MENU
Kay Burklin

In Their Own Words: Three Refugee Stories

By Jenny*, Dec 21, 2017

Jenny*, a missionary in Europe, collected these stories of faith from three refugees that she's  gotten to know personally through her work there.

God Must Be Jesus’s Father (Refugee #1)
I came to faith through studying the virgin birth. I wrestled with the idea of it and came to the realization that all the other prophets had a physical father whereas Jesus had no physical father. This father must be God which would make Jesus the son of God! I also realized that I had been worshiping idols, prophets, Mohammed. It was as if I was praying to a wall. There was never any answer. … But now I worship Jesus, the living God! I had started to seek Jesus in [my home country in the Middle East] but didn't have a Bible, so I used the internet as a way to find out more information about Him. God brought me here so that I might find Jesus. But the truth is that Jesus found me. Now I understand that God has forgiven my sins through Jesus’ death on the cross and I have a new life in Him.

Islam Couldn’t Fill the Hole in My Heart (Refugee #2)
I was interested in the miracles I had heard Jesus performed and did some research online as well. I realized that only the true God could do such miracles which meant that Jesus had to be God. I was seeking God through Islam but never found Him there. I had a huge hole in my heart that Islam couldn't fill. I knew only Jesus could and he has filled it now. There is no real love or forgiveness in Islam. But through the Bible study, I learned that Jesus forgave all my sins on the cross granting me access to God. God brought me here to discover Jesus and learn how to follow him in peace!

My Wife Was Secretly Going to Church (Refugee #3)
My wife was in a house church in [my home country in the Middle East] and I didn’t even know about it! She used to be so anxious about everything but now she had such a peace! She had changed so much that I knew something was happening with her that was supernatural. I asked her and she told me about Jesus so it piqued my interest.

Eventually my wife got into trouble in court because she was visiting a house church. That's when we fled. When we arrived in Europe back in the fall, my Christian friend Jenny gave me a Farsi Bible. I have read it twice from cover to cover since then. Two things stuck out to me while reading the Bible. One was that Jesus gives a purpose to my suffering. I love the book of Job. God confronts Job with the fact that he wasn’t there at the foundation of the earth. The other was the use of the law and how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees with trusting the law for their salvation instead of trusting Him. It is not about outwardly keeping the law but about the heart. Through reading the Bible, God lifted the veil from my eyes to see Jesus as the only way to God. I want to live my life for Jesus, body, heart, mind, and soul. Life without Jesus is not worth living anymore. God had a plan to bring me here so I could find Jesus. Now I am 100 percent convinced that I want to live for Jesus. God is now giving me endurance to suffer like Job. We have found joy even though life is so hard here.

Please pray for these and other refugees who are finding faith in a new homeland. 

*Name has been changed. 

Please login to continue
Forgot your password?
Recover it here.
Don't have an account?
Create an Account
Sign Up for Free
Name
Email
Choose Password
Confirm Password

GET INVOLVED

One City: A World of Cultures | October 23-28
Mission Trips
Assistant Pastor and Administrator Needed for International Church Plant
Longer
Support an International Church Plant Through Hospitality
Longer

9 Ways to Care for Missionaries

Missionaries need discipleship, care, and connection to the body of Christ. The church can step in to help.

SEE MORE

Should We Still Send Missionaries?

Why should we send missionaries around the world when there are so many needs here?

SEE MORE

After You Retire, Redeploy in Missions (VIDEO)

"I think the challenge for anybody who's approaching retirement is to recognize that God has not put a time limit on our spiritual gifts."

SEE MORE

Pray for churches to care well for the missionaries they support. 

Pray that God would remind the Western Church of the critical importance of sending missionaries to serve internationally.

In the aftermath of the Turkey/Syria earthquake, pray that the Lord would multiply the “fish and loaves” being given to the hungry crowd and that His great name would be praised.

Ask God to raise up new missionaries from among those who have retired and are thinking about their next calling. 

Pray for students in West Africa receiving business training through our Work+Place Ministries, that they would flourish and the gospel would go forth as a result. 

Pray for the Roma people in Slovakia, that God would draw them to Himself, and grow the young body of believers there.

Pray for those who have been left alone with no surviving family members. Many stories are emerging of entire families, save one, who died in the earthquake.

Pray for local bodies of believers to be strengthened, resourced, and further equipped to help provide care for those who have been so terribly impacted by this earthquake. Continue to pray for wisdom as they come alongside those in the region with the love of Christ.

Pray for our field workers as they continue to work with and through local partners and churches to help with both short-term and longer-term needs.

Pray for the churches in Turkey/Syria to be equipped with wisdom to come alongside those in the region impacted by the earthquake with the love of Christ.

SUBSCRIBE TO STORIES & MORE

Good news in your inbox, once per week.