A Refugee’s story: (names changed to protect the innocent)
I have not been sleeping well for a very very long time. I focused my time before the asylum interview on growing in Jesus and studying the Bible. Before I went into the asylum interview I prayed. Others were praying for me too.
As I recall, it felt like the room for the interview was somehow brighter than my first interview, …almost 2 years ago. I felt the Spirit of God on me, and even as I walked, it seemed like I was walking a little lighter.
Although my asylum case is primarily for political reasons, the interviewer told me he needed to be convinced that I am a Christian.
He asked me, "how do I know that this marked up, underlined, well used Bible is yours?" I showed him the name of my son written on the outside binding.
He asked me to find the 10 commandments in the Bible and I did, although I am not very good at finding specific addresses in the Bible.
I am reading and studying to understand, and not just to memorize things to answer for the interviewers test. I told him all I knew about the 10 commandments by heart.
He then asked me to find Psalm 23. Although I had made my own tabs of specific places in my Bible, I had not marked the Psalms. Since I was not sure where that was in the Bible I prayed for help silently and opened the Bible right to the passage.
I started crying. The interviewer wondered why. I explained.
Then he asked me to teach him from the Bible. He said, “ if you were to teach someone from the Bible where would you start?” I said, when teaching someone it depends on where the person is at. He said, “ok, then teach me. Where will you start?” I started in Genesis. I had gone through the classes on the first five books of the Bible and had done the character studies through those books also. Now the Lord was using that, and I began to teach.
The Lord made me bold that day. I told the government official that God was using his questions and this opportunity to teach him about God.
After around an hour and a half he seemed convinced. He told me, “the first time you came for an asylum interview you were like a little bud of a flower, but now you have bloomed.” He saw spiritual growth?
He then asked me what occupation I would pursue in this country. I told him I want to become a pastor. He said, “there's no money in that.” I said, true, but God teaches us that money is not the most important thing.
He asked me, “why have you not learned very much German while you were waiting for this interview.”
I said, I was concentrating on God’s word. That’s my focus.
The translator told me that he thought I would get asylum. He also told me how difficult it was to translate me because I was using such difficult words. He probably meant the Bible words and thoughts I was teaching.
The official then went and talked to one of the women from the church who had accompanied me. She told him of my strong desire to grow in the faith.
The interviewer-official showed true interest in all that I was saying and this encouraged me as I spoke.
The Lord gave me the words and made me strong and courageous.
My observations:
Peahen baked a cake and brought it to our Bible study. We celebrated and were all encouraged to hear how the Lord had worked in her asylum interview. She said,
“ I sleep very well now and the weight of the heavy backpack has been taken from my shoulders.”
I asked her if she thought the interviewer was a Christian that has the Spirit of God living inside him (born again). She said thinking back,....... " I think so."
For me this is the first time I have ever heard of such an interview, where the focus of all the questions were on the message of the Bible. Usually the questions to prove if an asylum seeker truly is a Christian are based on how much they know about various Catholic traditions and the differences between Protestants and Catholics. They ask questions about developments within Christianity, and on facts that would be hard for anyone to answer without googling to get the details. This time it was on the meaning and interpretation of scripture.
I find it funny that when the interviewer ask Peahen what she prays from the Bible, and to show him where it is in the Bible, she said,
“I pray from the heart not from the book.”
Then he asked her, so what did you pray last? Peahen answered,
“ I prayed that you will like me and give me a positive.”
Praise the Lord. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
