MTW’s Refugee Ministry Expands, Spanning Four Continents

Over the past few years, millions of people have fled conflict, oppression, or economic collapse in what the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is calling one of the largest humanitarian crises since the Second World War. These image-bearers of God left their home countries as refugees in search of a better life somewhere—anywhere else.

The situations from which these men, women, and children have fled are tragic and heartbreaking, but even in the wake of war and in the midst of fear and uncertainty, God is working all according to His purposes and for His glory. Many of the nations from which these refugees have come are closed countries where it is very difficult and often illegal to share the gospel. We are called to bring the good news of the gospel to every nation. Now, the nations have come to us, and that is a marvelous opportunity.

Across the globe MTW missionaries are responding with the love of Christ:

In Greece, we are working with evangelical churches which have cooked and provided thousands of meals for refugees from North Africa and the Middle East, and started The Center of Hope, a place where women can come for tea and rest, and where their children can play in peace.

In Germany, MTW missionaries partnering with a local church are building relationships and sponsoring housing for refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, and elsewhere, hosting tea times and German language lessons at a local refugee home, and have even put together a gospel choir made up of both Germans and refugees.

In Uganda, our missionaries are providing agricultural and community health training programs to reach South Sudanese refugees fleeing civil war.

In Panama, an MTW church plant is seeking to address the spiritual and material needs of a huge influx of Venezuelans who have left economic collapse in their country and now make up 85 percent of the church’s attendees.

In Ukraine, members of an MTW church plant in Odessa spontaneously began a program of ministry, humanitarian aid, and trauma counseling to a group of elderly and handicapped Ukrainians resettled from the war-torn cities in the East.

Even here in the U.S., MTW missionaries are ministering to refugees resettled in metropolitan Atlanta and New York City, providing ESL classes, helping them navigate life in America and find work, and sharing the love of Jesus.

We serve a God of justice. A God who cares for the poor, the oppressed, and the outcast, and who asks us to do the same. In a world riven with conflict, we the Church are called to defend the suffering, to love our neighbors as ourselves (Gal. 5:14), and treat the sojourner in our land as one of our own (Lev. 19:33-34).

MTW Refugee Liaison Kay Burklin recently said:

“God is in control—that has to be our starting point. Yes, this is scary, but what, other than the love of God, is ever going to conquer that? What, other than the love of God, is ever stronger? … Refugees are people that are hurting, and the Church is saying: ‘What is God doing, and how can we be the hands and feet of Jesus to these people in their hour of greatest need?’”

Will you give to support MTW’s work of bringing the hope of the gospel to refugees in need around the world? Your year-end gift will support our missionaries in Europe, Africa, Central America, and the U.S. as they face the refugee crisis head-on, driven forward by the love of Christ.

You can donate online to Refugee Ministries.

Thank you for your commitment to putting the love of Christ into action, engaging those who are hurting in our broken world, and advancing the kingdom of God.