By Tess K, Cross Point & Jeff G., Director of Global Good

Imagine this: lately your life has told a story of threats, violence and trauma against you and your family. You’re forced to abandon your home, your belongings, your culture with nothing but the shirt on your back, and you’ve arrived in a new place that is completely unfamiliar.

The future is uncertain and you’re not sure how to start your life over. What becomes important to you in this situation? You would probably say respect, trust, understanding, and a hope that the people you are interacting with have your best interest at heart.

Those qualities are what we saw in the healthcare providers we spent time with today. The medical center is providing hope to refugees. We may have been there to teach them our knowledge and our practices, but while we were doing that, they were teaching us about empathy and the importance of humbling ourselves to understand those who are different than us.

They reminded us of the purpose of seeing all people as a child of God and providing a safe place for vulnerability and mutual compassion.

Educating this group on our CPR practices, as well as other treatments for common medical events among their patient population was a true gift. They displayed a genuine eagerness to learn and shined the light we’re called to carry and share as Christians. Exodus 23:9 tells us, “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourself know how it feels to be foreigners….”

The opposite of oppression is liberation, to release people from the physical and spiritual chains that bound them. This is becoming like Christ, as Christ came to bring liberty to the captive, and has given those that believe in him this same task. We should have the same compassion on these refugees as we would want others to have on us.

The people we interacted with today were a beautiful example of what it looks like to leverage their gifts and talents on behalf of others.

In joining hands with these healthcare providers from different cultures and contexts are uniting as one to become the body of Christ, carrying the light that Jesus has placed inside all of us to those who have lost all hope.