The Biggest Humanitarian Emergency of our Era

The Syrian refugee crisis began (officially anyway) in April 2011. Since then, so many people have been affected that António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called this the "biggest humanitarian emergency of our era."

A Syrian refugee center on the Turkish border

Estimates by Christian Century show that as many as 13.6 million people have been displaced by what's going on in Iraq and Syria. They say that over 3 million Syrian refugees are in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey alone. Lebanon is a country of 4 million and it has over 1 million registered refugees. That's a lot of people! That's also a lot of resources that is weighing these neighboring countries down.

According to United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 93% of Syrian refugees are living outside of camps and are below the poverty line. Makeshift shelters have been built, jobs have been given, but so much more still needs to be done. However, there is simply not enough resources to do it. In just the UNHCR, funding is only at 51%.

Furthermore, UNICEF reports that by 2014, more than half the refugees fleeing Syria were children. With the borders to some countries closing and other factors, some refugees were forced to cross the Aegean sea, causing many to die. One woman lost her sister, her two-year daughter, and her niece while passing through Galatsi. When asked what she needed, she said, "The only thing I need is a stone with my daughter's name on it for the graveyard."

I can share a lot more. But it should be apparent to everyone that there is a great need for more help. Before anyone worries about national security, Christianity Today (Weber 2016) notes that the refugees reaching western shores represent only 5% of the refugee crisis. This is very little compared to what many countries in the Middle East are facing. The same article quotes an Iraqi pastor saying, "Why are you Christian brothers in the West afraid? We are here on the front lines and are not afraid."

I am reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew 25:37-40, "Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,f you did it to me.’"

Please, my brothers and sisters. We must show the same compassion that Jesus showed to us. We must start praying fervently for the unprecedented opportunities for evangelism. We must not let indifference overtake us! Rather, let us do as much good as we possibly can.

A way to start getting more involved is through wewelcomerefugees.com.

Jamaica Trip in 13 Pictures

Recently, my wife Esther and I went to Jamaica for ministry. We were graciously hosted and generously taken care of by Jamaica Chinese Christian Church. It was such a great experience and it's hard to fully explain what went on. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll use 13 pictures (really 41 since they're collages) to explain our Jamaican ministry trip. That's about 42,000 words!

 1. Palm Sunday Service

It is our second year in a row working with Jamaica Chinese Christian Church to minister to the people here. They have no pastor in their midst but yet their church is standing strong.

Furthermore, their warmth and hospitality continues to blow us away.

Remember this church in your prayers.

2. Uncle Eli

I (Tony) was privileged to serve communion at Mr. Eli Ho's house today. He is the 96 year-old man in the picture. He can no longer hear very well nor pay attention for a long time. Traveling is difficult so he can no longer go to church either. So we brought church to him instead, complete with music (by Esther), the Word, and communion. Oh but he has quite an amazing story.

50 or more years ago, he and some others started a movement that would eventually turn into a 2000 people megachurch in Kingston, Jamaica (Swallowfield Chapel) along with a few other sister churches (including our host church).

For many years, he would meet after church on Sunday with like-minded Christians to pray. Then they would travel 40-50 miles (which would take a few hours) to the rural areas of Jamaica. They had a quartet that would sing, and He would share the Gospel with people in the country side. And they still have to drive a few hours back and get ready for work the next day. They did this faithfully even though they were just normal, business people.

At home, he would also pour into the lives of the young people, training them to be strong Christians. In fact, the people in the picture serve as proof. One of the people in the picture is now an elder of the same megachurch. Another is a leader of the church who hosted us. The other (his daughter) is serving faithfully at church as well. They all have amazing stories.

We feel so privileged to have the honor of serving communion to someone with such a legacy.

Before we left, we held his hand firmly and told him how honored we are to be there with him. He looked at us, smiled at us, mustered up all his strength, and said in a soft voice, "Thank you very much." Then he said in an almost inaudible voice, "It was very kind of you to come." At this, we almost cried.

