Refugees in Crisis
Many of our Single Mothers are crying out to us for help at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana.
The UNHCR posted a notice that the camp is closing at the end of June. This leaves many in a panic. Those who are registered with UNHCR are getting their way paid back to Liberia, but many on our single mother’s program are not registered and have no means whatsoever to get out of the camp. “PLEASE, PLEASE HELP US HOME!!!”
These are among the next ones on our line up of people waiting to go home. Another bus is leaving at the end of this month. I hope we can transport more home. It costs $250.00 per person to go home on the bus. Once they get home, many of them have no place to go. We can rent rooms for $360.00 per year. We are doing all we possibly can to help these desperate, homeless people!
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Zipporah, like everyone else, fled from Liberia during the civil war. Liberia is at peace now, so they are asking that all refugees return home. Even though things are still very poor in Liberia, it is better than the poverty in this refugee camp. Click here to see more on the REFUGEE CAMP
We have already helped many people return, and I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to those of you who have already been helping with this EXODUS OF HOPE!! So far we have mostly been helping those who have relatives and friends to go back to. Now we are starting to help those, who have nowhere to go, once they reach Liberia. These are the utterly desperate. They are homeless and poor.
This CRISIS reminds me of Ps. 5:12 in THE MESSAGE
Into the hovels of the poor,
Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:
“I’ve had enough; I’m on my way
To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”
I KNOW HELP IS ON THE WAY!!!
God richly bless you!!
Karen Barkman
Holly Wiens
June 26, 2012 @ 10:09 am
Hi Karen,
I am just wondering:
when they get home, do you lose touch with them?
What will they do there?
Are they safe? Even with relatives who many times betray their women and girls?
Will they get sold into worse places…… to bad people?
What happens with them there?
Why does it cost $250 per person to get them home, yet nay $360 per year to take care of them?
I am not trying to cause a raucous… I just have questions. Thanks for loving the poor.
Hugs
Holly
Corinne Obst
June 26, 2012 @ 11:29 am
Dear Karen, this is such a wonderful ministry. Thank you for what you are doing to help these dear people. I pray you get a good financial response. I will be helping out. God bless you and I pray many will receive the help they need and that many will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. God bless anyone who helps out.
KBarkman
June 26, 2012 @ 12:22 pm
Thank you Corinne! God is very close to the broken hearted! I see that over and over again. He hears their cries! He will come to answer! Often He uses you or I.
Thank you for being a part of Phebe William’s rescue from the slums!! You are making a difference in the lives of the hopeless. Today they have Hope and a Future!!
Your reward awaits you!! We will be visiting the Buduburam Refugee Camp August 16th. I know we will find the desperate ones!!
Love and Blessings!!!
Karen
KBarkman
June 26, 2012 @ 12:33 pm
Hi Holly!
Thanks for your questions and concerns. We try our best to stay in touch when these refugees reach Liberia. We give them the phone numbers to our Directors and Leaders there. It costs 250.00 to go by bus to Liberia, from the Refugee Camp in Ghana. It costs 360.00 to rent a room, for one year. In Liberia, they charge you a full year in advance. This does not include food, medical help, education, or clothes. We are empowering more and more people with micro loans. I am “pro” empowering, in place of handouts that cause co-dependency. When we empower the people with micro loans, they can build their own businesses, and provide for their own needs. Once empowered, they rise up with confidence and purpose! It is the only way to advancing and rebuilding this nation of Liberia that has been so underdeveloped due to the ruins caused by
14 yrs. of civil wars. Praise God for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is doing wonders for this nation! God bless her with long life and wisdom!
Today Liberians live in peace, there is no threat of war. We will see this Nation Rise Again!!
Thanks for Caring,
Karen
Corinne Obst
June 26, 2012 @ 1:32 pm
Hi Karen, thanks for your reply. You indicated that you will be visiting the Refugee Camp August 16th, but up above it is noted that the camp is closing at the end of June? Will there still be people at the camp once it’s closed? Thanks.
KBarkman
June 26, 2012 @ 2:21 pm
The UNHCR has posted notice that the camp is officially closing, but if people have no means to leave, they will be there. For sure the stranded, will be there, when
we do our annual visit to the camp. These will be the most desperate, pleading to get help! May we have God’s love and compassion, and His wisdom to know what to do.
I hope other charities will come to their aid, if the UNHCR, will not help these who are not registered with them. It’s a crisis! God never planned for His children to live in a Refugee Camp. He is the Prince of Peace, who wants good for each of us. It is never in the heart of God for people to be at war with each other. When countries go to war, it seems it is always the women and the children who suffer most. God have mercy!
Corinne Obst
June 26, 2012 @ 3:14 pm
Thank you Karen! I agree with you that it is not God’s will for people to be at war and also that He wants good for His children. I am praying for this desparate situation and of course will help out as well. I pray other charities will also help. I hope people realize any amount will help. I think people sometimes think that how can $10.00 help and don’t bother because they don’t think it can make a difference, but it all adds up and God can use it to his glory.
KBarkman
June 26, 2012 @ 3:41 pm
10.00 is a Big Blessing to the Hungry!!