Today, as part of World Refugee Day, we join with others around the globe to honor the courage and resiliency of refugees worldwide. Brave men, women, and children have fled their homes and sought asylum in other nations due to war, genocide, violence, persecution, and natural disasters. Now living in foreign lands, away from everything familiar, refugees are rebuilding their lives as best they can.

In commemorating World Refugee Day, we aim to raise awareness of refugees’ stories of pain as well as to thank God for crafting beautiful stories of healing.

Many of these stories have come through American Bible Society’s Bible-based trauma healing ministry. The Bible-based trauma healing ministry trains local leaders to help people who are suffering deep emotional and spiritual wounds to encounter the healing found in God’s word.

Here are a few stories of how God is bringing hope and healing to refugees through the Bible-based trauma healing program:

  • Syrian Refugees: Ameer* arrived at a retreat center in Jordan seeking healing for his own spiritual wounds after seeing a bomb destroy a school bus of children in his war-torn nation of Syria. After participating in the trauma healing session, Ameer says, “We will show them [other Syrians] how God loves us through Christ. He knows exactly what we are going through. He loves us.”
  • Iraqi Refugees: Sarah* fled Iraq with her family after armed men surrounded her church and threatened to kill the whole family. Attending a Bible-based trauma healing session in Lebanon, she and her husband find hope in trusting God to never leave them alone. She said, “[One verse that inspires me] is when Jesus says, ‘I will always be with you and will never leave you.” (Deut. 31:6)
  • Burundian Refugees: Isack Abdiel, the community coordinator for Water Mission International, works in the Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania—the third largest refugee camp in the world. Nyarugusu is filled with refugees from Burundi who fled their country when it descended into violence. Living conditions in the camp are terrible, yet God’s Word provides hope. Isack commented, “We believe Scripture is the answer and that is why trauma healing [is] so important here. We need the Word of God to address people’s wounds.”

Let’s thank God that refugees around the world are experiencing healing through the Bible-based trauma healing ministry. And let’s continue to pray for all refugees to experience God’s love in the midst of desperate circumstances.

Prayer of Thanks:

Father, we thank you for your Word that is bringing healing to many refugees around the world. May they experience your love, comfort, and peace. We pray that the Bible-based trauma healing ministry will effectively reach refugees with God’s Word. We also pray that efforts to share the gospel with refugees and to meet their physical would be fruitful.

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of trauma healing participants.