International (MNN) — Global displacement reached a record high this spring, according to the United Nations. Today, on World Refugee Day, let’s look at refugees by the numbers.
What’s the difference between “refugees” and “displaced” people?
(Photo courtesy of Markus Spiske/Unsplash)
There were nearly 90 million refugees, displaced people, and asylum-seekers worldwide at the end of 2021. An estimated 16 million live in the Greater Middle East. In Lebanon, one in eight people is a refugee; in Jordan, it’s one in 14.
Gospel workers in the Middle East/North Africa need a little help caring for the region’s refugee population.
Faten AlFaraj, Communications Director for MENA Leadership Center says, “We try to prepare the leaders in the MENA region, and equip them, to understand and know how to deal with refugees; to effectively minister to the refugees by understanding the trauma and its effects on the refugees.”
Refugee camps now host multiple generations of displaced people. We have a Savior who understands the challenges they face. Better yet, He can give them hope.
“We try to highlight the biblical aspect of why we should care; why we should welcome the stranger, why we should serve and welcome the refugees,” AlFaraj says.
“Even Jesus himself was a refugee.”
A gift from you to the MENA Leadership Center provides Gospel workers with the training they need to help refugees.
“It’s a well-rounded training to cover all aspects – spiritual, practical, and psychological – to equip the leaders in the MENA region.”
Want to learn more about the difficulties refugees face on a daily basis? Check out the trailer for LIFE JACKET, an award-winning documentary produced by AlFaraj and her team.
Header image courtesy of Julie Ricard/Unsplash.
