Recently, a good friend of mine left Hong Kong for good. Over the past few years, I’m sure many of us can relate to this, and no doubt have many similar stories to share. But there is one fundamental difference to this particular story: instead of feeling a sense of loss and a lump in my throat, I felt immense joy, almost exuberance. Of course, I will miss my friend dearly; but their departure marks a tremendous milestone for them and heralds the beginning of a future they were denied in Hong Kong.

That is because my friend was, until recently, a member of the refugee and asylum seeker (RAS) community in Hong Kong. There are around 15,000 RAS in Hong Kong, all of them seeking protection in our city and engaged in lengthy legal proceedings in pursuit of this. Unfortunately, less than 1% of applicants are ultimately successful and recognized as a refugee; but even then, they are not allowed to remain in Hong Kong. Processing the claims takes many years, even decades, after which the majority of RAS community members are removed from Hong Kong and sent to their country of origin. There they face an uncertain future, along with potentially the same hardships and dangers that they sought to escape by travelling to Hong Kong in the first place.

My friend is extraordinarily fortunate to be part of the 1%, and is starting a new life in North America. I say that their departure heralds the beginning of a future they were denied in Hong Kong not just because, no matter what, they would never have been allowed to stay – PR or even just a HK visa is not on the cards for the RAS in our midst. I say it also because of the exceedingly difficult existence RAS have to lead while they are here due to systemic economic and financial disenfranchisement, punctuated for the majority by a prohibition from earning an honest living through working.

But I do not wish to dwell on these depressing facts and statistics. Rather, I want to celebrate the resilience of the RAS community, embodied by my friend who recently left Hong Kong. They were in Hong Kong close to 15 years when they finally left, but at no point did they let the uncertainty of their situation cloud their spirit. They did whatever they could to help themselves in this difficult situation, making friends wherever they went, and even helping the local community any way they could. For example, during COVID they went shopping for elderly neighbors and cooked meals for some of them. Since they could not work in the beginning, they bartered for what they needed, always careful not to cross the line of the law. And when they were recognized as a refugee and allowed to work, they started at the very bottom of the restaurant industry, despite having a professional degree in their country of origin. It shames me to think what minor inconveniences in my life will already send me spiraling, knowing what my friend faced every single day. I pray in the bright future that lays ahead, my friend might choose to become a professional life coach, for there is so much we can learn from them.

Indeed, there are many lessons to be learned from my friend’s experience in Hong Kong. First and most tangibly, we are called as Christians and decent human beings to walk with one-another. My friend was able to make the best of their situation in Hong Kong because of the community and network they built up around them. Our relationships are a fundamental building block in human resilience. Together we are not just strong in the physical sense, but in the mental, emotional, and spiritual sense as well. One mind may struggle to see a way forward, but several may discern a straight and brightly lit path. So let us walk with the RAS community members among us, in our churches. Don’t be afraid to be their friend and to share their burden through that friendship; pray with them and for them earnestly.

The second lesson is not to rely on ourselves to provide for all our needs or the needs of those whom we wish to support. So often we see individual Christians and whole churches overwhelmed by the enormity of a task or a need in a particular community. God does not call on us to solve all our problems ourselves, on the contrary; we are called to Him and to each other. I challenge my brothers and sisters in Christ to look beyond their immediate horizon to recognize the network of organizations and agencies already serving the RAS community in Hong Kong, and to allocate their time, resources and finances to them instead of attempting to stem the tide yourselves. Afterall, is it not in the spirit of this City of Hong Kong to strive for efficiency and impact?

The same lesson applies to those of us, like myself, who work in such an organization. Professional pride tempts us to spread ourselves too thin. It takes humility and confidence to acknowledge when a request lies beyond our means or mandate, and to refer the request to another entity better suited to handle it. If we do not, we only manage to disappoint and frustrate the very people we seek to serve – when I think of my friend, the greatest stress to their resilience in Hong Kong was not hearing “no” as an answer, but receiving empty promises.

Let’s not sugarcoat the reality of the refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong. Life is tough, constrained, and uncertain. It moves at a glacial pace, sometimes it even seems to be standing still. But my friend has taught me that this doesn’t mean the human spirit must capitulate, though it may be tempted to. On the contrary – when we all stand together, even the toughest circumstances may be overcome.