Gazing at Syrian refugee mothers cuddling wide-eyed infants and toddlers, I think how easy it would be to teach those babies to love rather than hate.
I’ve read of Syrian mothers forcibly raped to pay for their family’s passage to freedom.
I feel so helpless listening to the debate over allowing Middle Eastern refugees to live here. Yes, we need to help, but how can we keep out radical Muslim jihadists? Should we allow only women and children to enter? But the San Bernardino shooter was a woman. Should we allow only the elderly and children?
The Bible tells us to treat foreigners as native-born. And Matthew 25: 25-36 says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in …”
But if we can’t vet them adequately, how can we let them in?
Sunday I listened to Tim Gillihan, a member of Toledo First Baptist Church, share how he and his wife, Joan, welcome refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan who have fled north and west to Turkey, crossing that nation to the Aegean Sea, bound for the Greek islands, the entry into Western Europe.
Gillihan, a Longview native and former pastor of Kalama Baptist Church, has been with the International Mission Board for 26 years, serving in Kenya, Tanzania and Vancouver, British Columbia.
The past eight months, he and his wife have worked with the Oasis Centre in Athens, Greece, welcoming men, women and children crammed onto rubber rafts that land in Greece. Fleeing families pay handlers between $800 and $1,200 for the boat ride. Most, but not all, wear life jackets for the journey.
“This is the biggest year for immigration of refugees since World War II,” Gillihan said.
In Athens, 2,000 to 7,000 refugees arrive daily and settle temporarily in refugee camps or parks before crossing into Macedonia to reach Austria and Germany.
When refugees arrive, during the day or even the wee hours of the morning, Christian volunteers offer cookies, hot tea and dry socks. They visit parks with nutrition packs and invite refugees to the Oasis Centre for a meal. They give people with cell phones a chip containing the Bible and the Jesus film in their own language.
The Oasis mission is to “share the gospel in word and deed,” providing food, shelter and material support while showing love and praying in the name of Jesus.
“People we could never get to in Syria, people we could never get to in Afghanistan, are coming to our doorsteps,” Gillihan said.
Oasis volunteers serve meals, teach English classes, offer clothing, share stories and crafts with children, and provide dental and medical care.
“People are on a journey, and as part of their journey, we get to touch their hearts,” Gillihan said. “We have a message of hope for them.”
He said Syrian refugees receive much better treatment from the international community in Greece than those from Afghanistan, primarily because their plight is more in the news.
“We don’t see many Syrians,” Gillihan said. “They’re immediately taken to Western Europe.”
Not everyone wants to hear about Jesus, but many feel distant from God and marvel at people who say they have a personal relationship with him.
“Their hope is to get to Germany, but the real hope is that they find Jesus,” Gillihan said.
“Most think their religion has failed them and feel far from God,” he continued. “We tell them how to come into the presence of God.”
I’m glad missionaries are helping the refugees, and grateful for the opportunity to give a little to help their efforts.
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
