GIVING REFUGEES PRACTICAL HELP

At first, we may need to supplement our brother's food, clothing, or other basic needs. Even small gestures, like giving a brother a necktie, mean a lot.  And when refugees  show gratitude, never demanding anything, they help their hosts to experience the joy of giving. Granted, living indefinitely on others' generosity may erode the self-respect of the refugees and may damage their relationships with their brothers.  (2 Thessalonians  3:7-10)  But they do need  practical help.

Giving refugees practical help requires, not a lot of money, but mainly our time and concern. It may be as simple as showing them how to use public transportation, how to shop for healthful but inexpensive foods, or how to obtain tools or equipment-such as a sewing machine or a lawn mower-in order to earn some income. More important, you can help them to become fully involved in their new congregation.  If possible, offer them rides to meetings. Also explain how they might approach people with the Kingdom message in your territory. Take the refugee brothers and sisters along with you in your ministry.

When four adolescent refugees arrived in one congregation, various elders taught them to drive, type, and write resumes, as well as to schedule their time to serve Jehovah fully.  (Galatians 6:10) Soon, all four became pioneers.  That guidance, along with their own efforts to pursue spiritual goals, helped them to blossom and to avoid being swallowed up by Satan's system.

Like all other Christians, refugees need to resist temptation and pressure to compromise their relationship with Jehovah in order to obtain material things.  Lije, quoted earlier, and his siblings remember the lessons of their faith their taught them even as they were fleeing.  "One by one, he threw away the nonessential belongings we carried. Finally, he held up the empty bag and said with a smile:  "You see?  This is all you need!'" -Read 1 Timothy 6:8. 

Next time: Helping "Foreign Residents" to Serve Jehovah With Rejoicing - CARING FOR THE GREATEST NEEDS OF REFUGEES 

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