I worked at the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1991, as the first Gulf conflict loomed. Iraq had invaded Kuwait, and we struggled with the extra tasks that came with the approaching war. Word came that the American embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia (not that far from Saudi Arabia) was under siege by insurgents. The U.S. military diverted equipment from wartime preparations to evacuate embassy staff, even as the insurgents threatened to literally come over the walls. As Somalia descended into chaos, the country faded into a footnote when the U.S. and other countries pushed Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait.

The next year, famine gripped Somalia. An international force including the United States attempted to bring order and avert mass starvation. Aid alleviated the famine, but at great cost in American lives, culminating in the Black Hawk Down incident in which eighteen American servicemen were killed.

Today famine again grips Somalia and nearby nations. Starvation threatens more than eleven million people, according to World Vision, a Christian aid organization. It is the worst dry spell in fifty years. This time tragedy is multiplied by the presence of al-Shabab, a terrorist group which refuses Western aid. Masses of men, women, and children attempt escape to refugee settlements in Kenya, risking death from the terrorists. Families, some carrying dead children, swell the already overcrowded camps.

In my novel, Singing in Babylon, which takes place in Saudi Arabia, Kate, the protagonist, helps an abused Ethiopian maid, a Christian, escape to her home country. This fictional episode has roots in the understanding that Christians are exiles and refugees in this world.

Sending in an army in this present Somalian tragedy is not an option, but we can support aid groups like World Vision who minister as they are able in the crowded camps. We might remember Jesus, a refugee baby carried by his parents as they fled to Egypt from Herod’s wrath.