On Sunday afternoon, May 21, Passaic County Interfaith Refugee Assistance, successor to Family Promise Passaic County, held a meet and greet at the Wayne YMCA. Twenty families who fled the civil war in their Syrian homeland and have resettled in Passaic County joined a gathering of Christians and Jews for an afternoon of fellowship. Mediterranean food was served, the library, the game room, and the art room, were opened, mainly for the children, and the adults gathered around tables in a multi-purpose room to “meet and greet. Marie and Craig Beyer, Marie Tiefenbacher, Mary’s niece, Megan Breeman, and I represented St. Timothy, and I suspect that all of us are very happy we were there. Mary and Megan were a bit more “energetic” than Marie, Craig and I; in addition to sitting and talking with adults, they spent much of their time working on art projects with the kids.

The rest of us stayed in the big room and did our best to communicate with our guests. Not surprisingly, although many of them studied a bit of English in Syria, their command of our New Jersey brand of English was not that great. On the other hand, every Syrian in the room knew far more English than the rest of us knew Arabic. Despite the language barrier, we somehow communicated surprisingly well.

Our contingent initially sat with several Syrian men (the women sat at other tables). One of our tablemates, a very charming man named Amad, knew more English than most of his neighbors and interpreted for the other gentlemen at the table. One of the most moving moments came when he explained on behalf of one of his fellow countrymen that the man was the father of a teenager I had seen earlier. The youth was confined to a wheelchair, was missing an arm and a leg (on opposite sides of his body!), and had apparently suffered a significant head wound when he lost his limbs. While every other one of our guests would have been indistinguishable from anyone else in a Willowbrook crowd, this young man was a tragic reminder of the horrors of the Syrian civil war.

There were undoubtedly others in the room who bore scars, but theirs were less obvious. Amad told us he’s the father of seven children (his wife and several of his older children eventually joined us at our table), ranging in age from 3 to 18. Currently they’re living in a two bedroom apartment in downtown Paterson. In addition to the crowded conditions, the family is plagued by drugs and violence in their new neighborhood (Amad told us that a man was shot behind his house several weeks ago). Despite the deprivations, however, he and his family were cheerful – even jovial. In fact, all of our guests were remarkably chipper and seemed genuinely to appreciate our hospitality. Their resiliency is absolutely amazing. After my experience on Sunday, I’m more convinced than ever that welcoming these survivors of an unthinkable ordeal is the right thing to do.

Many scriptural references come to mind, but I’ll mention only one. In Revelation 7 John is granted the vision of an innumerable multitude robed in white, waving palm branches, and praising God with loud voices. One of the elders asks John if he can identify this gathering, and he cannot. The elder then says, “these are they who have come out of the great ordeal” [referring apparently to severe persecution]. The elder goes on to describe their future of these victims of violence, “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Yes, these new neighbors are Muslim, and the hope expressed here is distinctly Christian. Yet, we as Christians are called to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, and seek the welfare of the sojourner. I’m grateful that people of faith in our community have considered the plight of these new neighbors, and I hope that you’ll join them in their godly efforts to assist them in acclimating to a new life. Watch and listen for more information as it becomes available.

In Jesus’ name,

Pastor Robert M. Mountenay