The global refugee crisis is severe and has continued to worsen significantly over the past decade. More than 123 million refugees and others have been forcibly displaced worldwide.To gain an understanding of this crisis, we spoke with one young refugee, a global expert, and a woman who left a comfortable home in a wealthy area to live with and love a community of refugees 30 minutes away.
November was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. Her family, originally from Burma (now Myanmar), fled their home in the early 2000s after brutal military campaigns against the Karen people arrived in their village, burning homes to the ground and worse.
Prior to Thailand, while November’s mother was pregnant with her second son in Burma, the parents and their toddler son had hidden for hours in a nearby river, ducking underwater as soldiers destroyed their village. Her parents and brother waited until they hadn’t heard any sounds for a long time. They got out of the water and found their home burned to the ground. Many members of their family and community were killed.
November’s parents, brother, and the remaining extended family fled to Thailand, where they spent the next decade in a refugee camp.
In 2011, when November was eight years old, she and her family were approved to come to the United States as refugees. “Before we flew here, we had to say goodbye to all our family members,” November says. “That was hard because I grew up knowing who my friends and family are, and I had to leave them.”
Their first days on American soil were full of hospital visits, shots, and blood draws. November and her siblings had never been to a doctor before. But, at eight years old and brand new to the U.S., November was in a foreign land, being stuck with needles by people who looked nothing like her and spoke a language she’d never heard.
But those first few weeks weren’t the hardest. November entered third grade at the local public school with little education. “I got bullied in school because of my English and because of where I came from,” November says. “Elementary school was really tough for me.”
A growing crisis
In 2025, more than 122 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes due to war, famine, natural disasters, or failing governments. That is almost double what it was 10 years ago and more than triple what it was in 2005.
“The reason we see the big increase in the last 10 years, in particular, is a few specific global conflicts,” says Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, who has worked with refugees for more than 20 years.
The Syrian Civil War, political persecution in Venezuela, American troops leaving Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and ongoing crises in parts of Africa like Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are all among the catalysts.
While it’s true that refugees have been victimized in their home countries, we shouldn’t just view them as victims. We have to look beyond that and see the whole person. “If we see them only as victims,” Soerens says, “we miss out on the reality that these are also resilient people, each one made in the image of God with the potential to contribute a great deal.”
According to a 2024 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, refugees have had a $124 billion positive fiscal impact in the US over the last 15 years. But the positive contributions don’t stop at just economics. Soerens points to the cultural contributions as well – food, music, art, and intellectual capital they bring to American life.
The persecuted Church
Besides the sheer number of refugees God has placed at our doorstep, the economic benefit, skill, and culture they bring, there is something else – a spiritual opportunity. “Most of the refugees who settled in the United States in the last several years have been Christians,” Soerens says. “Often, their Christian faith is the primary reason they’ve had to flee.”
When we welcome Christians fleeing persecution, we are standing with the persecuted Church. We may think of the persecuted Church as a distant, foreign issue. But Christians don’t have to travel the world to serve them. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ need our help right here at home.
When we step into the lives of Christian refugees, they are rarely the only ones receiving a blessing. They bring with them a vitality of faith forged by the persecution they’ve experienced in their different countries of origin that can bless us by reinforcing our faith as well.
“We have a lot to learn from people who’ve had to rely on God,” Soerens says. “Americans may genuinely believe in God’s power, but we often turn to God as a last resort.” Not having resources, refugees have learned to rely fully on God, and therefore their faith is often stronger.
The (local) Great Commission
But, we don’t only want to welcome Christian refugees. We want to welcome those from all religious backgrounds. “We are called to the nations, and the nations are here,” says Hilary Cheeseman, missionary, November’s mentor, and advocate for women and youth refugees in Clarkston, Georgia. “We have 60 different nations speaking 40 different languages right here. God has brought the nations to us.”
In 2018, Hilary felt God calling her to Clarkston (sometimes called the most ethnically diverse square mile in America) to work with refugees. Her six children were grown and out of the house, and Hilary suddenly found herself alone for the first time in her adult life. That’s when a friend who was working with Afghan women in Clarkston called Hilary needing help.
So she sold most of her belongings, packed up the necessities, and moved into an apartment complex full of refugees. “It was really tough,” Hilary says. “It didn’t feel like home. I had no refuge.” But God taught Hilary hospitality through her new neighbors. Her Afghan friends insisted on inviting her into their homes, sharing meals with her, and asking her to afternoon tea.
“I know, without a doubt, that God used Muslim refugees in my life,” Hilary says. “They’re so welcoming. They don’t hold back.” Hilary, in turn, invited refugees into her home. She’d come to Clarkston to work with Afghan women, but the ones who showed up most often were the teens. With years of experience leading youth at her home church, Hilary quickly fell into the role of “Mama Cheese” as the kids call her, baking, doing homework, or studying the Bible with whoever showed up at her door.
The Bible is full of examples of hospitality (Genesis 18, Luke 19:5-7), and we’re called to welcome people who come from other countries and love them as if they were our own people (Leviticus 19:33-34). Why? By becoming safe and welcoming hosts, we imitate Christ, showing his love and opening opportunities to share the gospel.
But biblical hospitality is different from hosting dinner for friends or relatives. The word for “hospitality” in New Testament Greek is philoxenia Soerens says. In Romans 12 and elsewhere, according to the meaning of that word, we’re called “literally to practice loving strangers!”
“There’s often an evangelistic opportunity when the church is faithful to welcome people, to love our neighbors,” Soerens says. “If you look at Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, it’s pretty clear that loving our neighbors has to include those of a different religious background and ethnicity who are vulnerable travelers.”
Welcome home
November was in middle school when her younger brother Milku began attending a boys’ Bible study. “He would come home and say, ‘Sister, you know that there’s someone who died on the cross for you?’” November says.
When November visited Passion City Church in Atlanta with a Bible study group, she knew she had to find out more about this person who was willing to die on a cross for her. November remembers the song “Ten Thousand Reasons” by Matt Redman playing in the background as she entered the church.
“I heard a voice say, ‘Welcome home,’” she says, tearing up though she’s told this story many times. “That was the first time I felt that. I did not know it was the Holy Spirit, but that voice was like, ‘Welcome home, my daughter.’”
November began going to a girls’ Bible study led by Hilary. “I had a desire to know who Jesus is and why would he die on the cross for me. Why did he welcome me when no no one else would welcome me?”
In 2021, Hilary baptized November at their home church, Elevate City Church in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Now, November serves as an intern, helping Hilary run a program for refugee youth in Clarkston called Friday Night Light. They set up tables of food, lawn games, and music. Then, along with other college-age refugees (some November’s own siblings), they gather kids from local neighborhoods who, just like they were, are hungry for a place to belong.
“I can’t communicate with November’s mom because she can’t speak any English,” Hilary says. “But there is an understanding when she sees me. We hug hard, and I can feel that she’s thankful we are helping her kids.”
As the global refugee crisis continues to escalate, the biblical call to welcome strangers has moved closer to home. Whether volunteering with a local refugee organization, supporting global organizations for displaced persons, or building friendships with newcomers in our own neighborhoods, we can all take action to support every displaced person.
How is God calling you to love his people?
Photo: Hilary Cheeseman
