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Did you know that today is “World Refugee Day”?
I didn’t.
I forgot.
In the stress of packing up my family to travel for two months . . . in the whirlwind of preparing for my speaking and fundraising tour for my anti-trafficking organizations, The Strawberry Girls and Creative Voices of Freedom . . . I didn’t remember.
In the midst of driving today from Spain to France and then flying to the United States on Monday, I forgot.
In the craziness and excitement of the FIFA World Cup, watching the United States defeat Australia and Morocco beat Scotland last night, I was distracted.
Thankfully, I listen to a daily audio program that reminds me of what’s important in life.
Because, sometimes, I forget.
Because, sometimes, we forget.
I was shaken to the core when I saw the title of the audio recording, “World Refugee Day.”
“Oh, that’s right!” I said to myself, as I walked out the door to take my dog for a morning walk. “How could I forget?”
We have been working with refugees for the past 15 years, since 2011—Afghans and Syrians in France and Iranians in Spain.
How could I forget?
If I work with refugees, and I can easily forget, what about the rest of the world?
That is why I’m writing this.
We need to be reminded that there are more than 117 million displaced peoples in the world right now. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 40% of them are children under the age of 18.
We can’t forget.
These precious people have fled their lands, homes, families, cultures, and languages due to war, violence, natural disasters, famine, and persecution of all kinds—religious, political, racial . . . we know some who have even had to flee their countries because they were persecuted for their artistic gifts and creative expression!
We can’t forget.
According to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, “a refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to ‘a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Today, many refugees are also in exile to escape the effects of natural and/or human-made disasters.
No, we can’t forget.
We can’t forget their stories, their names, their faces . . .
Several years ago, I wrote an article about my relationship with my Syrian refugee friends while living in France. This story has spread around the world, and it’s still as relevant today as it was 12 years ago.
I could be in their shoes. You could be in their shoes. Any of us could be in their shoes.
We are just blessed to not be in their shoes, and that’s why we need to help them, love them, support them, give to them.
However, the blessing doesn’t only go in one direction. We don’t just bless refugees. They bless us, too.
It’s a long story, bu this past year has been hard, my hardest year in life ever. That really says something, because we have had our share of hard years. We found ourselves in severe financial hardship. We were excommunicated, displaced, persecuted, rejected. We had to flee. We had to hide. We were homeless. We were jobless. We were at a loss as to what to do.
No, I will never compare our challenging situation to that of a refugee, but our hardship was extreme this year.
And, guess who came to our aid?!
A few of our expat friends came to help. A few from our faith-based community came to help. However, those who really came to help us . . . it wasn’t who you would expect, who we would expect.
It was our Iranian refugee friends who came running to help us!
When they heard our story last year, they couldn’t believe it. They came running to us, to be by our sides, to support us, to comfort us, to encourage us, to pray for us, to bless us . . . just as we had done for them so many times.
One of them even gave us an extra car his family had. Every time, I open the door and get behind the wheel, I’m reminded of the generosity of our refugee friends.
Why? Because they know what it feels like. They know what it’s like to be rejected, persecuted, homeless, jobless. They were not only compassionate witnesses of our story this year, they were empathic witnesses of our suffering. They stepped into our pain with us. They have been in our shoes. They know what it’s like.
We honestly don’t know what we would have done without our refugee friends this year. Maybe we all need a little taste of their lives, their pain, their hardship, their suffering.
It will shake you to the core, and it will change you forever.
Maybe, then just maybe, we would all understand and we wouldn’t forget.
I write this today in honor of them—my dear refugee friends who have remained faithful to us this year and never left our sides.
We love you and honor you today and everyday!
World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. World Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives. Every minute, 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror.
—The Cultural Story-Weaver
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Let’s Weave Cultures!
What comes to mind when you hear the word “refugee”? What is your experience with refugees? If you have never had the honor and privilege of meeting a refugee and hearing their story first-hand, put on your cultural awareness glasses and look around. They are in your city. They are there. They are everywhere. Go out, find a refugee, befriend him or her, and be changed forever.
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures!” Write about them in the comment box below.
