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-Written by Will Cumbia.
For the last five years, Virginia Baptists have intentionally engaged with refugee ministry around the world, through the partnership focus:refugees. Focus:refugees began in November of 2018 and joined together a number of existing relationships with partners in the European Baptist Federation, including Austria, Croatia, and Lebanon as well as the Virginia based non-profit ReEstablish Richmond all around the issue of supporting refugees. Through short-term mission teams, online engagement, visits from partners, and the presence of young Virginia Baptist leaders as Venturer mission volunteers, the last five years have deepened Virginia Baptist support for those who have been displaced from their homes.
The partnership kicked off fully in 2019 with a fruitful year including Virginia Baptist leaders visiting partners in Austria and Lebanon, a group of college-aged students with the Kairos Mission Initiative visiting Austria and Croatia, and a small team of Austrians and Afghans visiting Virginia and sharing their stories at various Virginia Baptist ministry events. In 2020, one team from First Baptist Alexandria Virginia even managed to visit Linz and Salzburg, Austria to give one last moment of encouragement to Baptists just before the world went into lockdown in March of 2020. These trips were important in establishing a strong foundation of partnership and solidarity before the world shut down.
As the whole world went online, so did missional engagement. Through a series of webinars, virtual mission trips, and written updates, we were able to keep Virginia Baptists engaged with the on-going struggles of refugees and displaced peoples, many who were particularly vulnerable during the pandemic. During this time, we shifted the partnership to work directly with the European Baptist Federation’s Commission on Migration, a group of leaders and practitioners working to resource and support the network of Baptists working alongside displaced peoples across Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Though this season was a challenging time for all in ministry, especially those engaged with refugee work, these challenges shifted our paradigms of what partnership, missional engagement, and solidarity might look like in an increasingly digital world.
Then, as we were planning to begin more team visits to Europe in 2022, the world stood shocked at the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. While the original partnership was designed to support partners serving those from existing conflicts that had led to displacement, suddenly partners across all of Europe sprang into action to respond to the largest displacement of people in Europe since World War II. Churches were turned into refugee centers overnight and people opened up their homes to house those who had fled the conflict. Across Ukraine, Baptist churches were the leaders in their communities responding to the needs of the displaced.
BGAV has been one of the strongest partners supporting the European Baptist response to the war, sending over $500,000 over the last years to support Baptists in and around Ukraine. Particularly, long time relationships with the Romanian Baptists were further fruitful as Virginia Baptist churches donated funds toward their 4:7 aid boxes sent into Ukraine. A team of Virginia Baptists visited to participate in filling these boxes in March of 2023 and traveled into Ukraine briefly to meet partners serving there. Baptists both in Virginia and in Europe continue to respond to the needs of those displaced by the war.
In addition to the incredible solidarity shown by the Baptist family for those affected by the war in Ukraine, our partners in the European Baptist region continue to fight for justice and hospitality for those displaced from other conflicts who might not have received the same warm welcome that many Ukrainians did. In the last two years, two teams from Virginia traveled to Italy to support and learn about the collaborative refugee work of Baptists and other small Protestant groups on the borders of Europe in Italy. Italian Baptists are holistically committed to supporting refugees, supporting humanitarian corridors for those displaced from the on-going civil war in Syria, welcoming Afghans displaced by the Taliban takeover in 2021, and providing housing for young men from western African countries who braved the storms of the Mediterranean to come to Italy seeking safety and stability.
Further, Virginia Baptists have stood in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Lebanon, who have been faithfully ministering to refugees for decades, but have had to do so in increasingly difficult circumstances over the last years. Lebanese Baptists have been ministering through the compounding challenges of the presence of those long ago displaced by war in Syria and Israel, the effects of the pandemic, the Beirut Port explosion in 2021, the supply chain restraints of the war in Ukraine, the collapse of the entire Lebanese banking system, rampant government corruption, and now the threat of escalated conflict to the whole country from attacks between Israel and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah based in Lebanon. Virginia Baptist representatives were able to join Lebanese Baptists in September of 2023 to celebrate 25 years of ministry through their social ministry, Thimar, where the deep faith of our Lebanese brothers and sisters was on display as they gave thanks for God’s faithfulness and sustenance despite so many challenges.
Core to the focus:refugee partnership has been the faithful presence of many talented young Virginia Baptists who have served in Europe and in the Middle East over the last years. In Austria, Emily Niehoff, Olivia Haynes-Ansari, Lauren Donahue, and Kathryn Eckler all served refugees in Vienna and Patrick Clark, Judson Park, and Maggie Beth Miller continue to serve across Austria. Additionally, Jason Williams served at a church supporting refugees in Poland for six weeks and Julia Butler (Wallace) was an indispensable part of the Lebanese Baptist aid and development team in Lebanon for two years. These relationships have been mutually transformative, with partners appreciating the solidarity, fellowship, and extra capacity, while all the Virginians have been deeply impacted by their experiences abroad which will continue to inform their respective ministries for years to come.
It has been an immense privilege to walk alongside both Virginia Baptists and our partners these past five years and to see the fruits of God’s work on both sides of the ocean. To see the realization of joy in a local ministry partner’s eyes when a visitor discovers and appreciates their ministry for the miracle that it is. To see a young Virginian’s horizon expand as they listen to the story of someone who has been displaced. To bring resettled refugees to Virginia and experience my own home landscape of faith and ministry through their eyes, both the good and the bad. And to be a part of bringing people together to better understand the tapestry of love and grace and reconciliation that God is weaving together through our stories.
As I’ve discovered the broader world of Baptist ministry, I have been particularly proud to be a Virginia Baptist. Everywhere I went as I visited with partners, led teams, or represented BGAV at numerous conferences and meetings, I was always delighted to find that my presence was a new chapter in an already long story of Virginia Baptists intentionally and faithfully building impactful relationships with our brothers and sisters around the world. As I sat in the room with other partners, I experienced the appreciation that our friends have for our partnership and for our ethos of building mutually edifying and supportive relationships.
Further, I have come to more deeply understand what solidarity looks like in partnerships that endure through joyful and sorrowful times. I have been here long enough to see some things go from bad to worse. To see wars and conflicts rise to the top of the news cycle and fade away leaving thousands still reeling outside of the spotlight. To see churches fall apart and life-long friendships break down. I’ve been here long enough to go to funerals. And I have been here long enough to see the protracted strain that displaced people experience when they have to daily find the strength and courage to build a new life after losing everything. Virginia Baptists have been faithful partners through it all.
Unfortunately, across Europe, the Middle East, and at home in Virginia, the burdens for refugees are not becoming lighter. As the number of displaced peoples continues to rise year after year and as governments take increasingly restrictive policies toward immigration and asylum, the compassion, hospitality, and prophetic voice of the Church will be needed more than ever going forward. While focus:refugees in its original form has ended, Virginia Baptists will remain committed to supporting our partners in the European Baptist region and at home in Virginia. From the Italian Baptists, to the Austrian Baptists, the Lebanese Baptists, to those supporting those ministering to displaced Ukrainians, and through the faithful work of non-profits like ReEstablish Richmond in Virginia and All4Aid in Europe, an abundance of opportunities will remain for Virginia Baptists to support and pray for work alongside displaced people.