Welcome Alexandra Horton to our missionary community.
Alexandra is newly married to Tyler and they live in the Denver, Colorado area. On the weekends, they enjoy the adventure of hiking in the nearby mountains. Al earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Entrepreneurship from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She then completed a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Samford University. Al has a unique story as she is from a very large family with two biological siblings and 8 siblings adopted from Ukraine! Her unique family experience has contributed to a growing passion for working with students from difficult family backgrounds. She works daily to bring help and hope to the students entrusted to her care.
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I was a junior in college the first time I was introduced to refugees. Before then, I had honestly never thought much about refugees – who they were, where they came from, or why it was they were seeking refuge.
So, who are refugees? Well, refugees are people who have been forced out of their home and country because of issues like persecution, war, or violence. A refugee, as outlined by the 1951 Refugee Convention, has a “well-founded fear of being persecuted because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”. To put it simply, a refugee is someone who has to leave all that they’ve ever known because they are in an unsafe situation. Can you imagine what it would be like to have to flee your home and move to another country where you don’t know the people or language just so that you could be safe?
Obviously, the preferred option would be for refugees to be able to return home once peace is restored in their country. However, if returning home is not an option due to safety concerns, refugees will often flee to nearby countries to make a new life for themselves either by integrating in a host country or by settling temporarily in a refugee camp. If these opportunities fail, refugees might also be eligible for third country resettlement to the United States
During my junior year of college I worked with an organization called World Relief, a faith-based refugee resettlement agency. I worked with refugee kids and youth from all over the world who had to leave their home and resettle in the United States in order to live safely and freely. One of my favorite memories from this internship came from one particular teen who was constantly talking about God and his faith. Even as a Christian myself, he took every opportunity to witness to me, to talk to me about our Savior, and share Bible verses with me.
My experience with World Relief was so impactful, that one year later, I had the opportunity to volunteer at a refugee camp in Greece with another organization.
Refugee camps often lack adequate resources, and this, coupled with violence and other criminal activity, can make refugee camps a challenging place to live. But for families and individuals seeking refuge, camps are a better option than staying in their home country. Some refugees might only stay in a camp for a few days or weeks before they are resettled in the U.S. or another country, but some may end up living in a camp for years.
Can you imagine living in a tent with hundreds or thousands of other people for years with no where to go and with nothing to do?
Thankfully, there are organizations whose mission it is to offer help and resources to those living in refugee camps.
When I traveled to Greece, I specifically worked with an organization that helps mothers and their young children. The organization provided a “Mom and Baby Tent” where mothers and their children could come and get out of the heat, take off their head coverings, play with their children, and meet other moms at the camp. The organization also provided education to new moms – some moms had given birth to their first child while living in the camp and did not have much help! In addition, this organization provided formula for babies, as well as healthy snacks and vitamins to pregnant women.
I loved getting to know the women and children the organization served as well as other families who were living in the camp.
One of the things that struck me the most during my time in the camp was the hospitality I experienced. I was consistently invited into tents by families who laughed with me and offered me tea and other food. These families were relying on others to give them food and basic necessities, and yet they gave to me freely. I met people from all walks of life in the camps – doctors, business owners, and stay-at-home-mothers – who had endured really, really difficult circumstances. They gave up their homes and careers to find peace, safety, and refuge, They risked everything, and yet here they were showing me unconditional hospitality.
One family in particular that I met while in Greece, a single father and his young child, I will never forget. The father spoke English and he talked to me about the violence in his home country – Syria. He told me that his wife had died there, and he showed me his own scars and injures. I listened in amazement, and looked at his child who was having to grow up in a camp, and without a mother. But, a few days after we met, I heard that he and his daughter had moved out of the camp and were given the opportunity to resettle somewhere else. I was so excited for them!
Another family I met had a toddler who lost her hearing due to the loud bombings in their hometown. The organization I was working with was helping this family find resources for their now deaf child.
I also met a kind father as well as his children and parents. The father was a doctor in his home country and the moment he decided to flee and find safety for his family, he went from having everything to having nothing.
It is important to remember that, although refugees come from different backgrounds, one thing is the same for all of them – they have all gone through trauma and hardship, and have had to make the hard decision to leave their homes and lives and a make a long, difficult, and often dangerous journey to a new country to make a fresh start.
How can we help the refugee?
It begins with knowledge. Remember, we can’t care about what we don’t know about. So begin by learning about refugee families and their plight. Ask God to grant you a heart of compassion and enlarge your heart to care about their loss and their pain. Pray and ask God to help, care for, and provide for refugees in their loss. Earn money and give it to an agency that helps refugees. And someday, when you’re able, go. Be God incarnate, and show up and show them that someone cares.