Refugee Crisis Project Update

Thank you for making a difference in a refugee’s life.

Your gift ensures that a refugee in need receives emergency aid in addition to other programs like vocational training, education, and spiritual guidance.

As the world watches ISIS commit horrific acts of terrorism, you are standing in the trenches, helping a refugee forge a new future for his family, giving hope to a mother that her children will one day return home, and reassuring a lonely child that he is not forgotten.

Thank you for what you are doing. Your gifts are making a huge difference!

AID DISTRIBUTION

 
Your gift of emergency aid includes staple food items, baby food, hygienic items, new shoes, socks, cotton shirts, heaters, and blankets . . . whatever a refugee desperately needs.

Our partner church that supports a refugee camp near the Syrian border told us about the excitement surrounding a recent aid shipment:

When the truck arrived, men, women, and children gathered around when they saw the heating stoves being unloaded. Already the winter nights were growing cold, and their tents were not thick enough to keep out the winter air. Church members brought coloring books and games, and spent hours singing and telling stories with the children. The church had the exact jacket and shoe sizes for each child, and parents eagerly helped their children into these urgently-needed necessities . . . they are so thankful for your generosity.

EDUCATION

 
Your support is also helping to provide teacher salaries and classroom materials for a refugee school. Because the local power is very unreliable, a large generator was recently installed to keep the children warm and comfortable during the winter months.

Additionally, simple textbooks and study aids were reprinted and distributed along with backpacks and other basic school supplies. A small elementary school is also currently under construction, which will benefit the younger refugee children.

Imagine the hope you’re giving to a child. After years of being out of school and on the move, the classroom is bringing routine back into her life.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING & SUSTAINABILITY

 
Another way you are making an impact is through job training and sustainable options for a family in need. Throughout the conflict, ISIS has targeted the Yazidi people. Many of the families live in remote villages far from any reliable food sources. Recently, your investment provided chickens to these families.

You also gave hope to Faris—a Yazidi husband and father. After fleeing with his family two years ago, Faris had no way to earn an income. With 13 people relying on him, he was growing desperate. But then, the opportunity to learn the trade of soap making was offered to him. Making soap has provided for his family’s needs and restored hope that one day they will be able to return home.

BIBLE DISTRIBUTION

 
Your generosity also provided encouragement and hope found in God’s Word. After ISIS strategically confiscated and burned Bibles before forcing Christians to flee . . . the Word of God was nowhere to be found.

Your gift of a Bible is a tangible reminder of God’s love, providing strength and comfort to those experiencing great suffering.

On a recent trip to Iraq, a refugee man told us that many Christians still have hope that they will be able to eventually return home to Mosul, Iraq. When asked if he’d rather go to Europe or another country instead, his answer was an emphatic “No.” He said that if he and other Christians in their community did not return home, Christianity in Mosul would be dead.

MIGRANT CRISIS

 
“We saw the boats coming to us . . . and we ran to help them,” our partner said, recalling his encounter last week on the shores of Lesbos.

“We all started pulling the refugees out of the sea. You could see men, women, and little babies frightened to death. Almost everyone was crying, especially the children. They couldn’t even understand what was going on. We were talking to them but none answered us. They didn’t even know whether they were dead or alive.”

Your support means that after a harrowing trip across the sea, a refugee arriving at the Greece-Macedonia border will receive an aid kit filled with water, food, hygiene items, medicine, diapers, baby formula, rain gear, and blankets. Also included in the kit is a copy of the New Testament in a refugee’s native language.

By supporting refugee relief, you have not only given necessary resources for survival, but also spiritual hope for a future untainted by conflict, violence, and fear.

Thank you for choosing to make a difference for a refugee in the Middle East. You are truly making a lasting impact!