World Refugee Sunday-June 21st

June 21st has been designated World Refugee Sunday by the World Evangelical Alliance.

We encourage you to consider including the forcefully displaced in our world today in your worship that day. Some ideas:

• Consider including them in your prayers during your worship service(s)
• Consider having your Sunday morning educational classes (aka Sunday School) to explore a biblical story about forcefully uprooted people (see “Refugees in the Bible” below for some ideas).
• Consider raising awareness of this global issue during your worship using one or more of the following resources:
  • Refugees in the Bible (27 kb)
  • Snapshot of Refugee Realities on the Refugee Highway Today (216 kb)
  • Understanding the Basic Terminology of Forced Displacement (519 kb or 77 kb)
• Consider asking a refugee or former refugee that is part of your fellowship to share their story of displacement with the church
• Consider including a note about World Refugee Sunday in your bulletin and other church publications
• Consider downloading and playing Hold On – a 5 minute musical prayer for uprooted people in the world during your offetory, prelude or postlude. Download Hold On by choosing a resolution and clicking a link below. QuickTime player required to view:
  • high resolution (126 MB)
  • medium resolution (42 MB)
• Consider downloading and playing “The Orphan, Widow and Alien“, a 3 minute interview from International Teams about the mandate of God’s people to love the refugee. Note: .mp4 file -QuickTime or iTunes Player required to view.
• Consider encouraging other pastors and churches you know about World Refugee Day
• Consider coming up with some better ideas and resources!

Take a look at www.refugeehighway.net, the official website of the Refugee Highway Partnership (WEA) for more resources to help churches observe this day.

World Refugee Sunday

Refugee Sunday this year falls on June 22nd. This is a great time to share with your congregation about the global refugee situtation. There are some great resources available to help you do that- from bulletin inserts, to prayers, to videos. Check them out and use them to educate, and inspire your church.  http://refugeehighway.net/

Unseen Mae la: Refugee Camp blog

This is a unique blog featuring some incredible photos and reflections from people living in one of the refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.

Mae La Refugee Camp is home to over 45,000 refugees from Burma. Ethnic Karen make up 97% of the people living in Mae La.  Mae La established in 1984 is home to an entire generation of people in their 20s who have lived their whole lives in refugee camps. There are 26 schools, 5 community libraries, 24 churches, 5 mosques and 4 Buddhist monasteries inside the camp. Most of Mae La is surrounded by barbed wire and residents have restricted movement outside the camp.

 UNSEENWORLD is an innovative international arts project for workers and refugees to describe their lives through photography.

http://unseenmaela.blogspot.com/

 

Kite Runner

Go see the movie Kite Runner. I suspect it will have a limited engagement in Hamilton. It is an excellent movie and gives some great insights into the experiences of Afghan refugees.

How churches can welcome the stranger

Here’s a link to an article that was recently published by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. It has some good challenges for our churches. Let us continue to spur one another on to the joys and challenges of interacting with refugees in our city.

How Churches can welcome the stranger

God Grew Tired of Us

I just watched the movie “God Grew Tired Of Us“. It’s a great documentary chronicling the journeys of 3 young Sudanese men as they fled their home in Sudan, spent a decade in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, and finally were resettled in cities across the USA. It is definitely worth seeing. I recommend this file for anyone who wants to better understand the huge adjustments refugees face in coming to North America. Of course, not all refugees are coming from such radically different cultures. But many are. I think the experience of the Sudanese Lost Boys has many similarities to the Karen people coming from refugee camps in Thailand. They face many of the same hurdles.

So go to your local video store and rent this movie. Or maybe you can convince your church library to buy it! It will be a good investment.

Karen refugee camp live journal

Ever wonder what life is like for the Karen people living in the many refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border? On top of the “usual” challenges of life in a refugee camp they are now dealing with the myriad of issues surrounding re-settlement of the Karen people to countries all over the globe. For some unique and very personal insights into these issues check out this blog entry from a young person who is currently living in Mae La camp.

http://karenrefugee.livejournal.com/

World Refugee Sunday

The Refugee Highway Partnership (RHP) is now inviting churches around the world to celebrate World Refugee Sunday, on the Sundays of June 17 or June 24, 2007.  People can visit the Refugee Highway web page to find a variety of helpful resources, including a downloadable bulletin insert, resource packet, prayer points, and links to other materials: www.refugeehighway.net.

The World Evangelical Alliance is partnering with the RHP to help publicize this opportunity so we are excited that  Christians around the world will raise voices together in prayer for refugees!

Eva Rothwell Resource Centre

A good place to refer both people who have furniture to donate, and those looking for used furniture, is the Eva Rothwell Resource Centre. It is located in the old Robert Land school at  460 Wentworth St. N  (just a little south of Burlington St.) It is a couple doors down from St. David’s Presbyterian church with the bright red doors and across the street from a small neighbourhood park.

Donations of furniture and housewares are trickling in at times – pouring in at others – and things are starting to get organized. A clothing room is up and running already, and is being capably coordinated by Sue Fowler. Several newly arrived refugees including residents of Micah House – along with members of the surrounding area – have already benefitted from the clothing, housewares and furniture available at the Eva Rothwell Centre.

The Centre hours are: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 9am -12 noon and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-9pm. 

Their phone number is: 905-526-1558.

Dont Fence Me In- and other video clips from Burma

Here are some links to video clips online that will help give you a better understanding of wht is going on in Burma .  Those of us connecting with the Karen people who have recently  come to Hamilton as government sponsored refguees will benefit greatly from seeing these images of Burma. It is important for us to understand where the Karen have come from , what they have experienced and what continues to go on in their homeland.

Dont Fence Me In: Major Mary and The Karen Refugees from Burma – Google Video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5273089644495608550

 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5643677806989460378