'In Europe everything will be fine'
Tuesday 01 October 2024 12:29 As we have worked with people seeking asylum, we have heard this phrase repeated over and over. For many people fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty, Europe - in their minds - is the place where every one of their problems will finally be solved.
Europe is currently overwhelmed with people in search of this ‘perfect life’ falsely promised to them by family, friends and, more sinisterly, people smugglers attempting to get rich from people's suffering. In Micah 4:4, the prophet says:
Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
We have the promise of this perfect life where peace, rest and security reign. This though is not to be found in Europe. It is found in Jesus, and Him alone. This is one of the reasons we love to serve in Europe. We get to meet people in search of everything that is promised in Jesus. Many have their eyes opened to the fact that Europe will not satisfy their longings, but Jesus will and will do so in ways that they could not have possibly imagined.
- Noah and Suzi Bartlett, ECMers serving refugees in Northern Ireland
