Wanderers

Wanderers

I went out to get a breath of fresh air in front of the Oasis. As I stood there breathing in the cool, refreshing air, a tall Afghan Hazara came walking in my direction. As he drew nearer I put out my hand and greeted him. We shook hands and he smiled as I introduced myself.

He was from Ghazni (a district to the west of Kabul and homeland of the Hazara people). As we talked he shared with me about his journey and his search for a new place to call home. He recounted the cities he had already been in on his odyssey; Rome, Athens, Milan, Lyon, Strasbourg and now Traiskirchen. Would he find a welcome here, a place of sanctuary?

As I listened my heart went out to him. I fought against the sinking feeling that he might not ever find that new welcoming place, a place to put down roots and simply be….that he will be forever wandering, lost on earth.

Our conversation reminded me of something I read in an excellent book.

“I have been on a road with no return. The return to normal is not possible. Some refugees die in the sea, others die crossing the mountains. These are the fortunate ones. They die with no pain. The rest live to watch their own slow deaths. Their dying takes different forms.

Look them in the eye and you will see the pain of not reaching the destination....

Many talk about the difficulties of crossing borders, the beatings by the border guards and their attack dogs and all of that...These are not the real problems of the journey.

The real difficulty is finding a place to start a new life, a chance, an opportunity to live. Place after place we look for that chance....many of us will never find it....we remain isolated, outsiders, strangers...this is the problem.

I knew the difficulties of the journey when I left my country. What I did not know was that the journey changes you. You can never be who you once were...The journey transforms you. The person you were when you picked up your bag for the road dies.

You are a different person when you put your bag on the ground. “*

This experience isn’t uncommon. There are literally millions of refugees on the earth as I write this…all yearning for a place to call home, a place of peace, love and security.

As he walked away, I felt helpless…there are thousands of wanderers I would love to give a new home to. I am thankful to be here, touching the lives of these wanderers. I prayed to the One who knows when even a sparrow falls…that this dear man would find his home in Him.

*P345-346 “Embracing the Infidel” B.Yaghmaian 2005