This article is part of an exclusive series by The Stream called “Disciples,” featuring people who approach cultural transformation with gospel-minded action. 

As protesters, pundits and politicians wrestle with how to balance the threat of terrorist groups and infiltrators with the influx of Middle Eastern residents fleeing war, one Texas dad is focused on just one issue: Spreading the gospel in the midst of crisis.

“Strong Sense of Calling”

As the Content Editor for E3 Partners, a missions-oriented non-profit, Morrison spends a lot of time interviewing his coworkers as they return from the mission field. 

With missionaries on every continent, the non-profit quickly noticed a chance for ministry. The first trickle of refugees began to flee the Middle East during the aftermath of the “Arab Spring.” Now, the trickle is a torrent, with 60 million people participating in the “largest human migration in history,” Morrison said.

“I began to realize that I didn’t just want to write about this.”

So, as terror raged in the Middle East and the refugee crisis continued to snowball, Morrison interviewed the missionaries who went to help. But it wasn’t enough.

“I began to realize that I didn’t just want to write about this,” Morrison told The Stream. There was a “strong sense of calling that if I’m not doing something right now, I’m not being obedient.”

In five weeks, Morrison raised the funds he needed to go to Germany with E3 through social media. By the end of 2016, he’d gone twice — once to Frankfurt and once to Berlin. In Germany Morrison saw the “incredible” work God was doing among Muslim refugees.

“God is Answering Our Prayers”

Before hitting the field, Morrison and his teammates underwent training with Carol Davis. Davis is a pioneer in church planting and global missions, who spoke about the refugee crisis during an event hosted by E3 in February.

“They’re spiritually hungry.” 

“God is answering our prayers,” she said. 

In the early-mid 1970s, the American church saw a spike in praying for the world’s unreached people groups, Davis said. The idea was that, at some point, churches could engage the people they’d been praying for.

But many churches never got engaged with the people they were praying for. As Davis said, “passion grows weak when we don’t see results right away.” Missionaries also had a hard time reaching people in certain countries due to legal restrictions on religious freedom.

Morrison’s missions team praying together before heading into parks where they expected to encounter refugees.

But now, as millions of people flee terrorist groups and war in the homelands, and present a crisis in Europe, there is also a new chance to share the gospel.

It’s not just that Middle Eastern Muslims now reside in nations friendlier to Christianity and Christian missionaries. Davis says that their spirits are also more open than they’ve been in decades.

For many Muslims in the Middle East, Islamic communities are like a stronghold, Davis said. Now separated from their communities, they are searching for peace and safety.

 “They’re spiritually hungry,” she said. It’s a good time for Christians to share Jesus.

Willing to Listen

In Germany, Morrison was surprised at how receptive many Muslim refugees’ are to the gospel.

Part of the E3 team’s outreach included setting up a “coffee house church.” They served Mediterranean food to refugees and held a worship service. Some of the men who attended had never heard Jesus’ name.

But when they heard the gospel for the first time, “they weren’t resistant. They weren’t angry. They were just asking questions,” Morrison said. “We saw several people receive Christ that week.”

“We saw several people receive Christ that week.”

Morrison spent two days visiting with one family from Aleppo, and learning their story. The family had watched both sets of grandparents literally get blown apart. The husband’s brother was tortured, beaten and eventually killed with a zip tie around his neck. He showed Morrison the photos he’d snapped of the body on his phone before fleeing with his family. It’s the last image of his brother he will ever have.

“Even that act of just asking questions and listening and letting them share what they’ve been through … was cathartic for them and eye-opening for me,” he said. “They let us pray with them specifically in Jesus’ name.”

On the second day, the wife disclosed that she had been sick for four days. But after meeting Morrison’s team, she felt well. She attributed her healing to the team’s prayer the day before.

The Least of These

“This is the ‘least of these’ in our world today,” Morrison said of those fleeing Middle Eastern terror. “This is our generation’s moment to do something. Simply advocating about it on Facebook isn’t going to be enough.”

For some people, acting means helping refugees create a home where they already are — right here. Morrison noted that there is a “huge” refugee population in the Dallas area where he’s based. “It’s all a matter of getting connected with the right people,” he said.

For Morrison, it comes down to obedience. “Twenty years from now, I want to look back and say I was a part of what God was doing through this.”

Find out how you can join E3 Partners on a missions trip to serve refugees overseas, how you can pray for missionaries or how you can help refugees already in the U.S. by clicking here.