I’ll never forget my first trip to Jordan visiting with Syrian and Iraqi refugees. In addition to losing family members, friends, and homes, they also lost any means to work and support their families, bringing shame and a sense of lost dignity. Broken and cast aside, families were now at the mercy of foreign governments and charitable organizations just to survive each day.
Yet when I entered their homes as a stranger, I was always welcomed as an honored guest, and received the warmest hospitality, hugs, and tea. The root of all this hospitality is the fact that many Eastern cultures are honor bound to the best and highest treatment of their guests. I spent hours in their homes sitting with them, hearing their stories, and sharing God’s word and love with them – but it didn’t end there.
As sons and daughters of the King, we have the highest honor bestowed upon us – and are honor bound to the highest degree. Do we choose to embrace this identity and open our hearts, our schedule, our resources – the riches of God’s Kingdom He has allowed us to steward – to help restore honor to the least, the last, and the lost? The older brother, with all his resources, didn’t do his job to bring his younger brother home and help restore his honor.
After my trip to Jordan, I knew I wanted to share the love of God to my new refugee friends in a practical way to help restore their honor. So I helped start an NGO that allowed for them to provide for their families by creating and selling handmade goods. All profits went back into an education program for their children.
By opening up my heart to strangers in need, God blessed me with people I now call family. When we make space for God in our hearts to move, it grows our capacity to love others and meet their needs.
“Christianity should feel like, ‘my love for others continues to deepen,’ not ‘my beliefs are more correct than anyone else’s.'”
– Ben Cremer
Karina