After arriving in Sydney last October, the couple are about to complete a Certificate III in nursing and juggling morning and afternoon work placements in aged care, with caring for their two daughters, aged eight-and-a-half and two.

“We are still struggling with things, with jobs and finances, but we are very happy,” says Marshal.

“We have all freedoms here in Australia, religious freedom, worship freedom. Our kids are going to church freely. They are studying in a Christian school. We feel like it is our own country and we are happy here. People are nice; we are happy to talk with the people who love us –they follow Jesus and they share love. Yes, we are very happy.”

“We had no option but to flee because her family wanted to harm her.” – Marshal, Pakistani refugee

Marshal and Aisha had to flee from Pakistan after Aisha’s family heard about their marriage and Aisha’s conversion from Islam to Christianity.

“Why we moved here was because of persecution,” Marshal explains.

“In Pakistan, we were professional nurses and had good jobs there. But when we wanted to marry, we faced religious problems because her background was Muslim and I was born in a Christian family. We had no option but to flee because her family wanted to harm her.”

From childhood, Aisha had been taught that Christians were dirty and untouchables, but she was always curious about Christianity. While studying nursing, one of her roommates was a Christian girl who read her Bible every night. So every day when no one else was around, Aisha secretly “stole” the Bible and read it before returning it.

After Aisha started working in a hospital, one of the other nurses took her to a local church, where the pastor led her to Christ. But before agreeing to baptise her, the pastor warned her that she would suffer if she became a Christian.

“So, many hurdles came in our life, but we are strong in faith that God will act at the right time.” – Marshal.

Later, she met Marshal in the same congregation. After they married, Aisha’s employer informed Aisha’s family, which put her at risk of being killed by her father or brother for the shame she had brought to the family.

Knowing the danger, the couple sought asylum in Thailand, where Marshal was held for over two years in the notorious Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok. “One time, my wife was very sick, and there were no relatives, no family members, nothing. And she thinks she will not live anymore because her condition is so bad at that time. So, many hurdles came in our life, but we are strong in faith that God will act at the right time, and it will happen,” says Marshal.

In 2020, the family were accepted by Australia under the Special Humanitarian Program, but their resettlement was delayed for two years by COVID lockdowns.

“Thailand is not a signatory to the UNHCR, so they don’t give full rights to migrants and we were not allowed to work there, so it was very hard. We were stuck at home, not going outside much. The kids were not getting a good education. We faced a lot of problems there,” Marshal explains.

“It’s mentally traumatic. It was hard to cope with these things there. Even now, we remember in our minds these things which we faced at that time. But God was always with us during this hard time, managing things even when it’s hard, so we praise God.”

Christian organisations such as Philoi Global in Australia advocated for the family’s resettlement and they finally received their tickets and flew into Darwin on October 6, 2022.

“God was always with us during this hard time, managing things even when it’s hard, so we praise God.” – Marshal

On being settled in Sydney, they were greatly helped by a program called Emerge which was set up during COVID to assist refugees in southwest Sydney to find employment. Emerge helped Marshal and Aisha find transitional accommodation and part-time employment, gave them career guidance and helped with their children’s education and daycare arrangements.

Jude Simion, CEO of the Emerge Program set up in 2021 in partnership with Evangelism and New Churches (ENC), says it has since broadened its scope to Greater Sydney and across Australia.

“We are also serving families in Darwin, Melbourne, and Brisbane. There are about 40 individuals who have come to Australia on our books who we are helping to find Christ, find a church, and settle into the community. The ones we have at the moment, most of them are Christians. Some are non-Christians who are connected to a church. So we are journeying with them to see what it means to be a Christian disciple.”

“If not for the church and if not for faith, I would’ve been long dead and gone.” – Jude Simion

Sri Lankan-born Jude is a child of the civil war in his home country, having been internally displaced numerous times during his childhood and early adulthood.

“If not for the church and if not for faith, I would’ve been long dead and gone because the time I grew up was a time of uncertainties, particularly young people taking weapons in their hands, and also it’s a time of child conscription and child soldiers in the country,” he says.

“That context where I grew up shaped my passion in terms of what I do today and who I am today. That’s why at least 30 years of my ministry, I’ve been primarily working among the displaced people and refugees.”

Jude says the primary area that Emerge Ministry is working on is encouraging churches to fill the integration gap of refugees coming to Australia.

“Every refugee or immigrant who comes to the country first looks for a network, a place to belong. So we are supporting the churches by training people within the church to become employment mentors who could journey with the new immigrant or refugee in understanding Australian work culture,” he says.

“How to create an Australian resume, understand the interview skills and address selection criteria. That’s not a normal thing that people in other countries do. It’s a very specific thing you need to follow in Australia to find employment. In Australia, finding employment is not about what you know; it’s about whom you know. The church can be the place to create that network. And while doing that, you also create a close relationship, which becomes a tool for you to share the gospel with them.”

“Every refugee or immigrant who comes to the country first looks for a network, a place to belong … The church can be the place to create that network.” – Jude Simion

Jude emphasises that he is not aiming to set up a new ministry in churches but finding mentors who can connect and coordinate with existing refugee ministries.

“We have a lot of resources that people can access. We are not trying to duplicate an existing ministry – for example, a ministry doing driving skills. We are not creating a driving school under Emerge; we are encouraging the churches to partner with a driving school already doing that ministry. So we are more a connector and a collaborator rather than creating a ministry in every local church.”

“Australia has been very generous, but at the same time, as a church, we can do more.” – Jude Simion

Jude reflects that Australia takes a tiny number of the 108 million displaced people globally.

“Australia has been very generous, but at the same time, as a church, we can do more. When they come to Australia, we can ensure they are well integrated. There are a lot of negative feelings about refugees – ‘They come and they don’t work.’ But it’s not that they don’t want to work. The current housing crisis pushes refugees into marginal areas of Sydney, particularly the lower socioeconomic areas. That creates another social barrier of refugees becoming highly welfare dependent because the areas they are moving into have very limited employment opportunities. So the church can make a difference in helping them to settle and overcome these barriers to integration.”

*Names changed for security reasons.

If you are interested in connecting with or knowing more about the Emerge Program, please email Jude at [email protected] or click here.