A Kurdish friend and I recently visited a family who fled from war several years ago and are now living in our city. We went up the narrow stairwell that was jam packed with items from the shop below, and upon reaching their front door, we were warmly greeted in Kurdish by our hosts.
We entered the house, and I was immediately struck by the smell of feces. The smell has been a common factor in my visits, as the means and appliances to be able to keep things clean can be expensive and hard to come by for refugee families; this family was no exception.
In the living room, we were introduced to three siblings who were all paralyzed from the waist down. A fourth sibling and their mother were the only members of the family who were mobile enough to be able to get out of the apartment.
During our short visit we learned that life is really hard for this family. They do not know a word of the local language, in spite of having fled here several years ago, nor do they know the majority language in their home country well. Because of their life circumstances, they only speak Kurdish.
It must be very difficult for this family to live in this city, not having much income and not being able to speak the language of the locals here or even the common language of the others who have come from the same war-torn land from which they came.
It was during this meeting that my Kurdish friend started sharing his story of how he came from their city and how he had come to know the Good Shepherd upon coming to our city. The shock on the faces of our hosts was evident. They said they had never met a believer before, especially someone who was from their own ethnic and sociological background.
With the help of my friend, we shared how we need to find forgiveness for our sins, and that it is through the work of Jesus Christ that we can find this forgiveness. They were very interested in hearing what we had to say and invited us to come back again for another visit as soon as we are available. Praise the Lord!
