Though all of the Body of Christ is needed when crisis is happening, it is particularly important for the local church to play a key role in assisting those seeking refuge in a new place or country.

Statistics show that many who are seeking refuge have been poorly treated en route, are frightened, traumatized, and uncertain of their future. They are strangers in a foreign place. The Bible gives us guidance in Leviticus 19:34 as it instructs the Body of Christ:

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

The Church, therefore, is about caring for people—their spiritual, physical, and emotional needs, in all the world, in the name of Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Missio Dei, the mission of God. The local church—a gifted body of believers filled with the love and compassion of Jesus, released together to touch the world—can bring healing, harmony, and restoration to multitudes. And the local church will be present for ongoing care after the media hype is gone and after expatriates have returned home. It is a continuity of presence.

It is the picture, I believe, of what the Church was intended to be: an organism of salvation, reconciliation, and restoration to the world. Truly it is also a place of gathering together to worship and adore the Lord, to build each other up, and to offer shelter and a place where persons can find salvation, reconciliation, and restoration.

Dr. Joanne Butrin served as a missionary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for fourteen years. She now serves as director of International Ministries for AG World Missions. She has authored several books and lectures worldwide on topics of social justice and compassion.