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Holy Week resources and reflections

World Vision president: Treat refugees as guests

(RNS) Rich Stearns, head of World Vision, the evangelical relief and development group, says Christians should follow a model pioneered by Chaldean churches in Iraq’s Kurdistan region in which displaced people are treated as “guests” not refugees.

Recently returned from Lebanon and Iraq, Stearns said that Christians in Iraq’s Kurdish north, Jordan, and Lebanon are becoming more innovative in responding to the needs of people displaced due to the brutal conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

“Let’s try to see these refugees through the eyes of God,” Stearns said.

The United Nations estimates there are 11 million Syrians and 4.4 million Iraqis who are refugees or internally displaced from their homes to due to civil war and regional strife.

In Ankawa, a Christian district near Erbil, Iraq, priests Douglas Al Bazi and Daniel Alkhari have transformed the grounds of Mar Elias Chaldean Catholic church into guest rooms, classrooms, a playground, library, computer lab, and health clinic for 700 people who take shelter, some in caravans. The compound is called a center, not a camp.

“We wanted to be sure that people who have left their homes and come here feel welcome, Bazi told WorldWatch Monitor. “We treat them like guests, where we enjoy sharing life and where they can feel safe and relaxed.”

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