Have you ever tried to form a friendship with a refugee? If so, it was probably hard to find common ground between your American upbringing and their past experiences. The People Teams ministry of BR-KC put on a 4 -hour Refugee Simulation event in November that put sixty participants through a live role play following the story line of a family who now lives in KC as they escaped the grasp of death and fled for their lives to a Ugandan refugee camp.

BRKC People Teams Refugee Simulation

Whole Family Experience

Todd, one participant, described his experience: “We had to run from the guys with AK-47s and I was like ‘They’re shooting at us, son.’ There was a wounded girl lying on the path and we had to decide if we should risk helping her or if she was going to die.” Groups had to make several decisions throughout the day about how to navigate a refugee camp and the resettlement process. About fifty helpers acted as thieves, smugglers, aid workers, and other roles to put participants through the gamut of real situations that KC refugees have encountered. People Teams partnered with Concilium Inc – a leading missionary security company; Becca Simmons – a make-up artist from Worlds of Fun; and Fusion of Midwestern Seminary.

Becky from FBC Blue Springs reflected, “I think the refugee experience allowed us to truly imagine what it would feel like to live in a constant state of ‘unknowns’ and feel the potential fears involved in being uprooted and forced into less than desirable circumstances.” Participants from almost every church confessed that they were surprised at how quickly they would put aside their morals to lie, cheat, and steal their way forward. Perhaps we might be quicker to “show grace and love,” said Becky.

Of course, a role play has certain limitations in its ability to make participants feel like they are anywhere else than the back country of Liberty, Missouri, but one role player commented that the continuous nature of the role play forced even the most reluctant of groups to feel like they were somewhere else. Tony from KC asked, “How long was I in the camp?!? Only two hours! It felt like days!”

In the debrief, participants reported feeling fear, frustration, sincere concern for imaginary people they met that day, and loss of human dignity. These emotions are common to the experiences of real refugees. The loss of dignity is not something that we think about when compared to the pain and suffering that refugees go through, but it produces a certain hurt in Joseph from The Congo. He recounts, “They made us drink water from the same puddle asBRKC People Teams Refugee Simulation Experience the cows. We are human beings, but we were put on the same level as animals.” Hopefully, all of the participants will now have an experience, albeit manufactured, that they can pull from when seeking to find common ground with a refugee in Kansas City.

Another refugee simulation is being scheduled for early Fall 2017. It seems to be an effective way to prepare those who want to minister to refugees but also a good way to expose youth groups, families, or individuals to the struggles of some around the world who are coming to Kansas City. Contact [email protected] if you have interest in being included next time or in current refugee ministry.