When I was a senior in high school my parents moved to MO.  I didn’t want to leave all my friends so I stayed back to finish out my final year in school.  A family friend took me in…the Sullivan family and there house became a place of REFUGE for me.  They were and are still are a group of people outside of my “real family” that I know I can trust.  If I ever need anything, they will be there.

We at Sharon Strive to form this kind of place for Students, that’s why we call ourselves The Refuge.

A REFUGE: a safe place (noun), a place of safety or shelter, a place that offers safety or shelter; a shelter from danger or hardship.

To “Take REFUGE” is to turn to a place or someone for protection and safety. 

What are some things that you take refuge in?  People, friends, family, places, possessions?
What about God?  Do you find Refuge in the living and active God of the universe?

Psalm 18:2 says,  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take REFUGE; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

REFUGE strives to understand how God can be  a rock and a fortress for students in the 21st century.

As students that flee from this world in search of a strong tower and a place of Refuge we realize that we are all Refugees.  Peter reminds us that we are “aliens and strangers in this world” (1peter2:11) yet we are citizens of the world to come. 
“The difference between a refugee and an immigrant is that an immigrant chooses to emigrate to another land whereas a refugee is driven from his or homeland and cannot safely return. Refugees are among the world’s most disadvantaged people. They do not voluntarily leave their homes seeking economic opportunity in another land; they flee because they want to live.”

That’s why we call ourselves The Student Refugees. We flee because we want to live!