refugees Archives - TEAM Christian Missions Blog

Far From Home: Praying for Displaced People Groups

Displaced populations show remarkable resilience and strength despite many challenges. Will you join us in praying for diaspora people groups and those who come alongside them?

Apr 18 2023

In this month’s Ministry Update, we focused on TEAM’s value of Creative Vision, and specifically the need to be flexible when serving in cross-cultural work. We heard from TEAM global worker, Samantha* how she has had to learn to hold her plans loosely in ministering to and serving alongside displaced Ukranian populations since the war began. Samantha is not alone. According to the International Organization for Migration’s 2022 World Migration Report, approximately 281 million people, or 3.6% of the world’s population, live in a country other than their country of birth. Of these, many live as expatriates due to war,…

Feb 24 2023

This guide to prayer was written by a TEAM global worker who is serving on the “frontlines” of ministry to Ukrainian people. It’s hard to believe that this week marks a full year since Russia invaded Ukraine. No doubt you’ve likely heard heartbreaking stories of millions fleeing for safety, fathers separated from their families, horrific massacres of civilians, and utter desolation in cities. How can we as the global body of Christ respond to such suffering and grief? The biggest way is by bearing the burdens of Ukrainians this week as we mark a year of pain and a year…

Millions of people around the world suffer the effects of trauma brought on by war, human trafficking, natural disasters, and more.

Oct 03 2022

“Can I come back where everyone loves me?” This was the plaintive cry of a young mother, traumatized and displaced by the war in Ukraine. In the safe harbor of a neighboring country, Nadia (name changed) met TEAM global workers who provided temporary shelter and cared for her and her children. She soon left for another European country, prepared to make a new life there. In this new location, however, Nadia felt disturbingly unwelcome – a stranger in a strange land. In desperation, she called TEAM workers weeks later crying, and asked “Can I come back where everyone loves me?” …

Matthew and Sara Titus led a diverse team in this amazing project.

Sep 15 2022

Since Day One of the Ukraine war, TEAM’s Matthew and Sara Titus have worked tirelessly to provide shelter and support to refugees. Their initial efforts included visits to Poland as well as renovating a series of apartments and other buildings in Prague, Czech Republic. Now about an hour outside of Prague, the Tituses’ latest project is renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse to provide housing for displaced families as they struggle to find a new normal. …

Ukraine refugees getting supplies from a resource tent.

Traumatized and spiritually hungry people in and around Ukraine as well as those helping them desperately need our prayers.

May 02 2022

Nearly 5 million Ukrainian war refugees have crossed borders into other countries, and an additional 6-8 million internally displaced people have migrated west within Ukraine. This month’s Prayer Focus is on relief and ministry efforts for these refugees, also known as the diaspora. Just before the Russian invasion, TEAM evacuated its two workers from Ukraine. (You can read their stories here.) But TEAM’s ministry work both inside and outside of Ukraine was only beginning. Within days of the first bombings, TEAM workers in the Czech Republic began receiving refugees, and other TEAM ministry areas were soon to follow. Global workers…

Despite the devastation of war, the Holy Spirit is on the move in Ukraine.

Apr 12 2022

Two years ago, we braced ourselves for a pandemic that rocked the world and called the Church to prayer. Today, we have a new reason to go to our knees, this time in intercession for the nation and people of Ukraine. The Russian invasion which began Thursday, February 24 is the most aggressive act of war in Europe since World War II. At the time of the Russian invasion, TEAM had two global workers in Ukraine, Maria* and Samantha*. Both were safely evacuated shortly before the onset of fighting but left behind churches, ministries, and Ukrainian believers they know and…

As a refugee himself, Ebi knew the challenges other refugees faced. Sharing from God's provision was a natural outflow of his faith. TEAM Stock Photo

Nov 14 2019

In 2016, Ebi lost his country. In 2017, he lost his family — and hope for his future. Alone in a foreign country, Ebi felt devastated, angry and directionless. But God had a plan no one could have predicted. This lonely refugee was about to become a force for the Gospel among Muslim refugees. A Broken Life Leads to Christ Ebi and his family illegally immigrated from Iran to Greece in 2016. By the next year, Ebi’s life was in such disarray that his wife decided she couldn’t remain with him. She took the kids and left. But through the…

In Khaan and Shaima’s country, sharing the Gospel is a crime punishable by death. But by God’s grace, they’re finding ways to minister!

Nov 21 2018

Zarak* had been a student at Khaan’s* Bible correspondence school for months. But when the two men finally met in person, Zarak said something completely unexpected: “Aren’t you afraid of me?” Khaan lives in an Islamic country, where direct evangelism is punishable by death. So, the TEAM correspondence school he worked for had to be discreet. They placed ads in newspapers, offering to educate people on the lives of the prophets. When people responded, the school took them through a series of lessons that came straight from the Bible. Khaan’s role involved connecting students to the correspondence school. Every so…

Italian church service, like the one Serena attends now that she's not a persecuted Christian.

Serena knew following Jesus was dangerous in her country, but she had know idea how far God would take her!

Nov 08 2018

If you want to know what it feels like to be a persecuted Christian, read the Psalms. At least, that’s what Serena, a young believer from the Middle East, says. While in hiding for nine months, she says, “I was just reading Psalms. … Like, I’m surrounded by enemies. People want to kill me. People want me. Every situation is really hard for me. But [Jesus said], ‘OK, but you know that I’m yours. … I will save you.” Serena was raised by Christian parents, but she didn’t know that until she was 15 years old. When she asked her…

Tag - refugees

Far From Home: Praying for Displaced People Groups

A Year of War: 5 Ways to Pray for Ukraine

October Prayer Focus: Ministering Peace in the Midst of Trauma

Farmhouse Turned Sanctuary for Ukrainian Refugees [Photo Journal]

Prayer Needs Abound for War Refugees and Workers

Gospel Work Continues in War-Torn Ukraine

The Refugee Who Built a Gospel Shelter for Refugees

When Sharing the Gospel is a Crime

Living the Psalms: A Persecuted Christian’s Story