Working with refugees changed me for the better

After leaving an abusive relationship, I found myself alone after many years. I was feeling broken and scared, but I was faced with the reality of needing to secure a job. Rebuilding my life felt like an impossible task. After spending years in unpaid volunteer work, helping people in need, I had no income, and during the lockdowns, the options for finding a job were very limited. The pressure to support myself felt overwhelming as rejection emails piled up, labelling me either overqualified or underqualified. Every attempt to rebuild seemed to lead to yet another closed door.

My heart has always been with those in pain

My heart has always been with those in pain, and despite my own struggles and pain, my desire to serve them grew. I prayed to God, asking for opportunities to help where I was needed most, though the answer didn’t come right away. In 2022, as war broke out in Ukraine and refugees fled to my country, I felt called to help. By God’s grace, churches supported me financially, allowing me to serve these women and children in need.

Through this work, another door opened—a paid job providing mental health support in refugee shelters. In accepting it, I realised God was guiding me to where he wanted me to serve.

It seemed like Europe would soon be overrun by refugees, and these people were coming to take our jobs and houses

Prior to my work with refugees, I had become familiar with images on TV showing the flow of people walking from their home country to different countries in Europe. I had seen videos of boats on the Mediterranean Sea, crowded with mostly men, all on their way to Europe. To be honest, I didn’t always know what to think about what I was seeing, and I thought the flow of people was too much. It seemed like Europe would soon be overrun by refugees, and these people were coming to take our jobs and houses.

I started noticing shelters for refugees, and the media reported violence in some of them, which gave me a negative view of the group. Seeing refugees in my area made me uncomfortable, especially around men, and I found it intimidating when they gathered in groups.

Now, after several years of intensively working with refugees, helping them, guiding them, and walking with them on their journey to safety and protection, something has changed. They have opened their hearts to me and shared their deepest feelings and pain. I hear their stories and see their despair and tears; I am deeply touched by everything they endured and still endure. I am changed; I now see them as fellow human beings, each with their own unique story, struggles, and hope.

God answered my prayers to help people in need in the most unexpected way, in a way I could never have imagined. It’s ironic how he answered my prayers by placing me in a group of people whom I initially viewed negatively. While I have always had a heart for those in need, I did not see this particular group of people as such. I literally had to be immersed in the world of refugees to see them as people in need.

Only now do I understand why God gave us the commandment in the Bible to care for the stranger. Now I see why the stranger is mentioned together with the widow and the orphan and why they were also specially protected by God. I see the vulnerability of these people who leave everything that is near and dear to them, all in search of safety; I now know the struggles and challenges they face. My heart goes out to them.

My prayer and hope are that all these people may have someone around them who can be a source of light during dark and challenging times.