Not Just Numbers, But Lives

Since arriving Amman has received a couple of feet of snow which has been quite a treat to see. The city is beautiful and from what I am told, it is a treat to see it blanketed in white. That said, it has made a few of our appointments hard to keep, though it hasn't slowed us down too much. We are going to change our plans a bit however and head out this morning for Syria where by all accounts the greatest number of Iraqi refugees are living, giving us great opportunities to hear people's stories and make connections with relatives of folks back in the Bay Area. So it is off to Damascus for a couple of days before then heading to Aleppo in northern Syria. 

Yesterday we were able to meet with one of the Vatican's representatives in the region and also meet with the Regional coordinator of refugees for the State Department. Both unique and eye opening perspectives on the current Iraqi refugee situation. 

Monsignor Matteo from the Vatican was a delightful priest who seems to be fairly new to the region. In spite of his recent appointment to this area, he was very aware of the challenges refugees are facing and the burdens being placed in the Jordanian government. As will be the theme throughout our travels, his estimate of the number of refugees was different than the numbers we had heard before which are different than the State Department gave. Monsignor Matteo did give us interesting insight into the plight of Christian Iraqi refugees [and Christians living as a targeted minority in Iraq] who are fleeing land they have lived since the time of Jesus. For whatever reason I was struck and moved at the thought of Christians fleeing from a land that they have lived in for so long.

Later in the evening we met with the Regional Director of refugee resettlement from the State Department who had a very different perspective on the current situation. She suggested that the number of refugees reported to be living in Jordan was in fact smaller than people were saying and that the problem was not as big as people were being led to believe.  As she spoke I began to realize something about the process of refugee resettlement. For better or for worse [and I will refrain from stating which I think it is for now] in a post 9/11 world the process is not designed to get refugees through it and into the US. 

As we listened and talked with the representative from the State Department the scale of the problem came into focus and the question was asked about why the US was not processing and resettling the number of refugees that it said it would resettle in the United States. It was at this point that I did get a bit frustrated because her response was that it is a "rolling process" and that people should not be so focused on September 30th [which is the end of the fiscal year for resettling refugees meaning that if the US says it will receive 12,000 Iraqi refugees (which it has for this year) then it has until September 30 to do so. After that date it is a different year and a different number] nor should people be so focused on such an "arbitrary number."

I explained to her that as a citizen all I have to go by is that number and that my understanding is that any number below the stated number (again, for this year the stated number is 12,000 Iraqi refugees) would not be rolled over into the next year and are therefore lost opportunities for refugees to escape their situation [to be clear, a refugee is someone who is fleeing their country for fear of persecution and for fear of their safety]. To which the representative from the State Department has no response...

...which is a challenge to me because each "number" that we are talking about here is a human life. Two of those lives we met with the other night, still others we have seen and many more we will be meeting/talking with in the days to come. Not just numbers, but lives.

Invisible People, Invisible Problem

Last night we sat with two men who are living in Amman and are trying to go through the process to flee to the United States. As I listened to their story I continued to further on a journey that was taking me into the complexities of this current Iraqi refugee crisis. [I feel a little bit like Neo in The Matrix having just taken the red pill! And down the rabbit hole I go!]

Already it is clear that trying to identify the exact number of refugees is a little bit like herding cats. No one seems to have a precise number and in large part that is due to the fact that this refugee situation is different than any other in one (at least) major way; this is an urban refugee crisis. 

[As background and to state something that perhaps all of you reading this already know: the three countries that are bearing the greatest burden of refugees are Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is estimated that 2-4 million refugees from Iraq have fled to those three countries placing an incredible burden on their economy, social services, schools and more. By all accounts, these 3 countries have gone above and beyond in aiding the Iraqi people fleeing. After so many years though, we are being told that these countries are "tightening up" their borders and turning more people away and sending more people back to Iraq.]

I am so used to seeing "camps" of refugees where there are densely populated locations with thousands of people in one spot. As our translator Jamal said yesterday, "The challenge here is that there are no camps to take a picture of. No one knows for sure where the Iraqi refugees are so how can we have an exact number." Here in Jordan there are hundreds of thousands of refugees but depending on who you ask, there are anywhere from 400,000-800,000 men, women and children who have fled their homeland. 

This trip will be filled with a great many stories, but one observation I have now is that the people who have fled, the refugees, have become an almost invisible people. They live their lives trying to stay out of sight for two reasons: 1) they do not want to be found and deported back to Baghdad due to the "tightening up" of the border that I mentioned earlier, and 2) they are fearful for their lives.

