A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee their home country and seek refuge in another host country.
Refugees face many challenges, such as a lack of basic necessities, discrimination, educational barriers and poverty.
Compassion works to support refugee families in the communities we serve, providing them with love, care and the hope of the gospel.
Refugee Definition: Who Is a Refugee?
A refugee is someone forced to flee dangers in their home country to find refuge in another country (known as a “host” country). There are many reasons a refugee may flee their home, including:
Armed conflict: War is one of the leading dangers that forces families to flee. It destroys homes and critical infrastructure like water treatment plants, leaving families without necessities like safe water. It also places many families in the direct path of conflict, threatening their lives.
Persecution: Many refugees must flee persecution based on their religion, race or ethnicity. Persecution may look like targeted violence, harassment or even arbitrary detention, where someone is arrested and held simply because of their race, religion or nationality.
Violence: Some refugees flee areas where ongoing violence like widespread gang activity makes daily survival a challenge.
Refugees cross international borders to seek safety. And they can’t return home because of the dangers they face there.
Refugees vs. Internally Displaced People (IDPs) vs. Asylum Seekers
Refugees are different from internally displaced people (IDPs). Refugees seek safety in other countries, while IDPs are displaced within their home countries. And asylum seekers are those seeking refuge across international borders who haven’t yet obtained legal refugee status.
Learn more about the key differences: Immigrants, Refugees, Asylum Seekers & IDPs Explained
How Many Refugees Are There in the World?
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 41.6 million refugees worldwide. The UNHCR reports that one in every 70 people worldwide has been forced to flee in some way.
Exploring the Challenges Refugees Face
Because refugees must flee their homes to find safety elsewhere, they face many unique challenges.
A Lack of Necessities
Refugees must leave their homes and most of their belongings behind, including food and other necessities. Even if they find shelter in a refugee settlement, these places often lack sufficient safe water, food and medical care, placing them at risk of disease and malnutrition.
Discrimination
While refugees flee discrimination in their home countries, many face it inside host countries too. Negative stereotypes often prevent refugees from getting jobs or even finding safe shelter to rent.
Income Barriers
Refugees can struggle to obtain employment in host countries. This can be because of discrimination, language barriers and legal restrictions. These challenges make providing for a family extremely difficult.
Educational Barriers
Education is a serious challenge for refugees, especially children. Many families flee their homes without critical documentation like birth certificates, which can prevent children from entering school in their host countries.
Other challenges, like language barriers and schooling gaps from their time fleeing danger, can make learning difficult. Once a child falls behind, it’s very difficult to catch up. Yet education is critical to a child’s future — without it, they may struggle to thrive as adults.
Poverty
Refugees lose their homes, their jobs and their belongings. And traveling to another country can be expensive, requiring many families to drain the resources they do have.
And once they arrive, the barriers we covered above make finding employment and getting essentials like food a challenge. Almost overnight, a family can find themselves living in devastating poverty.
How Does Compassion Care for Refugees?
God loves and cares for all his children, and that includes the foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:18) and the strangers (Hebrews 13:2) among us. His love for refugees is clear in the Bible.
The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. — Psalm 146:9, NIV
At Compassion, as a Christ-centered ministry, we follow in Jesus’ footsteps to serve the vulnerable. That’s why we work to love and care for refugees in impoverished communities, meeting their critical needs while introducing them to the hope found in Jesus.
Neicy & Her Family Find Peace in Ecuador
Neicy, a brave mother from Venezuela, has faced terror and loss that’s difficult to imagine. But one day, a loving pastor shared an invitation that would bring her family incredible peace and hope.
Escaping the Terror
Venezuela has suffered through an economic and humanitarian crisis for decades. Sadly, this has led armed groups to seek power, leaving families like Neicy’s in the crossfire.
The instability is so severe that Neicy’s husband migrated to Ecuador, hoping to build a life and eventually bring his family over. Home invasions, theft, threats and violence are common, something Neicy knows all too well.
