Welcome Strangers

(article from Lifewords' Interact magazine, Oct-Dec 05)

There is a lot of controversy surrounding issues of asylum and immigration in the UK at the moment. But as Lifewords launches Afraid to leave, afraid to stay, our new resource for asylum seekers, we put politics aside and ask: how can we fulfil God’s call to care for the marginalised and the vulnerable?

Thousands of people claim asylum in Britain every year. Many have fled persecution, abuse, war, or famine. They have been torn away from friends and family, from their land, culture, and language. The passage to a safe country may cost them everything they own, and the journey is not easy. Many will take great risks and endure horrific conditions at the hands of people traffickers. The trauma of leaving, and the ordeal of the journey are only made worthwhile by the hope of arriving, and the promise of safety.

However, arriving in the UK is not the end of the road. All arrivals enter the maze of the asylum system. Here they will have to prove that they are genuine refugees. They will have to relive their experiences and provide evidence that they are telling the truth. Alone in a foreign country, often with no grasp of the English language, they will have to justify their case to a host country that may not consider it to be in their interests to believe them.

Asylum seekers are one of the most vulnerable and overlooked sectors of society, and Christians are well placed to help. Enabling Christians in Serving Refugees (ECSR) is a network that was recently set up to do exactly what the name says – to help churches and individuals reach out to refugees and asylum seekers. We talked to ECSR’s Sally Richmond about what Christians can do:

Interact: Why is it important for Christians to be aware of the issues?

ECSR: There are a number of reasons. One reason is that it is just so clear in the Bible that there is a biblical mandate to love the alien and welcome the stranger, and principles like hospitality, and helping those in need, the marginalised and the vulnerable, run right through the Old Testament and are made very clear again in the New Testament, particularly the gospels.

Also, we worship a God of justice and in the way that the whole asylum issue has been tackled there is a lot of injustice. There are a lot of people who are being refused help by the government. And there are a lot of people who should be supported who aren’t being supported, and that aspect of justice comes into it as well.

The other reason is that Christians are really well placed to welcome asylum seekers and refugees, because we are part of communities and we do have a number of gifts, talents and resources that we can offer to people.

What do you think are the particular needs of asylum seekers?

ECSR: They’re huge and varied, just as any individual is, but I think what people need most is feeling welcome and feeling safe, and feeling understood, and loved, and cared for. That’s the really big need, especially when there is so much hostility towards asylum seekers in the media. But then also on top of that there are practical needs for help with living in a new city and a new environment.

Some people need help with food or clothing because they’re living on a very low level of support. Others need help working their way through the legal proceedings. They may need signposting to medical services or counselling services. Once they get refugee status they might need help finding a job or fitting into the community, so there’s a whole spectrum of needs, but I think the most important it the need to feel welcome, loved and accepted.

What can churches or Christians do?

ECSR: Just as there’s a whole spectrum of needs there’s a whole spectrum of responses, so one thing that we can do is educate ourselves. There is a lot of misinformation at the moment, so we can find out what the facts are and make sure that we’re not caught up in the whole myth-making process. We can be responsible with the language that we use and make sure we talk about refugees and asylum seekers in an appropriate way. We can pray, we can give. And then each of us can give different things. Some of us might have the energy and the time to set up an English language school and some of us might not. Some of us might be able to invite someone back for dinner, or put someone up in a spare room. There’s a whole range of responses and we need to be creative and prayerful as we choose how we’re going to respond.

What advice would you give to someone that wants to reach out to refugees?

ECSR: I think the first place to start is to find out what’s already in your area and find out if there’s a local refugee network, if other churches are involved. Find out you can learn from and work with, and make sure you’re not duplicating what’s already happening.

The second thing is to seek expert advice, so make sure you contact somebody like a local refugee organisation, or the Refugee Council, or ECSR, and find out some of the ways in which you can help and who you can learn from, just so you’re not reinventing the world.

And then would suggest you start small. Make friends with people. Find out from the refugees in your community what their needs are, how they feel you can help them, and then work out what time you can commit, what budget you’ve got, and work it through. But I would definitely suggest finding out what’s already happening first and seeing if there’s anything you can get involved in.

----------------------------------------

Afraid to leave, Afraid to stay is a new resource toolkit from Lifewords to help you reach out to asylum seekers. The booklet features stories from refugees and stories from the life of Jesus, and is in dual-language format. The English text appears below the same stories in the asylum seeker’s own language, and it's available in Somali, Farsi, Turkish, and Albanian.  

For tips on how to get the most out of the booklet, ideas for getting involved, resources for use in your church, refugee facts and links, and much more about welcoming the strangers, visit www.lifewords-global.com/asylum.

ECSR exists to resource Christians to reach out to refugees. Visit www.ecsr.org.uk to find out more.

----------------------------------------