The DR Um Fam Ily: Immigrants and Refugees

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Th mily
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September 2015
Immigrants and Refugees

Immigrant:
noun (immigrant \i-m-grnt)
a : a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence

b : a plant or animal that becomes established in an area where it was previously unknown
synonyms:
newcomer, settler, incomer, new arrival, migrant
refugee: noun (refugee \re-fyu-j)

one that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution; a person who
has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
synonyms: displaced person, DP, escapee, fugitive, asylum seeker, runaway, exile, migr, stateless person, outcast
(Merriam-Webster dictionary)
I am an immigrant. I have been an immigrant for the past 8 years. I know that makes some of you nervous. You think of me as a
missionary or as an expat, but Im an immigrant in the eyes of the rest of the world.
I first occupied the definition of immigrant status when I moved to Costa Rica. I was a newcomer, a new arrival, a biological being in
a new place surrounded by a new habitat, an outsider. I later immigrated to Peru, where I became a legal, card carrying resident for 5
years. But I never gained status as a citizen or as a native of Peruno, I would always be thought of as an immigrant, an outsider,
different. Now, I have immigrated again. I now live in Spain as a permanent resident. Weve been here for two years so far. I came
here speaking the language. I look like everyone else. Im not as easily distinguished by my appearance. But, I will forever be an
immigrant. It is a label that never goes away for me.
It is tough to be an immigrant. Yes, it is something that I chose to do. Im here because I want to be here to do the work that I am
called to do. But that doesnt make being an immigrant any easier. Immigrants, aliens in a foreign land. Outside of our home culture,
away from our native language, separated from family and friends and all of our emotional support systems. Nothing seemed familiar,
everything seemed strange and different when we moved here. Away from home. Away from community. Away from any sense of
belonging. Lost.
Its hard living in a new world and trying to adapt and fit in and find people who will stand beside you.
Connued on page 2 . . .
...immigrants and refugees

All of this brings on heightened stress, transition shock, culture
shock, financial struggles, family stressors, marriage and
relational stress, frequent misunderstandings and conflicts.
Loneliness. Exhaustion. Depression. Yes, weve been through
all of that. And we still fight some of it, even after being
immigrants for many years.
I want to show you some other immigrants. (see below)
These are the people that we work with, that we love, that we
share life with here. We are all immigrants. Some of my friends,
by definition, are also refugees. They fled persecution or danger
in their home country. Some ran from physically abusive
situations. Some of them are not legal, due to their fears of
eventually being found and sent back to the situation that sent
them here in the first place. These are people who left behind
family, who left their culture and their language, who left all of
their belongings.
The current issue of mass migration in Europe is astounding.
The refugee population is clamoring for hope, leaving behind all
that they know. Immigration touches every age group and every
socio-economic status. It isnt choosy it doesnt elect whom to
touch it touches us all. When hundreds of thousands of souls
decide that life is worth risking it all and striking out on epic
voyages that have costs thousands and thousands of lives
already, we should sit up and take notice. As followers of Christ
disciples of Him we should fall back on what we know to be
Truth:
Matthew 2:14 - And he (Joseph) rose and took the child (Jesus)
and his mother (Mary) by night and departed to Egypt. Jesus
was an immigrant. Jesus was a refugee fleeing a murderous king and

tyranic government.
Exodus 22:21 - You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for
you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. The Israelites were a nation of
immigrants and refugees, fleeing from Egypt and the oppression of an
unjust government.
Leviticus 25:35 - If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain
himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger
and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Deuteronomy 10:18 - He
executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the
sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Original law of the old
testament was highly in favor of hospitality, especially to strangers and
those traveling through your land in search of a new life.
Hebrews 13:2 - Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for
thereby some have entertained angels unawares. The new church is
warned to remember who they are, remember hospitality, and remember
Jesus teaching in Matthew 25:40 Truly, I say to you, as you did it to
one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
I leave you with two more:
Philippians 3:20 - But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we
await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
Mark 12:30-31 - And you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
We minister to the least, the lost, and the left out. We love them,
because we are one of them. We are immigrants. Thats who we are.
These are only a few of our immigrant friends. Many of our friends
are NOT pictured. More than 80% of our work is with immigrants and
people who are living outside of their native culture.
How can you help?

