Fleeing Your Country

One of my daughter’s friends is a beautiful refugee girl who happened to be born in the heart of what has now become one of the most war-torn countries on the planet. In 2011, when this girl was only eight years old, soldiers from her country’s authoritarian regime entered her city and opened fire. During the following two weeks, average citizens were being shot in the streets by snipers, and families were being massacred. These events threw her country upside-down; friends and families were forced to choose sides or place themselves and their families at risk of attack from both sides for their indecision. She shared little with me about her remaining months in her home country, but she did say the decision to leave everything behind was made when her oldest brother was killed in front of them. To get help with leaving the country, the remaining family members reached out to an underground group that helped smuggle people to safety. So that they wouldn’t draw attention to their actions, the six family members left in groups of two, spaced several weeks apart. She and her mother were the last to leave.

Today, this high school sophomore is living in America with four of her family members. When she told me this story, five years had passed, but the memory and the fear of those days has left an indelible mark. Children are the most vulnerable victims of the evils of war. Pray for their healing and wholeness in Christ as they begin to make new lives out of their broken pieces.

~Kori