While the word "refugee" is not in the Bible, the Bible is full of references to refugees. In fact, several beloved characters were refugees, including Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Ruth and Naomi, the entire Jewish nation, and last but not least, Jesus Himself. In His Word, God is very definite about our responsibility to care for "the stranger who dwells among you" (Leviticus 19:34 NKJV).
We are told:
“. . . 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.--Review and Herald, Oct. 29, 1914. (Emphasis supplied.)
Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries is working to plant churches and share the Gospel with refugees in North America, and immigrants from least-reached people groups. We seek to encourage church planters from among these groups themselves, and to connect them with Adventists from the broader church in North America who wish to work for the world's least-reached groups, assisting them as they navigate life in a new country, and empowering them to reach others who speak the same language around the world.
Our refugee church planters move foward in the spirit of sacrifice and commitment that characterized the early Adventist pioneers. The moving story of the challenges one young refugee faced when he took up the call is shared in the following clip from Hope Channel's program, Let's Pray: