Go Beyond

A firestorm was ignited in Syria in March 2011 that continues to burn out of control. No one could have imagined that the arrest of fourteen school children who had expressed sympathy for Arab Spring protestors would spark what has become one of the biggest humanitarian crises on the planet.

Since then, Syria has been embroiled in a civil conflict that has impacted the lives of millions of its people. Syrians fearing for their lives have fled to neighboring countries with little or nothing to make a new start. Jordan is one of those countries that has made provision for the welfare of refugees.

The United Nations stepped in to help. But, that is not enough to meet the challenges of providing for the basic needs of so many desperate people. The task is indescribably huge. Relief agencies from around the world have also responded to the cries for help from those who got caught in the crossfire of a civil conflict gone mad. And that is what has brought us yet once again to Jordan.

For the past several years, the people of Kingsland have had a presence in the lives of Syrian and now Iraqi families displaced from their homes by ISIS. Working with our friends at Global Hope Network International, we are lending our hands to the ongoing relief efforts. This week, a team of almost fifty Kingsland students and adults are working to care for refugee families.

Today, our team took a break from delivering aid to refugee families to help replenish supplies for these families. Two forty-foot shipping containers arrived at Global Hope’s warehouse packed with items for the refugees. Our task was to go through the hundreds of boxes and packages and sort everything out for distribution in the coming weeks. This was one big task.

Our students worked all day in the heat to sort, classify, and label hundreds of boxes. And they did it all with a cheerful heart. I loved watching our students embrace the challenge. They worked cooperatively in groups. They came up with their own ways to do the task. They divided the warehouse into zones for various types of supplies. And they got the job done.

In the morning we walked into a warehouse jumbled with piles of supplies. By the end of the day you could see the floor and access every box. What we did today will make it easier for our friends at Global Hope and the teams that will continue to come here to distribute aid. And what we did here today reminded us all that the task of caring for people in need is huge but, if we work together, we can make a difference in the lives of those who are hurting. Today, the hands and feet of Jesus were present in a hot warehouse in Amman.