by Jason and Jessica Wilde(Republished from Facebook post on Nov. 23, 2016 in Georgetown, Malaysia) Today on the bus, we met a young family with a 3 year old son who had to come check out our own crew. He and Chi were instant best friends, if only for a 20 minute bus ride. While they were showing each other their shoes, his mother struck up a conversation with us, asking where we are from, why we're here, etc. She then said that they were from Ukraine traveling for 'political' reasons (and not planning to go home). They had already 'visited' Sri Lanka and were headed to Thailand next - but we know they are essentially undeclared refugees traveling through the cheapest places in the world on tourist visas. Here was a family that will probably never be able to work legally unless they go home, and who knows what savings they have. War, political conflict, and forced migration are intrinsic evils that cause families to live a desperate and indignant life. When we talk about refugees, most people think of a bunch of Syrian men and women living in poverty in a tent city. But in reality, the refugees who are just now being resettled, like this father, are working families from conflicts that began over a decade ago, and have been patiently waiting for up to 7 years, and during this time they were limited by refugee laws to living in a refugee area like the tent cities that have become too familiar in Europe. Poverty actually cannot be a reason to declare refugee status. When refugees do get the approval to resettle, they do not have a choice of where or when, or whom with, meaning in many cases that families must be separated if they want to leave at all. In some cases, a wife or daughter will turn down an invitation if her husband or father do not receive one, which basically puts them back at the beginning of the process, or they have to go and become single parent families in a completely foreign country where they will be looked upon as a potential terrorist, separated from their families potentially forever. And then there are families like the one we met today, who have seen what happens to declared refugees and know the hardships, and so they are undeclared refugees - basically vagabonds on permanent tourist status in any number of countries, and are what most people would call a 'drain on society' because they don't (can't) work or contribute. The Catholic Church considers this a loss of dignity of life due to inability to work and earn fair wages, and furthermore this little boy may be denied access to education and health care since they can't stay in a country permanently on a tourist visa. It's so easy for us to say that 'they' should just stay put, until their lives are in danger, or they are stuck behind a wall, and then it's 'they shoulda left already'. Or that they should be 'put on hold' until we can verify that they are safe, which of course means that families live several years with limited access to healthcare and education, and then when they are resettled, they are labeled as uneducated and a tax on our healthcare system. (I'm not even sure what "extreme vetting" means in a process like this that can already take half a decade.) But Pope Francis reminds us that "authentic hospitality is a profound gospel value that nurtures love and is our greatest security against hateful acts of terrorism." Also, “We live at a time in which polarization and exclusion are burgeoning and considered the only way to resolve conflicts.” “We see, for example, how quickly those among us with the status of a stranger, an immigrant, or a refugee, become a threat, take on the status of an enemy.” The Pope also warns that this “virus of polarization and animosity” can infect our way of thinking, feeling and acting. If you are a Christian and are not doing anything to help the stranger, I ask you to please pray not just for those who are refugees, but for anyone who does not have a home, and for direction from God that He might guide you to help where it may be most needed. Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more. (Pope Francis)
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On a MissionTwo passionate parents and their four children are excited to bring His Word to everyone in need while living a life of Gospel poverty as missionaries. They invite you to join them on a journey to encounter our global neighbors that Jesus commands us to love through works of charity and service. Archives
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