Befriending the newcomer in our midst
**This was a post written in 2023**
When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am GOD, your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34
“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 23:22
So I wanted to share with you about our journey of befriending and loving the stranger. It’s been something developing in our lives for the last 6 years. And our lives are so impacted, shaped and molded by encountering these newcomers in our midst.
It all started with our friend from church who decided to be generous with an extra room they had in their home and use it to partner with the nonprofit organization, Journey Home, to offer housing for a refugee.
From this initial offer, we got a chance to meet a wonderful lady whom we’ve come to see as family. I was shocked to learn that to be a refugee, it means your life is targeted and you are in real danger (persecution), not just general danger because or being a region of war or famine.
In her case there were many threats to her life simply because she was educated. And not just her life, but her family’s life as well
It’s humbling, I realized that it is a privilege to receive an education as a woman. That this is not a privilege in other parts of the world.
I also realize that despite having a young child, that this stage of my life is a unique time for ministry. Through spending time with her, and just having my child in the midst – sometimes that’s all that she needs. To see a child’s laughter, to see the wonder of children. It is a needed relief when we have to sit with the very hard realities of her life. As I hear about more threats to her family’s life, and the multiple challenges of being new to a country with no secured status – there is a helplessness. In these times we pray and sit in the heaviness. Yet also hold onto hope as we see the beauty and innocence that children offer.
Children in our midst has a unique role in ministry. Simply for being who they are
Later on, when my second child was born, I thought it was a perfect time during my maternity leave to see if there are any other people coming across my way I can befriend. I prayed about this season and just like that another family came. This newcomer family just walked into our church since she lived nearby. It was perfect that their daughter was just one year older than mine.
As we befriended this family, we’re so blessed to try their amazing food and times of play dates between our children.
The most notable time we were able to support them was when they needed to give birth to their second child during covid. At the time, they couldn’t bring their daughter into the hospital. They had no family, no other supports to help them in this birthing time. Since I was still on maternity leave , it was easy for us to just be on stand by and help with the care of their daughter whenever and whatever time it may be. The birthing day was smooth!
I think about all the privileges I had when I had to give birth. Despite not having family in town, my parents were able to fly to over early and stay for the entire transition. They supported us the entire first month post birth. These were such important supports that definitely helped my mental emotional well-being to stay afloat during hard transitions
I have these privileges and it’s really not the same for our newcomers . There are so many multiple layers of stresses. Then these stresses can lead to health concerns, or challenges with their parenting or marriage. These eventually could lead to more mental health concerns.
As I look at the call as a Christian to extend our privileges to the newcomers in our midst. It’s amazing to see this as our call. That God’s heart just gets us to recognize how much we can be a buffer to the multiple stresses on newcomers. We can be buffers for their mental emotional wellbeing.
Truthfully, this call isn’t easy. There is a cost, there are inconveniences. Their stresses inevitably gets rubbed onto us, as we share in the chaos and trying to figure a way out together.
But this is what privilege is about . We can handle the additional stress. Even when we have trials we still have buffer . Like our recent housing situation, we have another home we can live at. We have jobs where we can easily pick up and go. We have the space to slowly build up my work again and take the hit of decreased income.
So why not share in our privilege of time , money, resources (like connections to people). It was also through our connections to people we helped attain 2 free cars for our newcomers. Connection is a resource.
As my children grow older I hope they also realize the incredible amount of privilege and resource they have that they can extend to others. Emma actually has a Chinese name that means “unity in peace” and “bridge”. And she really is living out this name as she becomes that bridge for others. Even in her young KG life, she helped welcome a girl who is new to the school. She became a bridge and connected the new friend to her established group of friends. In doing so, this friend no longer cries but enjoys living in this new country she’s in.
Befriending the stranger.
It’s both a call and a privilege to do.
There is a cost.
But we can be incredible buffers to their mental health.
At the end of the day, we also get to rejoice as well, we get to witness miracles in their lives, and times of justice coming through. God is in our midst.
Counselling and educating the public to be a source of support to others is my passion.
If you are interested in counselling , reach out - https://www.lifeoverflows.ca/contact