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Photo: A newly arrived refugee boy carries his brother in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya
Day 3: The Refugee Experience
Prayer: Father in heaven, I yield my heart and mind to you. Please help me understand your perspective of refugees and know how you want me to respond.
“I became a refugee when I was a child. I came to this refugee camp when I was 14. I’m 29 now.” -a refugee woman
Like many refugees today, Moses was born in a dangerous place at a dangerous time. Although he grew up in Pharaoh’s family, the oppression of his people by the Egyptians weighed heavily upon him. As an adult, he killed an Egyptian for beating a Jew. When Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to kill Moses. So Moses fled into the wilderness, where he was a refugee for 40 years.
Moses began to rebuild his life while still a refugee. Like many refugees today, Moses got married and began raising his family far from home. He named his firstborn son Gershom, which means “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”.
Forced displacement left a deep and defining mark on Moses’ life. A similar mark is left on the lives of refugees today.
Today’s reading tells of how God used a Midianite family to help Moses recover from displacement and begin rebuilding his life. How did Reuel respond to Moses as a refugee and foreigner? How did Moses bless those who gave him refuge? What might have happened if Moses had not found a community that welcomed him and offered him refuge?
Click here to view the Map of the Refugee Highway.
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About this Plan
The world is facing a global refugee crisis. No country is left untouched. Heated public debate makes it difficult to know how to respond to this challenge. Some voices paint refugees as a threat to national security. Others feel they are a heavy economic and social burden. Still others emphasize our humanitarian mandate to assist refugees. This seven-day reading plan offers important biblical perspective on refugees and forced displacement.
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