Seeing Christ in Refugee Resettlement

By ADAM JARVIS

A year ago, I began working in refugee resettlement, and since that time, we have seen almost 200 refugees from war-torn countries arrive in Southern Minnesota. I have the privilege of working with a great team who dedicates their time and energy to welcoming refugees to our community with safety and detailed care for their well-being. As imagebearers of Christ, we are most like him when we live and love as he did, and welcoming the stranger is one way Scripture teaches us to do that. Throughout this year, I have seen Christ not only in those who care for refugees, but also notably in the refugees themselves.

When groups of former refugees gather at the airport in the middle of cold winter nights to welcome new arrivals, open their homes, and provide them with culturally familiar home-cooked meals, I see Christ in their warmth and hospitality.

When a mother was tearfully and joyfully reunited with her teenage son after being separated for 10 years, I saw Christ in the unbreakable bond they had with each other.

I saw Christ in the tenacity and love of a man who arrived with his wife and six children to begin a new life in a new culture and a new language with nothing to his name - willing to sacrifice and provide for them no matter the cost.

I see the patient love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4 as refugees experience the agony of waiting months, years, and even decades to reunite with their mothers, husbands, and children.

When I see the courage of single mothers who are forced to parent alone in a new country, I am reminded, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).

When I see multiple family members working multiple jobs to make ends meet as they slowly build a new life for themselves, I am reminded of the words of Galatians 6:2: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

And when I see the many volunteers from our community selflessly donate food, furniture, clothing, gift cards, towels, blankets, silverware, teapots, toothpaste, pillows, bedding and so much more for new refugees whom they haven’t even met, I see Christ in their generosity.

I have learned much in my first year of refugee resettlement, and I continue to have much to learn. The facts and figures of this work are ever changing and can be overwhelming. With more than 43 million refugees around the world waiting for a safe, permanent place to live, our little office in Rochester seems to make such a tiny impact on such an incredibly large need. But it does make a difference. It does make an impact. It is important and meaningful work - not just for every person we serve, but also for those of us, the staff, the volunteers and the partners, who all have the extraordinary privilege to serve. Every day, in this work, I see Christ. In the faces of people from all over the world, and from right down the street, I see Christ. The greatest lesson I have learned this last year working in refugee resettlement is that refugee resettlement is a place where I see Christ - everywhere.

Adam Jarvis is the Director of Refugee Resettlement Services Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota