Displaced People

When I was little, I never dreamed I’d be doing anything like being the coordinator for Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries (ARIM) across the North American Division.

I grew up on a farm in Nebraska, and I can remember at age five wondering where life would take me. I happened to be looking at the house my mother was born in, my grandfather was born in, and my great-grandfather built with lumber from Illinois. I thought, I’ll probably never leave the state of Nebraska. Little did I know God would take me halfway around the world into war-torn areas to work with refugees.

Some people say that God veils the future because we can’t bear all the pain we’re going to have in our lives. I think His real reason is similar to the reasons parents wrap presents for their children at Christmas. He has so many neat surprises, He doesn’t want to spoil all the fun all at once, so He opens it up little by little.

It all started when I saw a note on the bulletin board at Union College asking if anyone with a car would be willing to pick up refugees to take them to a church service in their language. That was my first experience. I then went to Asia as a student missionary and worked in refugee camps. I remember asking my English class to tell me what they had been through. When I asked, there was an uncomfortable silence followed by nervous laughter. I knew they had been through horrendous things, and so I couldn’t quite understand their reaction until one of my students, who was a spokesperson for the group, said, “We’re laughing so we don’t cry.”

I remember one young man, about 17, who shared his story with me. He came from a well-to-do family in the capitol city of Laos. When he was age 10 and his sister was seven, there was some turmoil in the government. He explained that his parents had been captured, and he was suddenly the man of the house with the responsibility of caring for his sister. He decided to raise fish in the bathtub, but it wasn’t enough. He ended up fleeing to a refugee camp in Thailand. As he told me his story, he revealed that he had never seen or heard from his parents. He didn’t know if they were dead or alive. Then he surprised me by saying, “I’m so glad that Communism came into my country.” My mouth must have dropped open. I couldn’t imagine why. He went on to say, “If it hadn’t, then I would never have learned about God.” I thought back to someone I had talked to in the States before I left who said, “You know, those people have their own culture; they have their own religion. Why do you have to go mess them up?” This young man’s testimony was the answer to that question. I think we who have grown up knowing God have not an inkling of what a bright world we live in and how very blessed we are to be in a country where there are so many people who believe in God, and where there is prayer. I believe that there’s a lot of protection that we enjoy as a result. From what I’ve observed, there are people who witness the devil’s power on a regular basis. I stayed in the home of a pastor and his family who was working with refugees. His father had been a spirit doctor and was grooming his oldest brother to be the next spirit doctor in the village. But the oldest brother was mysteriously killed. During the funeral ceremony, the person conducting the ceremony kept accidentally saying the name of the next oldest son. The people in the village believe that when that happens it means that he is going to be the next victim in short order. And sure enough, he was next and right on down the line.

Finally, the mother decided “I only have one boy left. This is it. I’m going to become a Christian.” And she did. Her youngest son lived to become a pastor. As a result of his work, there are literally thousands of people in the refugee camps from several language groups who have been baptized in the camp. But my heart goes out to these new-Adventist refugees when they are relocated to America. Due to our lack of understanding of the culture, of their needs, we have unintentionally alienated thousands of these precious people.

They arrive with a number of challenges, with language being a primary one. They typically have no transportation and don’t know how to find a church, or how to ask. If they do find a church, they don’t know what to expect or how to act. They most likely have never been to a church. In many cultures, there is an underlying fear of imposing on others. They are often very warm in their hospitality. If you were to go to their homes, they would immediately bring you water or something else to drink. They may also provide a snack or an entire meal.

I remember, when I was in Asia, some of my English Language students invited me to their home. We were sitting and chatting around a little table outside and talking about different fruits because they were interested in learning their English names. When they asked me if I liked mangoes, I said, “Oh, I love mangoes.” Soon, some mangoes appeared on the table and I thought, Oh, wow! This is wonderful! So I ate the mangoes.

Later, they asked, “Do you like rambutans?” I said, “I love rambutans!” Pretty soon some rambutans appeared. I soon began to realize that what I happened to say I liked, they provided by sending someone to the market right then and there to get it. When I finally realized what was happening I thought, Oh my! They are so eager to please. When they come to America, our style of welcoming them is not what they have grown up with. It is very different from what they would pour on us if given the opportunity. When they come to our churches and we only say, “Oh, hi. How are you today?” and continue on, they may conclude that we’re not happy for them to join us for church.

One of their common greetings is, “Where are you going?” We might think, Why are they asking me that? It’s none of their business . But their question comes from a sincere desire to meet any need that we might have. Their way of making us feel welcome is by finding a way to help us.

They wonder how to interpret our brief “Hi” and “Bye” at church. If the situation were reversed, they would invite us to join them for dinner. Even if they had nothing but rice and water, they would invite us to join them. When we don’t invite them to our homes, they assume they must not be doing something right. They would rather disappear from the scene than to be a burden or imposition to anyone.

When I was in Thailand, I had the privilege of meeting Chris Ishi. He was the pastor of the Fresno Asian Church and started reaching out to Hmong refugees in their community. He then organized a group of Japanese and American young people to go build a church in northern Thailand for the Hmong people there. He said to the Hmong refugees in Fresno, “I know that you probably still have relatives in the refugee camps. If you have a little letter or little package you’d like me to take, I’ll be happy to take it to your relatives when I go.”