His family gave us permission to share the photo and his story with the whole world. We hope that more people can hear this story and that more Christians may be infected by his mission-mindedness.

3. Getting to the Camp

Halfway to our destination, this car our friend got 4 months ago got a flat tire. No one got hurt. Last year for the same event, the car we rode in (with a different driver and different car) also got a flat tire and spun to the opposite lane, hitting another car. So this was no big deal in comparison.

That's when we knew we were going to have a great time of ministry with the people there.

4. Easter Egg Hunt

We participated in a little Easter Egg Hunt with the children on Good Friday. They had such a fun time running around this big field trying to find all the goodies.

5. Theme - Freedom in Christ

The theme for the camp was Galatians 5:1, "Freedom in Christ." So for this first session, I (Tony) preached from Galatians 5:1. We as Christians are free, so we should not live in bondage.

To really illustrate what it feels like to be in bondage to something, I got people to tie up this kid with rope.

6. Giving out Candy

We bought some candy from the U.S. and gave them out to the children. It was hugely popular. After we did so, the children got really close to us almost immediately. Food is really a great resource in ministry.

7. Worship

It started out slow at first, but the teenagers and young adults eventually started to worship God more fully as the days progressed.

We told them how important it was to worship God with the body. Tony even started teaching actions that they could follow.

See, in the beginning it felt like many people weren't really engaging with God, if they even sang at all! But God has a way of leading young ones to Himself. This time, God used Esther to achieve that.

8. Rock Climbing and Zip lining

At the camp, there was the place where you could do rock climbing. At the top, you can zipline across. It was fun.

Esther and I climbed up together. Every once in a while, I (Tony) would look to check if she was okay. While we were climbing up one of the teenagers said, "That's my relationship goal."

We were glad to be an example.

9. Birthday and Bonfire

The last night of the camp was precious. We had a birthday celebration for a few people. Since my (Tony's) birthday was close, some kid decided to smudge some icing on my face. I guess I should feel honored?

At the bonfire, we got to bond even more. During this time, someone asked me, "Why is there sin in our body?" I spent a while answering the question. More than that, I later got to hear more about the struggles and life of this one particular teenage girl.

I won't share the details here, but let's just say that my heart broke as I listened to her story. Also, God met her that night in a powerful and personal way.

10. Children Dancing

The children danced to many worship songs. Miss Merlene, Miss Beth, and their team taught them the actions. It was a joy to watch the children have so much fun.

The people on this team (apart from the two leaders) were here on a 3-month short term missions. It was encouraging to see these girls (ages 18-22) willing to serve in Jamaica this way. May God raise up more laborers just like them.

11. Sessions Overview

This was the last session of the camp. In total, we had 9 sessions, 4 of which were sermons while the rest were a mix of Bible studies, small group discussions, and panel Q&A.

Many people said that they got to really dig deeper into the Word. One person said that my (Tony's) sermons made her want to study the Bible more. There are few sweeter words for a preacher to hear!

We were also consciously and actively seeking to train up local leaders to take our place when we are gone (you know who you are). This is discipleship, and it's one of the most important things a missions worker must do.

12. Singing in their Heart Language

It is always better to sing in the heart language of the people you are trying to minister to.

In this case, it was Cantonese and Mandarin. So Esther learnt how to sing "Because He Lives" in these two languages and surprised the congregation.

One lady said, "When you sing, I feel peaceful. It's more than just singing. I feel like you are ministering."

What a great way to minister!

13. Group Picture

These are the people who went to the camp. The majority of the people are members and attendees of Jamaica Chinese Christian Church. But there are actually many who don't go to the church.

Their exposure to God is limited to this one time of year where they come to this camp. Therefore, we were glad that we get to be there to reach out to them.

Nevertheless, what a beautiful group of people and what a beautiful church. We will be praying for them consistently. Will you join us in doing so?

Sharing the Cost in Evangelism

Amazing salvation story! Read it, share it, praise God for it!

