Eighty Years of Responding to Global Displacement with Myal Greene

Think Global, Do Justice

The number of forcibly displaced people in the world are at an all-time high. On every populated continent, we are seeing conflicts and climates that lead to people fleeing their homes. Our guest today is Myal Greene, who is the CEO of World Relief and he says that the global displacement crisis is the most significant issue that we face in the world today. We look at the last eighty years of how God has used World Relief to meet needs of people from war-torn areas and look at some of the most gripping conflicts today (Ukraine, Sudan and others). Myal has worked with World Relief for nearly two decades both within the US and in Africa. He walks us through what Christians should be aware of when it comes to displacement and how we can be instruments of welcome and support to global neighbors next door and abroad.

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Resources and Links from the show

Good News About Injustice by Gary A. Haugen

Welcoming the Stranger by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang

Walking with the Poor by Bryant Myers

Rich Christians Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald Sider

Refuge by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier

Refugee Stats from the UNHCR

The Evangelical Immigration Table

World Relief Online

Conversation Notes

• 9:40 - In the west, we don’t have a full conception of the level wealth and privilege that we have
• 12:20 - Remembering the last eighty years of what God has done through World Relief
• 15:25 - Finding ways to work with the church and give sacrificially to help the hurting
• 16:45 - A story about the need for both eternal salvation and the restoration of the present
• 24:40 - The impact of the 2021 Haitian earthquake and the fall of Kabul as Myal stepped into his role of CEO at World Relief
• 31:35 - The current displacement crisis is the greatest issue of our time
• 34:15 - “A smaller set of nations in the world are experiencing far greater suffering while the rest of the world is making continued and sustained progress in poverty alleviation”
• 36:55 - Contrasting the Ukraine case study with most other areas of poverty and ensuing conflict
• 38:45 - "Vulnerability is the likeliness that you will experience suffering as a result of shock"
• 40:50 - World Relief sets their focus on the global displacement crisis
• 43:00 - The church can be God’s instrument of welcome to those that have been forcibly displaced
• 46:12 - The importance of understanding underlying issues when discussing the arrival of refugees in a host country
• 52:40 - Working with the church under a biblical vision of community engagement
• 56:00 - Being inspired by God’s Word as a starting point for a life of justice

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License