{"id":538,"date":"2015-10-08T14:42:33","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T12:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gbu.it\/en\/?p=538"},"modified":"2015-11-16T10:50:13","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T09:50:13","slug":"i-wanted-to-get-a-bible-but-my-hands-were-dirty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbu.it\/en\/i-wanted-to-get-a-bible-but-my-hands-were-dirty\/","title":{"rendered":"I wanted to get a Bible but my hands were dirty…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cWe don\u2019t have any Bibles left,\u201d\u00a0said Tommaso to a Nigerian refugee, inside one of the many refugee\u00a0welcome centres of the province of Trapani, Sicily. \u00a0\u201cWhy did you run away when you saw us\u00a0distributing Bibles, five minutes ago?\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n
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\u201cI went to wash my hands because I wanted to get a Bible so much but I didn\u2019t want to get one with\u00a0dirty hands,\u201d replied Vincent, in tears.<\/i><\/div>\n
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Stefano was struck by the amount of love and respect that the refugees of the welcome centres were\u00a0showing the Bible. He was there in the Summer of 2015, with other young people from his community helping\u00a0Tommaso distribute clothes and Bibles to refugees, many of which were coming\u00a0from sub-sahariane countries. When Stefano went back to his hometown, Chieti, he began to stop\u00a0refugees in the street, asking them if they needed anything and if they wanted a Bible. He met a Nigerian named\u00a0Lacki and when he gave gave him the New Testament he saw his face brighten into a smile. Lacki\u00a0took the present with great joy and tapped it against his chest and\u00a0shouted: \u201cGod is in my life, he is in my\u00a0heart.\u201d Two brothers in Christ had just met!<\/div>\n
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These are just two stories out of many which show that when the people of God move, tragedies such\u00a0as the immigration going on in the Mediterranean Sea and the Balkans can turn into signs and seeds of\u00a0divine providence which, as always, turns the evil deeds of man into something good. The root\u00a0of immigration is the sin of man behind which lies the social unbalance of our planet and the threat of its\u00a0survival.<\/div>\n
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I led a small mission group, which included\u00a0the youth of my church as well as those of other local\u00a0churches and many university students\u00a0to support the African refugees arriving in Sicily.<\/div>\n
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The name of the mission \u201cForeigners like us\u201d came from Leviticus 19:34. We chose this name as we are\u00a0convinced that welcoming does not come with an\u00a0if\u00a0or a\u00a0but,\u00a0but it is a must for every Christian in Christ\u00a0who lives for the Word of God. Our aim was to distribute clothes in the welcome centres, hand out Bibles,\u00a0share the gospel and meet other brothers and sisters in Christ who managed to cross the Mediterranean\u00a0Sea.<\/div>\n
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Our experience was amazing.<\/b> We felt part of the action that the Holy Spirit wants Christians to carry\u00a0out in this moment. We have so many stories to tell. We can testify that God is at work and he is urging\u00a0his sons to work as well. All this is injecting a new kind of enthusiasm into the tired western churches.<\/div>\n
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Stefano\u2019s experience is a testimony to this: when he returned to his city he started, together with\u00a0other people, looking for the refugees who live among us, here in Italy.<\/div>\n
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Our experience with the mission was a confirmation that welcoming has to involve three key\u00a0elements<\/b>:<\/div>\n
\u2022Share the gospel, in a loving, understanding and delicate way<\/div>\n
\u2022Show Christian love when meeting the needs of desperate men and women by taking time to\u00a0listen to them and take actual care of them (give clothes, directions, information, advice etc.)<\/div>\n
\u2022Look for the suffering church which lives among the refugees of any nation.<\/div>\n
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In our mission, there were some university students from the GBU program. I often asked myself the\u00a0following question; \u2018How can these two different worlds \u2013 students and refuges \u2013 meet?\u2019<\/div>\n
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Here are some suggestions<\/b>:<\/div>\n
\u2022Reduce the space of entertainment. This is a state of emergency and we should cry and suffer\u00a0together with those who cry and suffer. Use our holidays as an opportunity to give a hand to others. Go\u00a0back to our local churches and help in anyway we can.<\/div>\n
\u2022Some study programs require work experience or training in the field. This is a perfect opportunity for pedagogy, education,\u00a0psychology, sociology and medical students to gain this experience in the field.<\/div>\n
\u2022There is a great need of people who can speak foreign languages: English, French but also\u00a0Arabic, Bangali, etc. It\u2019s easier among students to find people who can speak these languages.<\/div>\n
\u2022There is a great need of people to be able to understand legislative matters, who can deal with\u00a0prefectures, local associations and institutions. Students or people with degrees in law,\u00a0economics, social services, etc.<\/div>\n
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I believe that now more than ever there is a great need for a collaboration between secular and spiritual\u00a0vocations. The local church has to be the body that coordinates those who are willing to help and the\u00a0action to be taken in dealing with the refugees.<\/div>\n
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If students act, they will have amazing experiences.<\/b><\/div>\n
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Daniel, from Sierra Leone, was a child soldier with severe family trauma (his parents were killed),\u00a0survived the Mediterranean Sea and now is one of those refugees that knows the Lord and his Word. At\u00a0the end of a morning spent cleaning the coastline of a Sicilian city together with other refugees and our\u00a0volunteers, he made a prayer while we were sitting all together singing and praising the Lord: \u201cThank\u00a0you Lord because today you gave us the strength to do your will and be useful in our society.\u201d<\/div>\n
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God is at work, even in tragedies.<\/b><\/div>\n

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Giacomo C. Di Gaetano (Staff GBU a Chieti)<\/p>\n

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Some resources on the refugee crisis:<\/p>\n