As I process all the news about Syrian refugees flooding into Europe , my heart really understands their situation. Most of what I have seen in the media describes families trying to escape a bad situation. Yet many countries cannot abosrb the numbers or do not want to get involved in the refugee problem. This dilemma brings me back to the time of the boat people escaping Southeast Asia as the so called "communists" moved in. I worked as a warehouse manager and had a shipping clerk, Mr. Da (pronounced Ja). He handled numbers so well, I considered him a human calculator. He managed our inbound and outbound shipments. One time he invited me over for dinner. Due to language barrier, before that visit, I basically knew he came from Saigon and escaped with his family. Since his children spoke fluent English, I found out the rest of the story. A Mennonite church sponsored or "adopted" the family. They arranged for him to live in a house. I recall visiting another employee from Cambodia in which 17 people live in a 3 bedroom apartment or 11 in a 2 bedroom apartment - my memosphere is lacking. He was very grateful to have his own house. I asked him somethng to the effect of "What would have happened if you stayed in Vietnam.?" He said he would have been killed. He worked in the Ministry of Finance for the government. I could tell by his skill and age that he was probably way up on the hierarchy. What would have happened to his family and children? I will never forget the impression Mr. Da made on my life regarding the situation of a refugee and his thankfulness for the church taking him in.
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