World Refugee DAy 2018

Today is World Refugee Day ♥️🌍
​ It’s a day I hold so dearly in my heart because it reminds me of the sweet faces I got to meet when I had the privilege of visiting refugee camps in Iraq. We live in a world that turns people’s lives into media reports and facebook articles and dehumanizes those who are just like us, but when I met the refugees here I saw real people being people; Moms who would do anything for their babies, children with broken hearts for the parents they lost, dads who were trying to protect their kids, families who had lost everything. They were misunderstood, marginalized, and just trying to survive.
The more time I spent with them, the more I realized they had stories like mine. When I really got down to it, only difference between us as people was that I had a passport that gave me the privilege to leave. I had was born in country that gives me the freedom to be whatever I want to be. I have the privilege of safety, and they do not. All of these things taught me how God wants me to use my privilege and voice.
​God’s gifts and blessings aren’t just for us to keep to ourselves or use for our advantages, they are for us to share with others. Our voices are given to us so we can speak up for those who don’t have one. Our privileges are given to us so we can share them with the people just like us, who don’t have any. Today reminds me that Jesus was a refugee who fled for safety with his family, and that what love we show for the least of these we show to him. Today reminds me that I was lost in sin, looking for a home, and Jesus extended his loving arms to me and adopted me into His family. ♥️

MAtthew 25: 34-45

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’