When we hear the word refugees, we think foreign and get sad for a while. One of the images that comes to mind is of helpless people running from war and strife.

As a Liberian from the country of Liberia, I never thought of my people as refugees. In fact, as a child growing up, we accommodated refugees from Ethiopia, Sudan and other areas. It never occurred to me that my people would one day flee for their lives and become refugees all over the world.

In 1990 a civil war broke out in Liberia, which caused my people to be scattered abroad. During this time I was in the United States getting an education, even though my family had fled to neighboring Sierra Leone and my father, the Rev. Jacob Nimeju Kartwe, a United Methodist pastor, had died in Sierra Leone.

I never fully understood the plight of refugees until my trip with the Pan African Seminar in ’93 to Ghana, West Africa.

While in Accra, Ghana, we visited the refugee camp for Liberians approximately 20 miles from the city. What overwhelmed me on that day was not the adults at the camp. What left an imprint in my heart and mind were the little children, ages 3 to 6 years old, being snatched to safety by neighbors. These children were refugees; orphaned refugees, without any relatives to care for them. I could not sleep that night, and it still remains with me.

The General Board of Global Ministries’ United Methodist Committee on Relief states that about 76,271 refugees, from almost all continents, have resettled in the United States since 1998. This is just a fraction of the 9,717,000 refugees worldwide.

About 16,649 refugees resettled in Florida alone from Oct. 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999, according to Mrs. Judith Pierre-Okerson, director of Church World Service. They come from Afghanistan (4), Algeria (1), Armenia (3), Azebarjan (1), Belavia (8), Bosnia (970), Croatia (112), Cuba (14,077), Haiti (612), Iran (5), Irak (14), Latvia (2), Liberia (39), Russia (17), Serbia (411), Vietnam (284), Ukraine (39), Togo (2), Sierra Leone (9), Somalia (12), Uzbetistan (8), Nicaragua (1), Moldova (1), Rwanda (1), Sudan (15) and the USRR (1). More than 12,000 of this number live in Dade County.

This conference is a blessed and generous one and continues to respond to the "strangers" in our midst. Matthew 25:35 says, "…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…" The Florida Refugee ministry is our conference’s response to this Christian responsibility. But what leads us to this response is our own faith experience; therefore, "…the love of Christ compels us…"(2 Cor 5:14).

I share this for several reasons. First, the refugee problem is personal, but not unique to Liberia or Africa. Secondly, people do not become refugees due to war only. Thirdly, United Methodists in this great Florida Conference are encouraged to give a special offering for refugee ministries Feb. 18, the third Sunday, or any Sunday that is convenient for each local church.

When submitting the offering to the Florida Conference Treasurer, write "Florida Conference Refugee Ministries" Fund #773 on the remittance form under Other Special.

For more information about this ministry, contact Kartwe at MKartwe@aol.com or 352-629-4359, or Larry Rankin, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries Missions Ministry office, at 863-688-5563, extension 132, or LRankin@flumc.org.