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Carelinks | Germany ~ Refugees / Migrants
W
e spent some time in Germany
visiting our brethren and contacts in
two migrant camps. Brother F and Sister
K [also brother and sister in the flesh]
were baptized by us over 18 months ago
in a country neighbouring Iran, returned
to Iran, were persecuted, and then fled
to Turkey, and joined in the mass rush of
migrants into Germany. They took with
them their mother N, and two relatives S
and P. It was a pleasure to baptize them.
They walked for 20 days from Greece to
Munich, Germany, only taking a few local
buses. On the way they ate fruit from
fields and drank only water, sleeping
outside most nights. Just on the level of
human achievement if nothing else, this was
a great feat of endurance, especially as
mother N is in her 60s. They will be able to
say to their children “You were born here- but
I walked here, from a far away land where I
was persecuted for my Christian faith.” The
similarities with Abraham’s journey are
very telling.
They were put in a migrant camp in a
school- and they said that at no time on
their journey had they felt more fright-
ened or vulnerable to attack. The school
had a perimeter fence erected around it,
with guards ensuring nobody climbed
over it. But inside, it was a free for all.
The migrants slept on the floor or on
camp beds donated by charities, around
40 in each classroom. They took water
from the classroom sinks, dried their
clothes on radiators, and sat on their sleeping
places as there were virtually no chairs in the
school. All floor space was used for sleeping.
Food was provided three times a day. Arabic
graffiti was appearing on the walls. There
was little privacy, and some had erected
sheets over their sleeping places to give
them some privacy; note the blackboards
still on the wall of the classroom, below.
The problem is that many of these
migrants took knives and guns with them
for protection on the journey- and they
still have them. Living in such cramped
conditions gives rise to all manner of
personal feuding- and many of these
migrants are armed. We entered the
camp by giving our passport to the guards
as a guarantee, but we had a 20 kg rucksack
with us full of Bibles and? Bible Basics- it
could’ve been full of drugs and guns for all the
Our brother and sister with their mother inside the school
The security fence around the school
The ‘bedrooms’ inside the school