“Where is my father?” How a ministry walks with refugee children facing crisis: Mission Network News

By Joanne Khmel

Iran (MNN) — Many Iranians seek asylum for a better future for their kids but often face greater hardship. In their despair, they find a hope that never fails.

Many Iranians pursue asylum to build a better future for their children. But sometimes, that decision brings more hardship than hope. Lana Silk from Transform Iran explains, “It’s a mental health crisis among children of Iran today — whether they’re in or outside the country — dealing with depression, anxiety, loneliness, and fear.”

Yet in the midst of that darkness, God gently knocks at their hearts, offering a peace no country or system can provide.

Kevin — name changed for security reasons — is the son of asylum seekers who ended up in Türkiye. When police took his father and led him into the unknown, Kevin’s world shattered.

Silk shares, “His father had been in deportation camp for 11 months already, and so he [the boy] was carrying a real emotional burden, for the distance from his father, and what that might mean for him and his family as a whole, whether their whole family would get forced to go back to Iran.”

Kevin’s mother brought him to the children’s ministry of Transform Iran. There, weekly activities — carefully designed by a psychologist — help children break free from the mental cage they are trapped in.

“So our aim is to connect them straight to the source — to Jesus — who loves them, who is more able than any of us to fully help them, heal them, deliver them, restore them,” says Silk (to learn more about the ministry’s approach and the challenges they face — follow this story).

Read more about how Transform Iran reaches and empowers the children of Iran

Though shy at first, Kevin quickly felt accepted by the community. He even danced to worship music! “He began to really change — come alive. You could say, find himself again and learn more and more about Jesus — how much He loves him, and the hope he has in Christ,” adds Silk.

A few sessions later, two miracles followed. First, Kevin accepted Jesus as his Savior. And second: “His father was released from the camp. Totally unexpected, a real answer to prayer,” says Silk.

Now, Kevin is inspired to bring hope to other children who, like him, might be going through hard times. Empowering children is one of the Transform Iran ministry’s key goals: “You’re giving them purpose and an opportunity to serve — and you’re showing them how needed they are in the body — because there are things they can do that we can’t.”

Silk encourages, “Love them — be that catalyst of change by drawing them into a community that embraces them and helps them feel safe.”

Header photo courtesy of Achraf Talha via Unsplash.

Inset photo courtesy of Transform Iran.

Originally published on: Mission Network News