“They came in at night, masked and armed. They tied me up, beat me and took everything. I thought I wouldn’t live to see the next day.” — Neicy
After surviving the home invasion and enduring continued threats, Neicy knew she had to escape. Carrying only a small backpack and holding her young son Fernando’s hand tightly, she began the long, dangerous journey on foot and by bus toward Ecuador.
“We walked for hours some days. We didn’t have much to eat. Sometimes, Fernando cried from hunger, and I had nothing to give him but water and prayers.” — Neicy
Crossing the Border
Enduring rainstorms and freezing nights, Neicy and Fernando trekked across Colombia and into Ecuador. But the challenges were far from over once they crossed the border. With no contacts, no job and no money, Neicy and her son found themselves sleeping in hostels and on bus station benches.
“I would wake up and start selling whatever I could — candy, lollipops, even used clothes people gave me. Every cent was food for Fernando.” — Neicy
Finally, they arrived in a coastal city in western Ecuador, where Neicy reunited with her husband. After a long and difficult journey, she began to feel safe and ready to start a new life in a foreign country.
Months passed, and life began to show signs of hope. Neicy found work waiting tables at a local restaurant during the day and selling homemade food on the streets in the evenings.
With her income and that of her husband’s, the family looked forward to a brighter future. And when Neicy became pregnant with their second child, it seemed they were finally building the life they had dreamed of.
Hope Shattered
Just as the family’s foundation began to feel steady, everything changed. The cornerstone of the family — Neicy’s husband — disappeared, and the sense of stability Neicy had clung to began to unravel. He left without warning. And one morning, a single phone call shattered Neicy’s hope to pieces.
“He told me he was leaving us. That he couldn’t handle the pressure. He left us with nothing. I had two children and no one to turn to.” — Neicy
Desperate to provide for her children, Neicy scraped together enough money to buy a small pot and ingredients for empanadas and other Venezuelan food. She started a stand on a street corner, frying and selling throughout the day under the blazing sun.
An Invitation
One day, a pastor and his wife from a local church stopped by her stand. They struck up a conversation with Neicy, listened patiently to her story and then extended an invitation to her:
“Come to our church. You are not alone.”
In a moment, things began to change. At the church, Neicy found peace for the first time in years. Her children began receiving care like nutritious meals and had somewhere to play freely without fear. Soon after, she was invited to volunteer.
“Helping other children and being surrounded by kindness — it healed something in me. I felt like I had a family again.” — Neicy
At the church, Fernando could be registered into the Compassion program, where he would receive critical care like education and medical checkups. But Neicy lacked documentation for Fernando, including his birth certificate. When Neicy fled, she’d left everything behind.
“It broke my heart. All I wanted was for Fernando to have a normal life. To learn. To grow. But everything needed papers I didn’t have.” — Neicy
Despite this challenge, the church ensured Fernando received the same care, support and love any registered child would, and they continue to do so today. Documents can’t stand in the way of hope.
“I see my son smile now. He eats every day. He sings at church. He knows he is loved.” — Neicy
Building a New Life
With the support of the local church, Neicy is slowly building a new life. She continues to sell food to support her family, but now she does so with hope. She also leads a cooking workshop for teenagers, community members and other migrant women in the church. There, she shares recipes and tips, offering encouragement and empowering them to earn steady incomes.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but now I know we are not alone. God brought us here for a reason.” — Neicy
Neicy’s journey from trauma to hope is a testament to the resilience of those seeking refuge and the compassion of the communities that choose to welcome them.
Ready for another story of hope despite hardship? Read: A Refugee in Uganda Finds Hope for Her Family
Compassion faithfully supports refugee families like Neicy’s around the world. And you can too, from right where you are. Join us in prayer. Pray for the millions of refugee families who need love and care. Pray that they would be met with the gospel and the eternal hope of Jesus.