At this writing, 400,000 refugees have entered Europe during the first nine months of 2015. In the last three days along, 22,500
landed on the beaches in Lesbos, Greece. European countries are negotiating how to absorb the vast numbers of displaced people.
It is important to remember that getting refugees through borders safely is the very beginning of the crisis for many of them. These
people need work, and homes, and language training, and child care, often post traumatic counseling, and on and on the list goes.
We have to stop letting the size of the problem consume and overwhelm us to the point that we just sit there with our eyes glazed
over, motionless. It is comparable to a million people staring at the flames of a city burning, so engrossed by the sheer magnitude
that they fail to see the buckets of water which stand at each of their feet. Imagine if the million of them took their eyes off of the fire,
picked up their own bucket of water and threw it on the flames they could reach?
Think, who are the people you know who might have something they could offer to help one family? Then pick up the phone, send
an email, start a conversation. ~M. Chastain
Some of our peers in The Mission Society are doing something to help. They are currently amassing supplies for refugee families
tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, basic living supplies that can be carried in a pack and help sustain them via shelter and warmth.
The Chastain family, currently serving in Estonia, will be packing these supplies in their van and traveling the route that is currently
being taken by many refugees, driving south from Estonia to Albania. Once in Albania, they will refill the van and make the trip back
to Estonia again. If you would like to be a part of their help for refugees, please give to their fund at https://themissionsociety.org/give
Go to the box marked Give to a Partner or Project and write in Chastain Special Project Refugees.
Prayer Requests Pray for the refugee situation in Europe and that all of us can find ways to love and care for our newest neighbors.
Pray for our care regions and our communications with peers within Europe and the Middle East.
Pray for our preparation to teach in a mission conference in Albania in October. We will be teaching a 3-day coach training workshop and
2 discipleship workshops. We will be away from Spain for two weeks.
Pray for the disciple groups, bible studies, relational gatherings, and all of the other ways that we live life among people here in Spain.
Pray that we are a light in their day, that we shine light on Truth, and that people come to know and love Him by knowing and being loved
by us.
As always, please pray for our boys (Ryan and Miles) in Texas and far away from us during these young adult years.
Please pray for Sarah as she begins a new school year next week. She will be missing quite a bit of school in the first semester due to
work-related travel that we must do pray that she is not negatively impacted by those absences and that her teachers are accommodating and understanding of our work.
NON-PROFIT
ORG
US POSTAGE
PAID
BRYAN TX
PERMIT #102
The Mission Society

Laurie & Billy Drum
3907 Old Oaks
Bryan,
Texas 77802
USA
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Sharing the Love of Christ with the least, the lost, and the left out immigrants, displaced peoples, the lonely,
the abandoned, those who need a friend.
Nurturing and developing people to be healthy spiritually, physically, emotionally, and relationally - because
care is not just an emotional feeling word, care is a verb - an action. Thats who we are the care-givers!
Contact The Drums!

We love to Skype,
chat, email, or receive
mail at the post office!
Youcancontactthem:
[email protected]
Ph#9799855238(Texasphone
thatwillroutetoourcomputerin
Spain)
Skype:billy.drum
OrfindusonFacebook!
Mailing address:
BillyyLaurieDrum
Apdo.Correos#46
29200Antequera,Malaga,Espaa
This statue is on a corner in Antequera (our town). It stands as a reminder

of the mass exodus of Muslims when a religious war broke out and our
towns castle was overtaken by the army of the Catholic Kings. Thousands of people were given 24 hours to leave town or be killed. Today,
over 500 years later, we are watching a return of thousands of people to
Spain after fleeing religious wars and oppression in their countries.

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m

Immigrants and Refugees

noun (immigrant \i-m-grnt)

a : a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence

newcomer, settler, incomer, new arrival, migrant

refugee: noun (refugee \re-fyu-j)

...immigrants and refugees

was an immigrant. Jesus was a refugee fleeing a murderous king and

How can you help?

The Mission Society

Contact The Drums!

This statue is on a corner in Antequera (our town). It stands as a reminder

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