A refugee is defined as a person fleeing their home country due to conflict, violence, or persecution.

As a child our Lord Jesus Christ and his parents were refugees, who fled to Egypt to escape Herod. Stories of migration, hospitality, and people seeking safety or asylum are constant threads through the Scriptures. For more than 70 years New Zealand churches have welcomed refugees into our communities, giving practical help and making friends with newcomers.

At present Refugee's are one of the biggest issues in the world today. The world has at the end of 2024, 42.7 million refugee's, according to World Vision. It is normal during War that civilians flee their homes, to find safety out of the War zone and then return when the War is over. The vast majority of the Ukraine refugee's found help and support in neighbouring Poland. The biggest question today is why didn't this happen in Gaza? Why didn't streams of refugees and 'innocent' Gaza civilians flee into Egypt or Jordan? It seems their Arab "brothers" view the Palestinians with 'fear and loathing,' Some have expressed the view that the Palestinians should be weakened if not exterminated. They are unwanted because of their well-earned reputation as trouble-makers and extremists. The behaviour exhibited by Hamas on Oct 7, was NOT an isolated incident. For decades Palestinians, have been responsible for some truly barbaric acts of terrorism and horrendous criminal behaviour. Western/European Nations accepting large numbers of any Middle Eastern refugees, have reported surges in violent crimes, particularly sex crimes, and greatly increased terrorism threats within their borders. Those from Gaza have been raised with a hate-filled ideology.

So no one wants them! My heart hurts for the innocent civilians and the children, we need to pray tor them. We need to uphold in prayer Palestianian Christians. We need to pray for the countries that have taken in Middle Eastern refugees, that the right controls are put in place to protect the West, while providing for the needs of the refugees. Finally we need to pray that God gives wisdom to the Israeli leaders. Today I watched a reaction to a speech given by an Arab Muslim in Amsterdam and I stand with him and say, we need to pray that the War ends soon and "Free Palestine from Hamas." I will share the video at Lunch (Sext).

I also want to share here for everyone's education a link to the most balanced report on what is happening in Gaza that I have read so far.....It doesn't pull its punches and admits there have been some war crimes perpetrated by individuals in the IDF and states the difficult situation the IDF is facing and what they are doing about it. I believe it actually gives a fully truthful picture of what has and is happening in Gaza. In spite of the fact that it comes from The Times of Israel. For now, victory is still within reach: 10 truths about the Gaza war, 20 months in. If you want to know what is really happening watch the video read the article and then pray.