To catch people up, I go out with a team of people to the local mall to evangelize every week. From my previous Facebook status update, you guys read about Raghulan, the guy from the mall who was agreeing with everything we said about God, sin, Hell, and the whole gospel. Two days ago he texted me "hey tony where can I get a copy of the bible?" I told him that I'd give him one and that we can meet up some time to do that. Additionally, he told me how he had a lot of questions for me.

Unbeknownst to me, God had already been working in his life prior to us meeting him at Markville. He had already been thinking about God a lot even though he came from a Hindu family. He had some pretty crazy things happen to him in the past few months. Anyway, that night we shared the gospel with him, he could not sleep well and even woke up in fear due to a terrible nightmare. Maybe we talked about judgement day (John 16:8) too much, just maybe. But that's one of the reasons he contacted me: he was afraid. But so was I when I first heard about Hell, and you should be too. When we met up, I asked what his questions were and he said, "I don't really have questions, I just want to hear more about what you were talking about." Yes! He just wants to hear more about Jesus Christ! So I told him more. I was not the one speaking that night (Matt 10:20), God kept showing me passage after passage of scripture and I just read to him, using as few of my own words as possible. We talked for a good long time as he also started asking questions and shared more of his story. When asked how he felt, he said "God is calling me." (Rom 11:29) When asked what was stopping him from being under the authority of God, he said "Nothing."

Hallelujah! I told him how he can pray right then and start that relationship. But before continuing, though the evangelist in me just wanted him to "pray the prayer" and "accept Christ," I knew he needed to be warned first. I spent much time telling him about my journey, about my grandparents' rejection of me (Matt 10:35), about the hardships (1 Pet 4:12), about how life does NOT get easier, about sanctification (Rom 6:19), about how he will have to give up stuff (Rom 12:2), about how the devil/world will hate him (1 John 3:13), about how being a Christian means being a slave of God (Rom 6:18), about the cost of following Jesus (Luke 9:58)... but lastly about how it's all so worth it (Phil 3:8) and about Heaven (Rev 22:4). I then asked again if he's still willing to give up control of his life over to God and to be His slave. He paused, thought for a bit, told me he was afraid, and then with an eagerness in his eyes, looked up and finally declared, "Yes."

And the prayer, oh the prayer. After we prayed together as he walked from darkness to light, he asked me, "Did you feel it?" I was confused for a bit but then he said, "This thing in my chest, this feeling. Ah, I can't describe it. Did you feel it too when you first prayed?" I proceeded to tell him about who the Holy Spirit is (John 14:16-17) and the concept of the trinity. He is now going to read the gospel of John and sometime next week we'll meet up to talk about it. If only you guys saw the look in his eyes, the joy he was exuding, the relief he felt, the sweet, sweet moment when he tasted the goodness of our savior for the first time. This is what I live for, the salvation of souls for God! If you've never felt this, I urge you now, win souls for Christ! God can use anyone! He used me!

Never in my evangelism have I warned someone so thoroughly and to tell them NOT to be a child of God. In fact, I told him to be a slave. Come on, who'd say yes to being a slave? It is foolishness (1 Cor 1:18)! But if you're called by God, it's the best thing ever. Never in my life have I understood irresistible grace so clearly. There was nothing I could say that would have turned him away from God. Friends, we don't have to try to make the gospel appealing, figure out a fancy way to get their attention, make sure they know God loves them, play the role of the nice friend who is always there, water down the gospel to make it simpler, or share cheap grace. This is what we must do in evangelism: we preach Christ crucified (1 Cor 1:23) and how we are to be crucified with Him (Gal 2:20). Yes, at its core it's still just faith in Christ, but never without the cost. And when we evangelize, if we are preaching this true gospel, God WILL work (Isa 55:11).

In summary, this is what happened: Christ looked at him and said, "Mine" (Phil 3:12b). All I did was go to the mall and open my Bible.