More Refugees Welcome

The week before last we hosted two more families fleeing their homes and lives in Syria.  The first family was small, and their story was slightly different than the others we have encountered.

The father, Semih, had been living in Austria as an asylum seeker for three months already, having fled Syria with his brother.  His wife, Bayan (23!) made the journey from Turkey alone with her 1.5-year-old son, Hamudi, and ten-year-old nephew, Haman!  I cannot fathom what stories she must have from the last few weeks...

They had just been reunited that afternoon, and although their son was ill, they were clearly happy to be together and safe.  We hosted them on a Friday night, so our families sat down for a Saturday morning breakfast together.

At breakfast after praying, they asked about our faith, and we shared what little we were able to communicate in words.  (Semih already knew a tiny bit of German from living in Austria for three months.)  We were thankfully able to get Hamudi some medical attention back at the train station.  The medical clinic there had doctors available, and they gave them some medication to take on their journey.

I wished they were staying in Austria, but they had decided that night to continue on to Germany.  Another family.  Another opportunity to share the love of Jesus in actions and words.  Another difficult goodbye.