Refugees

In January 2018, the Trump administration held back $65 million of a planned contribution of $125 million to the United Nations agency charged with caring for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East).

We offer you this prayer and litany to support your congregations as they work to welcome the stranger, in word and in deed. 

Prayer

Leader: Triune God, in Jesus, you entered our human world -- vulnerable, oppressed, and seeking refuge. You dwell among those who have no place to rest, who are fleeing persecution, who rely on the charity of others.

Congregation: God of mercy, hear our prayer.

He came to us in dire straits.

Joseph wasn’t the name his mother gave him when he was born in Darfur—it’s the name he took on when he was baptized after coming and receiving medical help in this Middle Eastern country. His story as a refugee is full of twists and turns, starting with his flight, as an injured university student, from the authorities he was protesting.

His story as a refugee is full of twists and turns.

And the end has yet to be written.

Youhanna and Yosra, and their four adult children Martin, Alen, Aiden, and Abeer are from Qaraqosh, Iraq. In 2014 they were forced to flee their home when ISIS invaded and destroyed their predominantly Christian area. After spending several years in asylum in Lebanon, they had the good fortune of being sponsored to come to Canada by Harvest Bible Chapel. Martin arrived in September of 2017 and the rest of the family arrived in January of 2018.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban in a 5-4 vote. It restricts entry of citizens from seven countries to varying degrees: Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Venezuela. Most of these countries are Muslim majority nations.

“Praise God, I received my documents!”

One of the beautiful things we experience  in Italy pastoring churches with large populations of congregants from various countries in Africa (but predominantly from Nigeria, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast) is the tradition of giving personal testimony for what God is doing in one’s life in front of the congregation during worship services.

Looking for summer beach reads? Here's what some Christian Reformed justice staff are reading this summer. 

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” - Zora Neale Hurston

Viviana Cornejo

On April 10, Aung Ko, Nang, Jet and Joli boarded a plane in Malaysia. Catching three flights, this young family would fly half way around the world to flee poverty and danger to find safety in the United States. With Jet just two years old and Joli only 8 months, it took some desperation and courage for these young parents to fly 17 hours to an unknown place called Michigan.

“In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.”

Created in God’s image, human beings were made with a unique capacity for developing structure and accentuating the beauty of God’s world. God’s intention was that we would be like his signet ring (see Haggai 2:23), representing and ushering in his justice and righteousness as the caretakers of this world, and of each other. We are meant to make his glory known.