Exiting dirt and dust outdoors and ushered into a home, we were led into two back rooms prepared for our party, divided by gender. Pizza and fried chicken were set out to welcome us, the visiting foreigners. Family members – females and children only – piled into the room my friend and I were in so we could share the time together. For most of the household, it was their first time meeting someone from outside their country.
“The little girls are here from next door. Their father got taken to a detention center last week.” The situation of locals in this part is grim. To keep their legal status in this country, fees must be paid to keep their resident IDs current. However, jobs are very difficult to obtain. Preference is given to hiring nationals, not refugees and immigrants. Their choice of jobs to pay for their survival is either to work entirely under the table or to create and run a small business, such as selling dresses from city to city. If they don’t have enough money to pay the fees for their resident IDs, they lose their legal status, and fathers are taken away to the detention centers.
Juxtaposed with their clear need was their opulent hospitality. They welcomed us as their own, gave us a feast, dressed their very best, and were delighted to lavish love and honor. I pray that, despite being hidden and disregarded in this nation, they will meet the Lord who wants to wash their feet, anoint their head with oil, and lavish them with honor and dignity.
Please join us in prayer:
- Pray for provision for Rohingya families in this region. Pray for benevolent employers who make a way to provide for them.
- Pray for the Rohingya in this country to come to know the Lord who sees them, knows them, and cares for them.
- Pray for workers to be sent where there are no known workers.
- Pray for the Lord to be encountered as a Father to the fatherless.