Helping "Foreign Residents" to Serve Jehovah With Rejoicing

"Jehovah is protecting the foreign residents. " -Psalm 146:9. 

"WHEN civil war started in Burundi, our family was at an assembly," relates a brother named Lije. "We could see people running, shooting. My parents and 11 of us siblings fled for our lives with only the clothes on our backs.  Some of my family finally made it to a refugee camp in Malawi, a journey of over 1,000  miles (1,600 km) The rest of us were scattered."

Worldwide, refugees who have fled their homes because of war or persecution now number over 65,000,000-the highest ever recorded."  Among these are thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses.  Many have lost loved ones and nearly all their possessions.  What further challenges have some faced? How can we help these brothers and  sisters to "serve Jehovah with rejoicing" despite their trials?  (Psalm 100:2) And how can we effectively share the good news with refugees who do not yet know Jehovah?

THE LIFE OF A REFUGEE

After Jehovah's angel warned Joseph that King Herod intended to kill Jesus, young Jesus and his parents became refugees in Egypt.  They remained there until Herod died.   (Matthew 2:13,14, 19-21)  Decades later, Jesus' early disciples "were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria" because of persecution .  (Acts 98:1) Jesus had foreseen that many  of his followers would be forced from their homes.  He said:  "When they persecuted you  in one city flee to another."  (Matthew 10:23)   Fleeing for any reason is seldom easy.

Refugees may face danger when fleeing or when living in a refugee camp.  "We walked for weeks, passing hundreds of dead bodies,"  recalls Gad, Lije's young brother.  "I was 12 years old. My feet were so swollen that I told my family to go on without me. My father-not about to abandon me to the rebel forces-carried me.  We survived day by day, praying to Jehovah and trusting in him, sometimes eating only mangoes that were growing along the way." -Philippians 4:12, 13. 

Most of Lije's family eventually spent years in United Nations refugee camps. Yet, they were not safe there. Lije, now a circuit overseer, comments:  "Most people had no work.  They gossiped, drank, gambled, stole, and were immoral."  To resist the bad influences, Witnesses in the camps needed to stay  fully involved in congregation activities.  (Hebrews 6:11, 12; 10:24,25) To stay spiritually healthy, they used their time productively, many by pioneering.  They kept a positive attitude by recalling that, like Israel's trek in the wilderness, their stay in the camp would eventually come to an end.  -2 Corinthians 4:18. 

Next time: Helping "Foreign Residents" to Serve Jehovah With Rejoicing -SHOWING LOVE TO REFUGEES

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