Netherlands 2016

Netherlands 2016

We had the opportunity to send a team to serve the Syrian refugees in the Netherlands for two months.

Service:

• The Egyptian team, in cooperation with the foreign team, visited three of refugees camps, as they are close to each other.
• The Egyptian team’s role was:
• Do the translation between the foreign team and the Syrian refugees.
• Do phone communications with Syrians to take appointments to arrange visits.
• Arranging a monthly meeting in the church to receive the refugees and present the message of Christ, as well as set up dinner and games for the children.
• Build a long-term relationship with the refugees for discipleship and answer their questions, whether spiritual or in other issues.
• The Egyptian team, along with the foreign team, visited 100 families. On Saturday, there was a monthly meeting in the church, and 2 meetings were held during this visit once a month
• Assisting in communication between Arab churches and refugees living in refugees’ camps

Visiting service:
The team was caring to ask them about their news, in which city they were living in Syria, how they managed to escape and the dangers of the journey.... Then from the context of the conversation they can learn a little about their social and spiritual background, and then they ask their permission to share with them a story about Jesus Christ from the Bible and tell the story in a simple way.

Testimonies:
There was a small group of Iraqis who were joined by a group of Dutch people and organized a church every Sunday morning. The service and hymns are in Dutch, translated into Arabic or vice versa, depending on the person serving and his language.

The work still needs to be continued. They have an urgent need for Arabic-speaking servants to facilitate communication between refugees and Dutch servants.