The two men we met last night left Baghdad not because they wanted to, and saw this as their chance to pursue the American dream. They fled because they had worked for the US military as translators, who then helped hide a British diplomat when a kidnapping was taking place.  As the militia in their neighborhood heard this these two men began receiving death threats. As they spoke it was clear that people very often follow through on their death threats and that these two men had no choice but to leave.

From what I am hearing their story is a common one. People who have helped the US military during the war [most often as translators] or put themselves in harms way to help the United States are the people most targeted by militia fighters in Iraq. They flee for their safety but are limited in where they can go.

Again, bear with me as I process this out loud, but it seems to me that the debate going on in the United States about the war is when to pull out our troops and get them out of harms way...makes sense. But where is the conversation about what happens to the 2-4 million refugees that have been created as a result of this war? Is there any thought or responsibility we have for these people?

Let it SNOW!

Not that I woke up this morning thinking that this trip would be straight forward and predictable, but had I done so it would have taken 5 seconds to realize it would be anything but! Outside my window on the ground below lay 6-8 inches of SNOW! Now if you had asked me to list all of the "surprises" that we might encounter while here, snow would not have appeared on my list! I'm told it is not as uncommon as I would have thought, but Amman does not seem to be equipped to deal with the snow the way Aspen would.

After marveling at the powdery layer across the city, I headed downstairs to meet up with the rest of our delegation. Everyone has arrived and we enjoyed getting acquainted with one another over breakfast. I was privileged to meet Jamal who will serve as our guide and translator, Liz who is a delightful woman that is involved in a wide variety of organizations and causes worldwide, and Ellen who works with Catholic Charities in San Jose and was the one person I knew prior to my arrival.

Our plans for the day changed quickly as the city was shut down and many of our contacts were simply not able to travel around. And this is where the first "sharp left turn" of the trip took place :-)

Liz and I decided to walk to a neighboring hotel [Liz actually decided...I just tagged along!] for a cup of coffee and to see the city. After we discussed some of the political, religious and cultural complexities of the region [with me playing the role of listener/learner in our conversation!] Liz thought it would be fun to take a driving tour of the city...in a cab...in the middle of a blizzard! So off we went!

Before I knew what was happening, our city tour became a trip to the Dead Sea and the Israeli/Jordanian border as we headed out of the city and began our descent. Amman's elevation is very high and we were hoping that there would be better weather at the lower elevations. Thankfully there was.

As we drove the visibility improved and I was able to take in the landscape, the topography and the geography of the region. Around one turn and all of a sudden I am looking at Jericho and I get the chills. I am in the part of the world that I have read about my entire life.

We drive to the location on the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized...the actual spot and the modern spot that commemorates it. It was spectacular. As a Christian it was almost a surreal feeling. When I woke up this morning this was not where I thought I would be!

To walk in the places where Jesus walked; to dip my hand in the Jordan River where John baptized Jesus; to walk along the Dead Sea and feel the warm water; to feel as though I was inside of the narrative texts that I had studied so many times was amazing. And it brought me back to why I am here.

Tonight we are having dinner with Iraqi refugees who are living in Amman. We will listen to their stories and there desire for "new life." Please don't misunderstand me...I am not trying to sermonize here :-) But as I recommitted myself along the Jordan this afternoon to the new life I have experienced and been given because of a refugee named Jesus, I couldn't help but think the two were connected.

And the journey begins

For some reason it seems appropriate that I would join the 21st century world of "blogging" while visiting the most ancient of places! As I write this I find myself in a hotel in Amman, Jordan one day into a journey that has been in the making for quite some time.  

Tomorrow morning I will be joining a delegation of people from California as we travel throughout the middle east [spending the majority of or time in Jordan and Syria] and look into the current situation that Iraqi refugees are dealing with.  Our stay here in this region will last 12 days and should be revealing, eye opening, unsettling, edifying, faith building and many other words ending in "ing!" 

As I was flying out here, sandwiched between people and seats much too close together, I kept trying to figure out how I got to this point; how it came to be that I was invited to be a part of this delegation.  The more I thought and prayed about it, the more I heard clearly God saying "relax and let the trip come to you; it will be revealed as you travel." To which I say..."OK."

• "For I know plans I have for you" says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you" declares the Lord.
  

Jeremiah 29:11-14

My hope is that this site will provide an outlet for me to process what I see, what I hear and what I learn throughout these next two weeks and in doing so give those who want to read an opportunity to travel these roads vicariously through me. To listen with me to the story of the refugee; to see with me hope in the midst of chaos; to feel with me strength in the face of uncertainty.

God has been doing incredible things at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church as we have opened our hearts to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our work with refugees coming into Santa Clara county. It has been an incredible journey...one that has now brought me and our church to the middle east. Glad to have you walking [and praying!!!] with me.