The Lenten Journey Begins

I'm not sure I ever imagined that I would be in the Holy Land for the beginning of a lenten season. Last night our delegation was talking with one another about the tangible, palpable presence of God as we walk around these streets. It is as though you can feel God's presence oozing out of the ground!

I woke up this morning very early so that I could be in prayer as you all gathered for Ash Wednesday service. That service for me has always been a significant time of reflection, confession and repentance. My thoughts and prayers have been with SVPC as I have started this day, and this journey through lent. Perhaps Steve or Karin can save some ashes for my head when I get back :-)

Our time on Jordan highlights so much the different circumstances that Iraqi refugees are facing. Amman itself is a fairly "western" city as it serves as the banking center for the Arab world. While the government in Jordan has been very supportive of the refugees coming here from Iraq, the sense from the organizations with whom we are meeting and the refugees themselves, is that there is greater fear here in Jordan as refugees are concerned with being deported. The government has yet to deport refugees (unless they violate the law) yet many refugees are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being identified and found to not have the appropriate visa/documentation. This is very different than what we were hearing in Syria where it was widely understood that the Syrian government, while putting restrictions on Iraqi refugees, was not going to enforce those restrictions and deport people back to Iraq.

We also met last night with a couple of Iraqi refugees who are living here in Jordan, have worked with a US company in Baghdad, and were in the final stages of resettlement. [There stories are so different than the stories we heard in Damascus and so different than the ones we will hear in eastern Amman tomorrow.] These two men both were delightful to talk to and had great personalities, both have families, both speak very good english, both are very educated (one a degree in mechanical engineering, the other is a CPA), both have financial resources and both were trying to figure out of they wanted to "start all over again in the US." 

As we talked and met with them or conversation centered around where there would be good schools for their children, housing options, the level of job they could get as they are frustrated that their credentials and degrees will not be immediately recognized upon arrival in the US, etc. They were trying to chose whether or not they wanted to go to the US, as opposed to others we have talked with who have a greater sense of fleeing. 

I found myself less sympathetic to them and their situation as we talked given who we have already met and the stories that we have already heard. After all, they have choices...they have options...and they have the means to ensure a lifestyle that the overwhelming majority of refugees have never (nor will ever) experienced. And just as I was settling into this view, it dawned on me...these two men are exactly like me.

 

• They have little kids...check. 
  
• They are professionals who are educated, attended graduate school and have degrees and certifications that enable them to do a certain type of work...check.
  
• When imaging where to live, their families situation is of primary concern...check.
  
• They have a lifestyle that they are used to and want to continue enjoying...check.
  

They are fleeing their country and have left everything behind (cars, home, material possessions and business) because they have a very real fear for their lives and the fact that they will be targeted to be killed by militia because they have been associated with the United States...NO CHECK!

Though their situations are dramatically different, their reality is very much the same. Their country is in a state of absolute chaos as killing and violence and looting and kidnapping dominate the streets.

Last night as we were talking with these two men [both of whom I hope end up in San Jose with their families!] it was suggested that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, to which one of the men replied, "There is no light because that tunnel goes around in a circle."

What a poignant remark that I hope and pray is not the case. Unfortunately, I have yet to see or hear anything that would suggest that there is a light coming any time soon.  But today the journey of lent begins, and in that journey, as I return to my devotional, I am reminded that:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men and women. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it."

John 1:1-5

Let us pray...