Sharing our Faith

What can I say to refugees about God?

We want to love refugees unconditionally, with nothing to gain. We are a blessed people, and so we want to bless others in return. The Scriptures clearly tell us to "go" and to "love" and that is our mandate and challenge.  We are not doing it in order to "convert" them.
We are partnering with refugee agencies to serve refugees in Tucson, and so we want to respectfully follow their rules that state "no proselytizing".  We will not pressure refugees, constantly initiate discussions of religion, deceive people into coming to religious gatherings nor criticize their religious traditions.  We will not invite Muslim refugees to church. If our refugee friends ask questions about our faith, or if the subject of religion comes up naturally, we can express our relationship with God in a natural and normal way. We will treat refugees with the same dignity with which we would want to be treated and with which we treat everyone else.
Here are some easy things that we CAN do: 

    • Genuinely LOVE them, unconditionally
    • BE the Good News
    • Recognize opportunities to offer GRACE
    • LISTEN to their heart ... what are their dreams, hurts, joys?
    • SHARE yours ... be vulnerable
    • Always speak with COMPASSION
    • Offer ENCOURAGEMENT
    • Get on their side ... find something to agree with  
    • Learn to SPEAK THE LANGUAGE of the culture
    • Don't JUDGE
    • Never ARGUE or DEBATE (do you ever see Jesus doing this?)
    • Tell STORIES
    • Build BRIDGES not WALLS
    • Find out what their HEART NEEDS are
    • PRAY for them and with them