Meeting refugees

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Andrew and I had the privilege to meet two young men who are asylum seekers in the United Kingdom. Many people fleeing war and violence, or religious persecution and threats against their lives, have left their countries in the Middle East and parts of Africa to seek safety in the United Kingdom.

As a result of complex laws here concerning asylum seekers, some of these people are legally prevented from working or even having a permanent address. Thus there are hundreds of homeless refugees in Manchester who live on the streets while waiting for their cases to proceed through the quagmire of the legal system. In many cases, they wait years.

At our local Nazarene church there are a number of these asylum seekers who come every Sunday and have become part of our church family. Some are Christian and some are still members of other faiths, but enjoy the warm, welcoming atmosphere of our worship services, and being able to have relationships with people who care about them.

Sunday we met two asylum seekers, homeless men from the Middle East, who are still part of another faith, but are attracted to the love and care they have found among us. It was their second Sunday. One of the men has actually been an asylum seeker for 8 years. I'm not sure about the other. In spite of their difficult situation, they are both cheerful, friendly and positive, and we enjoyed laughing and talking around a meal together.

Our local church is part of a network of churches in Manchester that partner with Boaz Trust, an organization that provides food and shelter for these homeless asylum seekers. Every night of the week a different church opens its doors so the men can sleep inside the building where it is dry and warm. The church members provide a hot meal, and volunteers eat with the men and spend the evening with them, also sleeping in the building overnight for security and companionship.

Besides these two men, there are other asylum seekers in our church who have fared better. One woman from Zimbabwe shares an apartment with another woman and rides the bus to church every week. She is a sweet older lady who loves to worship God and is thankful for how He has provided for her needs in spite of her being forced to leave her country and family to live in a foreign land. Another young man came to the UK to study, but encountered Christ through members of our church while he was here. After he decided to follow Christ, too, his family back home threatened his life and he could not return. He had to file for religious asylum seeker status with the UK government, and has been proceeding through the complicated legal system to gain permanent residency here. Thankfully he has gotten far enough that he has been granted permission to have a job, to drive and to have a home. He is growing deeply in his faith and was recently elected to our church board.

For us, refugees are not faceless, nameless groups suffering far away. They are in our city and we meet them face to face and hear their stories. Allowing refugees into one's country is a complicated issue with many different perspectives, with uncertainties and risk. However, we believe that when we encounter refugees among us, whether or not they are Christian, God calls His people to love them and come alongside them. Through these interactions, many refugees are actually deciding to follow Christ, too.

We heard in church on Sunday that 300 refugees who have been living in the "jungle" camp in Calais, France, just across the English Channel, are being accepted into the UK and will be resettled in Stockport, a community just 10-15 minutes from the college. Many of these refugees are teenagers who traveled alone to Europe or somewhere along the way became separated from their families.

Please pray for these new refugees, for the many asylum seekers still living on the streets as they wait for the government to review their cases, and for the millions of displaced people this winter, as cold temperatures descend and families and individuals face the daily desperate search for the means to survive until the next day. Pray that God protects them from trafficking and new forms of violence. Ask God to help them encounter Christians who will show them true love and journey with them in their suffering.

About 50 people from across Eurasia met for a refugee conference in October, in Greece, to learn how our church can come alongside refugees at every point in their journey and serve them in the love of God. Read the story in our November newsletter: www.eurasiaregion.org/where-worlds-meet-november-2016