Exclusive stories from the mission field
A teenage refugee from Syria showed up with three other minors at a ministry based in Greece. They had no legal papers or phones and had been sleeping on the streets in the cold.
Refugees receiving aid often ask to know more about Jesus, and workers have ample opportunities to lead them to Christ in Bible studies, home visits and talks via Zoom. “We also have a number of people who converted through our ministry and have moved to other European countries – we are in close contact with them through WhatsApp and Zoom to disciple and strengthen them,” the ministry leader said.
Thanks to assistance from Christian Aid Mission donors, local missionaries were able to grow crops from a new hydroponics project that helped to feed children and other poor people. The native ministry has an extensive outreach to refugees from troubled countries in the Middle East and Africa, as well as from Afghanistan.
When the pandemic curbed large gatherings, the gospel continued to spread as local missionaries encouraged new believers to invite family and friends into their homes to learn about Christ.
A 17-year-old shepherd boy whose parents died on their journey from Iraq, four minors from Syria who had nowhere to sleep and a 26-year-old mother of seven whose husband abandoned her are among the refugees who have fled strife-torn homelands seeking recovery in Europe.
A Kurdish family of four from Iraq had walked 37 days through mountainous terrain when they arrived with a skin disease at a native ministry’s center. Workers provided them breakfast, clean clothes and medicines and looked up a hospital with an emergency dermatologist.
A Kurdish family recently fled from an oppressive government in Iran. After walking 37 nights in the mountains of Greece, the mother’s feet had swollen so much that they no longer in fit her shoes. She also had a skin infection, as did one of her children. “They had been walking at night and sleeping during the day, hiding in the mountains,” the leader of a ministry in Greece said.
Two young men from Africa survived an Islamic extremist attack that killed the rest of the members of their family and fled to Spain, where they received aid and a secure place to heal at a local ministry’s center. After putting their trust in Christ, they were zealous as they shared their faith with other refugees.
Inmates in prisons, prostitutes and refugees are receiving the imperishable inheritance of salvation after listening to local missionaries share the gospel. Officials in one city were so impressed by the transformation they saw in immigrants, prostitutes and narcotraffickers that they provided a place for workers to minister to them.
A minor who had fled a troubled country arrived at a local ministry’s offices with only the clothes on her back. Native missionaries helped her find accommodation and provided her food and clothing.
