Alexander Harvey

When a crisis touches our hearts, our natural instinct is to help. For churches and faith communities, this desire often leads to food drives, clothing collections, or donations to emergency relief efforts — all valuable responses in times of urgent need.

But what happens when that need isn’t short-term?

What happens when a refugee camp isn’t a stopgap, but a home for decades?

At Equipping Hope International, we’ve learned that faithful, Christ-centered support must go deeper than one-time gifts. It must walk a path of presence, humility, and partnership — the kind that strengthens rather than substitutes, equips rather than replaces.

Here’s what that can look like.

1. Start with Listening

Before a church sends a shipment or launches a fundraiser, we recommend asking: What do refugees say they need most?  Too often, help is offered before stories are heard.

Faithful support starts with relationship.  Whether you’re engaging with a local refugee family in your city or supporting long-term work overseas, take the time to learn first.  Ask.  Listen.  Learn the rhythms of daily life in a refugee context.

When you begin with curiosity, your service will reflect real needs, not just assumptions.

“Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” — James 1:19

2. Invest in What Already Exists

Many refugee communities already have teachers, pastors, seamstresses, farmers, and leaders.  They may not need donated clothing, but they might need sewing machines.  They may not need shoes, but the raw materials to make shoes.  They don’t need outsiders to do things for them, but they may need resources, training, or encouragement to do more.

Instead of launching something new, faith communities can:

        • Support a local refugee-led class or small business
        • Fund a training program rather than a donation drive like our Teaching Hope English language learning classes or our Business of Hope vocational training program
        • Elevate the voice of local leaders through prayer, letters, or storytelling

At Equipping Hope, we’ve seen the impact of supporting people who already have the heart and capacity to lead. They just need someone to come alongside.

3. Encourage Work, Not Just Relief

The Bible has a lot to say about the value of work.  From the garden in Genesis to the parables of Jesus, we see God calling His people to create, build, and steward what they’ve been given.

When churches provide only handouts, they may unintentionally prevent people from using their own gifts.  Over time, this can erode motivation and self-confidence, not to mention the local economy.

Instead, focus on ways to restore opportunity:

        • Support education and skills training
        • Invest in tools or startup capital, not just products
        • Contribute to microloan funds for startup capital for entrepreneurs
        • Champion models where recipients become providers, learners become teachers

This is not about withholding generosity.  It’s about making sure generosity goes further.

4. Be Committed for the Long Haul

Real support takes time.  And in the world of refugee care, the timeline is rarely predictable.

Faith communities who want to make a lasting difference should prepare to show up again and again, even when progress is slow, results are quiet, and news  headlines and TikTok influencers have moved on.

One small church faithfully praying for a refugee pastor.  One donor committing to monthly support instead of a one-time gift.  One family continuing to check in, write letters, and ask how they can help.

These quiet acts of presence make a deep impact.

5. Keep the Gospel at the Center

There’s no shortage of ways to help.  But Christian support is more than service,  it’s discipleship.

When faith communities engage in refugee care, they have the chance to demonstrate God’s love not just in word, but in deed.  To be the hands and feet of Christ.  To bring hope that outlasts hardship.

That means:

        • Praying as we give
        • Sharing stories of hope, not just statistics
        • Trusting God to do more than we can see

“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” — 1 John 3:18

Small Churches, Big Impact

You don’t need a huge budget to make a difference.  Some of Equipping Hope’s most faithful supporters are small groups, Sunday school classes, or families who simply said yes.

They said yes to showing up.  Yes to learning.  Yes to opportunity.  Yes to giving in a way that strengthens.

We are trusting God to work through ordinary people.  Trusting that the best kind of help is the kind that restores, uplifts, and invites others to participate in their own flourishing.

With gratitude and hope,

The Equipping Hope Team