Migration

I live in a kingdom. I am a citizen. I belong.

This kingdom is such that has no borders, no requirements to be fulfilled in order to become a citizen. Anyone may come and live in this kingdom, for the price for entering is paid by the king. I talk about the Kingdom of Heaven, and the King is Jesus Christ.

We see a wave of migration from regions where Islam has had a stronghold. Many have to flee for their lives, flee evil people who kill and destroy. They belong to Christ, and for that they are hunted down, chased, captured and destroyed. But I know, and they know, that they live in the presence of the King of Heaven, Christ Jesus, and there are no more tears, no more fear. They live, and they enjoy a peace and happiness which their persecutors could never dream of -

Migrants from Tunisia

Many others find that there is an opportunity to make a desperate change, for the land of their fathers are being too hard to live a normal life in. But their hearts are not changing by migration. They carry with them culture, attitudes, expectations…

 They expect a certain challenge, I presume. We typically do when we uproot and seek new lands. We wonder, look and listen. We try to fit in without losing our integrity. I was once a stranger, an immigrant. I moved countries.

            The wave of migration is a mixed signal to people’s own society and to the receiving societies. We see why they flee, but wonder: where are the heroes, the ones who will make the lands liveable, who will fight for their rights to exist on their own terms? Will they all flee, and never return? Will they settle for being strangers and migrants?

With the great influx of different cultures, of different faiths, like Islam, my earthly society may change, but not my true citizenship. I belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. There is my true identity. Nothing can threaten this. I am a child of the Most High.

It could happen that the influx of new people may threaten my life in this world. It could likewise happen that I may have much opportunity to show the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, and many more people will become citizens. And in this kingdom, there is no stranger or indigenous, no migrant or inhabitant, we are all one in the LORD.