God Using Refugee Crisis So That People Will Get to Know Him and Be Saved, Says Iraqi Exile Turned Pastor

By Jay Gotera, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, June 27, 2017

God has a higher purpose in permitting the global refugee crisis, which has displaced an estimated 65 million people in the world.

This viewpoint was shared by Pastor Jalil Dawood, an Iraqi exile who fled his homeland during the war with Iran 1982 and went to the U.S. as a refugee to start new life. He has been a pastor of the Arab Church of Dallas since 2007. The church is made up of refugees from Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and other Arabic counties. Dawood ministers to them and disciples those who convert from Islam to Christianity.

Dawood is also the director of World Refugee Care and author of the new book, "The Refugee."

In an interview with CBN News, Dawood said he believes God allowed the refugee crisis to grow for one reason: "That people get to know Him and get saved."

Dawood said the problem is huge: more than 65 million refugees worldwide.

A new report from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) cited the same figure: 65.6 million refugees or as displaced persons inside their own countries. This includes 10.3 million people who were uprooted from their homes in 2016, NPR reported.

Syria remains as the biggest source of refugees, with 12 million Syrians—more than half the country's population—forced from their homes. Five million have fled to neighboring countries and Europe, while the rest remain inside Syria, officially labeled as displaced persons.

The UNHCR report says more than half the refugees around the globe are under the age of 18, adding that many of these kids are fleeing alone.

In the CBN News interview, Dawood said the church has a biblical mandate to help those who are displaced from their homelands.

"The church's duty is different than the government's duty," he explained.

"The government's duty and calling is to protect you and me. The church's role is to reach out and share the gospel and love the enemy and do well. So loving the enemy is really about the church part and the believer part."

On the U.S. travel restriction that President Donald Trump wants to impose on six predominantly Muslim countries, Dawood said he agrees with the President.

"I think he got the right to do what he has to do to protect the nation," he said.

"If you look at these nations, they are the nations that persecute Christians, so why would you bring somebody who persecutes you over there to come and live over here."