Ring … ring. Our partner along the Syrian border picked up the phone. He had been receiving so many phone calls lately, calls from refugees who were out of work because of the pandemic and were asking for food.
This time it was an older woman on the other end of the line. “Help! It’s my husband,” the refugee woman said in a panic. Her husband had fainted 30 minutes earlier, and he was now lying unconscious inside their makeshift home.
She didn’t know what to do. There was no one around to help her. Other than maybe her next-door neighbors, few people even knew how desperately she needed help.
Today, on World Refugee Day, many other displaced people are feeling the same way — wondering if anyone knows or cares what they’re going through. Especially now, in the midst of the pandemic, refugees and families around the world need your help. Your gift will provide refugees and other people struggling to survive with lifesaving essentials like emergency food, clean water, medical care, hygiene kits and more. Plus, your gift DOUBLES!
Social distancing is not always possible for refugees since the camps are crowded with tents and simple cinderblock buildings. If one person becomes infected … many more will follow. So, they must shelter in place as much as possible to avoid becoming sick … especially those with weakened immune systems.
“It’s a ticking time bomb,” our partner said. “The people who have a chronic [disease] can’t go out.”
This was the case for the man lying unconscious on the ground as his wife made that desperate phone call. The man who had fainted didn’t have any more medicine for his ongoing health condition, and the pandemic had prevented both he and his wife from going out for a refill.
Thankfully, our partners were able to get this man the help he needed. But that phone call is not the only one they have received. Since the pandemic began, they have been constantly receiving requests from refugee families begging for assistance, desperate for relief … from diapers and formula to meals and medical treatment.
The pandemic has taken away every kind of job for refugees. Labor jobs have dried up completely, leaving many men unemployed. Wives and mothers who used to clean houses and do whatever they could to help support their families now have no way of earning any income either.
“One of the parents said, ‘I don’t have money for bread. I can’t do anything for my children,’” our partner shared.
I can’t do anything for my children. There are few sentences more devastating to a parent than that.
These people have absolutely nothing. No bread. No money. And no hope of survival. Parents have no choice but to stand by and watch their children grow weaker and weaker … their bodies slowly drained of nutrients.
As they become malnourished, their immune systems become weaker. And as their immune systems become weaker, they become more susceptible to the dreaded coronavirus.
Refugees along the Syrian border are especially at risk since the area recently saw a resurgence in cases of the disease.
But all around the world, refugees and other people living in poverty are fighting a losing battle against the twin forces of starvation and the pandemic.
That’s where YOU come in.
World Help’s Board members have pledged another matching gift of up to $300,000. That means your gift will DOUBLE to impact 2X as many people!
For just $8, your doubled gift will help rescue TWO people in desperate need. You’ll help provide essentials like nutritious food, clean water, medical care, hygiene kits, and more.
You’ll also help eliminate World Help’s projected budget shortfall caused by canceled fundraising events. These funds were needed to support our global programs and continue serving people worldwide. Your gift will help ensure they still receive the lifesaving aid they need.
Right now, a refugee is barely hanging on. He’s stranded thousands of miles away in a dirty, overcrowded camp. He can no longer feed his family, his kids are on the brink of starvation, and now this pandemic is just one more thing he feels he can’t protect them from.
Will you help a refugee or other person in need around the globe this World Refugee Day? When you do, you’ll not only meet his physical needs … but you’ll also show him the love of Christ.
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