In recent years, the Middle East has experienced change, revolution, death and mass migration on a record scale. With the percentage of refugees in Europe still rising, CV decided to take action. Earlier this year, we started sending groups of volunteers into Europe to serve refugees and to bring healing to them through Jesus. We know that God wants to bring joy instead of sadness to these nations as it is written in Isaiah 61:3 “…beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
Our vision is to help the local Church reach out to Arab migrants throughout Europe. While the situation in the Middle East is horrific, we choose to trust that God has a bigger plan for the region’s people. Already this has been a wake-up call to churches throughout Europe, and we hope that many more Christians will start to see this refugee crisis as an opportunity to reach out to Muslims who couldn’t be reached in the Middle East before the war.
Since June 2016, we have sent 52 volunteers into Europe as part of our refugee project. Most of these volunteers have taken long periods of leave from their jobs because they have a heart to serve these people who are so desperately in need. Together, they have covered 18 cities in 6 countries. They have served more than 20 churches, and visited more than 40 refugee camps. Some refugees have been baptized while others have been healed from physical illnesses. Arabic meetings, led by our missionaries, also continue to take place throughout Europe.
Making God known
We believe that refugees need us to show them God’s love, and to speak to them in a language that they understand. It is for this reason that we interview all missionary applicants and only select the top candidates. We also believe that loving these refugees will bring healing to their hearts, and open their eyes to the great love of Jesus. We hope that by sending volunteers, we can show these refugees the true and unconditional love of Jesus. Please pray for our project. To God be the glory.