Well, Chris ended up with three suitcases full of more than 200 letters and packages. When he arrived at the camp, Chris was not able to go in. He did not realize that he needed permission from the Ministry of the Interior from the capitol city, so I had the privilege of distributing the letters and packages for him.

He gave me a camera to take with me. There were tears in the refugees’ eyes when they saw a package or letter from their relatives in the States. They would ask, “Do you know my family?”

And I replied, “No, not yet, but I’m going there soon.” As I planned to return to Thailand, I had the privilege of taking pictures of their relatives here in the States as well. Through Chris and other people who were involved in refugee ministry here, the Lord mentored me little by little. When I was a student at Weimar College, I had an assignment to give an informative speech in class. I thought, What do I know a little about that I can learn more about and share? I had heard there were some refugees in Sacramento, about an hour away, so I did a little research and found out there were about 5,000 Hmong refugees there at the time.

The week following my speech was Week of Prayer, and the focus was on the Holy Spirit. The speaker touched briefly on the fact that within the space of two years everyone in Asia had heard the gospel through the ministry of Paul (see Acts 19:10). That fact was just riveted in my heart. It’s as though God was saying, “Terri, there’s a little Asia right down the hill from you—just an hour away in Sacramento. And look around you. Here is a whole school full of people who are eagerly preparing to share the gospel. What a perfect fit.”

The next assignment in speech class was a persuasive speech. My topic was “Weimar College Should Have an Outreach to the Southeast Asians in Sacramento.” A missionary who had just returned took me under his wing and mentored me. Our outreach team worked with the Japanese Church of Sacramento, and the result was two church plants—one among the Lao refugees and one among the Hmong. Both groups are still there, worshiping and growing.

I had the privilege of sponsoring three families. I regret that as a student I was scared to take on the first one. When the family came, they were so sweet. I vowed I’d never pass up that opportunity again; and eventually, sponsored two more refugee families. The first family is the core family of believers in the Sacramento Lao church plant, and the other family moved to Michigan to find work. They have planted a Lao group of believers in Holland, Michigan. The Holland Church has just welcomed them with open arms.

It’s beautiful to visit and see the loving atmosphere that there is between the members of the mother church and the Lao church plant. I just praise the Lord for how the members there have welcomed them. I wasn’t there to introduce them, but love translates into all languages.

I never realized that I would be in the Lake Union myself. My husband and I were called in 2005 to come and reach out to the refugees for the Hmong people in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Now we’re working primarily in Wisconsin, and God is opening doors.

While we were in Minnesota, the Lord miraculously put us in touch with a pastor who does translation work. He eventually asked his church leaders why they were keeping Sunday when the Bible says to remember the Sabbath day. Well, they quickly decided to shift their focus from Hmong ministry to another ethnic group, and they dropped him like a hot potato. They terminated him just after he had built a new home with ministry in mind. It was built as a split level so they could have church in the lower level. His wife was just about to deliver their third child and his benefits were cut—everything was cut.

But you know, God brought them through that. They basically lost everything except their faith in God, and that kept shining through. Thanks to the vision of the North American Division, he has now completed his Masters in Divinity at Andrews University and is continuing his translation work of the Hmong Bible. He had recruited about 22 students to the Seminary he previously attended, and they still regard him as their beloved professor. A few months ago, the first of them was baptized and became a Seventh-day Adventist along with a Lao pastor friend of his who is bringing his members into the new truth he’s found. It is so exciting to see what God is doing among the people who have been brought to our very doorsteps.

I worked with refugees for years before I realized that God gave Ellen White some very specific counsel. Tucked away in the book, Evangelism , under the title, “Working for Special Classes,” under the section, “The Stranger in Our Midst,” I stumbled upon these words and they began to germinate in my heart:

“God would be pleased to see far more accomplished by His people in the presentation of the truth for this time to the foreigners in America than has been done in the past. ... As I have testified for years, if we were quick in discerning the opening providences of God, we should be able to see in the multiplying opportunities to reach many foreigners in America a divinely appointed means of rapidly extending the third angel’s message into all the nations of earth. God in His providence has brought men to our very doors and thrust them, as it were, into our arms, that they might learn the truth, and be qualified to do a work we could not do in getting the light before men of other tongues. There is a great work before us” (Evangelism, p. 570).

I didn’t see the whole picture at first, and then about three years ago I began waking up in the wee hours of the morning, thinking, If I know about these few language groups that few of our members seem to know about, how many other language groups are among us? How many are eager to know God, to learn the truth about Him, and would be willing to commit their lives to Him that we don’t even know about? The thought just began to weigh on my heart.

I am discovering some incredible parallels between countries that we are unable to reach or that are extremely difficult to reach with missionaries, and countries from which we have the most refugees, asylees, other immigrants and nonimmigrant visitors. I believe that if we were more awake to the Divine appointments that God is setting up for us, we might discover them in the grocery line, at the gas station or even at our doorstep.

Terri Saelee is coordinator for Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries for the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Terri, her husband, Ko, and their three children live in Madison, Wisconsin. Ko also serves as the Hmong coordinator for the Wisconsin Conference.

Used with the permission of the Columbia Union Visitor. It originally appeared in the August, 2014 issue.

For more ideas see Terri's website http://www.RefugeeMinistries.org.