, the God who sees.

A few months ago at church, we sang a new (to me) song called “Strong God” by Meredith Andrews.
The lyrics are: 
Father to the fatherless, Defender of the weak, Freedom to the Prisoner, we sing
This is God, in His holy place, this is God, clothed in love and strength
Sing out lift your voice and cry out, Awesome is our strong God, mighty is our God
You’re with us in the wilderness faithful to provide, Every breath and every step we see
This is God in His holy place, This is God clothed in love and strength.

Now, I know it was written by nice suburban folk for nice suburban folk with a metaphorical flair- I mean, I have been on this earth for 33 years and have never really seen a literal wilderness, but I think I could say that I understand what she’s describing, I think most of us have felt, at one time, this concept of a wilderness and understand the presence of God in this place. 

What struck me was the literal reality of these words experienced in the lives of refugees every day. And I cried (those of you who know me in real life know that I don’t cry). I thought of my friends here in the U.S. who have been through so much, I thought of their relatives still in danger and hopeless. I thought of the countless thousands running from Syria right now. I thought of those people who are just trying to live and provide for their families and teach their children to be good people but their lives are interrupted by war and murder and fear.

The line “This is God in His holy place” was such a reminder to me of God’s greatness, bigness and goodness. This is who God is, God see’s refugees. He is their father and defender. He sees us in our metaphorical and spiritual wildernesses and he sees refugees in the literal wilderness that they pass through to find safety. 

I walk for Exodus because the mission of Exodus is to foster relationship between refugees and volunteers from the local Church.

I walk for refugees because God sees them in their wilderness. For me, walking alongside refugees as they find "home" is an act of worship. 

Click here to support refugees for the 2013 Run/ Walk for refugees

Love your Neighbor

Hey all, as many of you know I am on staff at Exodus World Service. Exodus is a non-profit organization that mobilizes the local church to serve refugees.

Did you know that refugees live in our communities!?? No matter where you are reading this from, there are likely many folks who were forced to flee their homelands living within an hour or so from you! Who knew?

I didn't.

I didn't know what a refugee was until I met Jacqueline Kassongo my sophomore year of college when I volunteered as her "New Neighbor" through Exodus World Service. However, little did I know that everywhere I had ever lived (in my living memory) I was literally surrounded by refugees.

What I know now that I didn't know then....

One of my earliest memories was the day me and my mom moved into an apartment in Aurora Illinois. My very best friends in Aurora were Karina and Alex Flores. Alex and I went to kindergarten together. We 3 spent all of our time together. I have so many memories of sitting with their grandma, who thought was named  "Abuela", and all of us laughing at Rodrigo, their little brother. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he always replied exuberantly , " POE-LEEEEESE"

My little 7 year old heart broke for the first time I remember when they moved across town.

They were refugees from Chile. 

This is me, Karina (on my right) Alex (on my left) and Rigo (behind me) when I got my Cabbage Patch Kid, Trista
Aw, weren't we cute?

In Aurora I had a babysitter named Stella, who, having raised 3 sons, had zero patience for my long untame knotty hair. She used to always yell at me to "putta you jacket!" as I left for school. She was mean and I thought she hated me. One day my mom explained to me that she was so sad and angry because they had to run away from Argentina. Her husband had recently gone back to visit after many years, thinking it was safe, but they put him in prison-- not because he was bad, but because the government was bad.

Stella and her family were refugees.

In 4th grade we moved to LaSalle IL. I had never seen so many white people in my whole life. It felt weird and was hard to make friends because I didn't really know how to care about making my bangs stick up. :) I eventually settled in. One day, maybe in 5th grade we had a new student in class. His name was Teverath Ith. He was from Cambodia. I was so curious about him. Who was he? Why was he here? How did he get here? How would he learn English?  As time went on, I learned that he and his huge family lived in a tiny apartment above the store down the road. But this was 5th grade. Boys had cooties and despite my incessant curiosity about him, I couldn't go talk to a boy, people might think I love him! (C'mon!)

Teverath and his family were refugees.

In 8th grade we moved to Bolingbrook, IL. Literally 30 minutes south of Wheaton IL, which is home to hundreds of refugees. In highschool, I had a friend named Mai Lee Lao. She was super smart and I really looked up to her. She was the stage manager for our theatre program and I was really sad when she graduated, even though we weren't very close. (I'll be totes embarrassed if she sees this on facebook :)) 

This year I learned, after reconnecting with her on Facebook, that her family were refugees from Laos.

In short, refugees have always been impacting my life. I didn't know the word "Refugee" when Stella's husband didn't come home, or when Karina and Alex's dad, Luis worked long hours to support his family, forgoing his opportunity to learn English for the sake of his kids. However, refugees have always been my neighbor.

Are they your neighbor?

Jesus said that the second greatest commandment (after loving God will all you are) is to love your neighbor as yourself. 

Exodus' entire mission is to help the church welcome refugees as their neighbors. I work there, its true, it's what we do. I spend my days teaching people about refugees,  telling people how to help refugees, walking along side folks as they are in relationship with refugee families, helping manage details and cultural barriers that get in the way of folks connecting with and providing welcome to refugees. There is no hidden anything. Promoting relationships between refugees and volunteers from the local church is our first priority. 

We are a lean staff. There are 7-9 of on staff (depending on the time of year), and currently I am the only person who is full time. Yet through Exodus mobilizing volunteers, this past year,  161 families (about 600 individuals), mostly from Burma, Bhutan and Iraq, received the essential household items they need to set up and new home, and more importantly, smiling, welcoming faces of friends who took the time to prepare a place for them even when they were forgotten people-- refugees in a camp.  Additionally 79 families, which is about 250 individuals received a volunteer who came and met with them weekly for at least a few months, just to be their friend and help them settle in.

So really, supporting Exodus is a good idea. We are a tiny organization who through the Grace of God and volunteers like you take a little and make a big impact in the lives of "the least of these" and in the lives of the folks from the church who connect with refugees. Click here to support our annual Run/Walk for refugees. Click here to learn more about Exodus World service. Click here to participate in the Run/Walk, which is September 7th in Historic Long Grove. You can also be a "Virtual Walker"! If you have any questions, you an email me.