Finding the Kingdom of God in the midst of crisis

Major General Tim Cross CBE, a retired Army commander and Bible Society trustee, sees the powerful impact of God’s call to care for the poor in the middle of a humanitarian crisis.

‘When I was a stranger you welcomed me.’ Matthew 25.35-45

‘I was deployed to Macedonia as the Commander of the British Army’s 101 Logistic Brigade in 1999. We were to move into Kosovo as soon as an agreement was reached between NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and the then Serbian President, Milosevic. That agreement didn’t materialise, and we found ourselves embroiled in the maelstrom of a huge refugee crisis.

‘Kosovar Albanians were being rounded up and forced out of their homes and villages. Moving on foot or horseback, on trains or in convoys of old cars, tractors and trailers, they found themselves stuck in the fields around the main border crossing point into Macedonia. As Easter approached the situation deteriorated rapidly. People began to die. Soon, tens of thousands would begin to pour into Macedonia. With nowhere else to turn, the head of the small UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) team asked for our help.

‘Over that Easter weekend the soldiers in the brigade erected thousands of tents for shelter, established medical facilities, prepared and handed out thousands of meals, built hundreds of latrines and set up water distribution points. The pace was relentless and the conditions unforgiving. The world responded slowly to the crisis.

‘As we handed over the running of the camps in Northern Macedonia, I arranged for a church service to be held in the largest of the camps. It was not long after the Israeli Army Field Hospital had held their Holocaust commemorations and the turnout for both services was good.

‘For our reading I used Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 25. Having read the words I turned to the assembled soldiers. These were not theologians, not many were regular church-goers. But they were men and women who had instinctively responded to the call for practical action. They needed no persuasion to serve. No orders were necessary as they laboured day and night to provide shelter, food and water to the homeless and the frightened, the hungry and the thirsty. Nor did it matter that the refugees were Muslims. They were simply men, women and children in need.

‘So I explained to them that for the previous few weeks they had been living out the Kingdom of God. Not through pious thoughts or attending church, but through practical help and service. Such is the call of Christ.’