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REFUGEES: CHRISTIANS CALLED UPON TO ROLL OUT THE WELCOME MAT FOR NEWCOMERS TO AUSTRALIA

DAVID ADAMS reports on a new initiative to build bridges between churches and refugees…

Christians across Australia are being asked to invite asylum seekers and refugees into their homes to share a meal and “break down barriers” under a new initiative to run during Refugee Week in June.

Welcome to My Place is being spearheaded by World Vision Australia in partnership with Welcome to Australia, a refugee and asylum seeker advocacy network founded by Adelaide pastor Brad Chilcott. Organisers say the initiative has already attracted interest from churches in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

A poster advertising the Welcome to My Place campaign

“We can at least show some hospitality by opening our homes and hearts to some of these people…It’s a very simple gesture.”

– Visier Sanyü, World Vision’s project officer for Welcome to My Place

Visier Sanyü, World Vision’s project officer for Welcome to My Place, says the project was born out of the concern that Australians could be “more compassionate and more welcoming to strangers” with the compelling notion found in Matthew 25:35 in which Jesus speaks of feeding the hungry and giving shelter to the stranger.

“We can at least show some hospitality by opening our homes and hearts to some of these people…” he says. “It’s a very simple gesture.”

The campaign is calling on Christians to host refugees and asylum seekers for a meal during Refugee Week which runs from 15th to 21st June under the theme of ‘restoring hope’.

Those people wishing to host refugees at their homes – or in some cases in their churches – are being invited to attend World Vision training nights which will take place in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide during February and March. These will focus on how to go about inviting refugees in your area to dinner and how to be culturally sensitive to those attending.

Mr Sanyü says many Christians he speaks with at churches are “deeply disturbed” by the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia and looking for some way of countering the negative perceptions of the issue.

“In fact, quite a few are quite angry that it is giving a bad image to Australia and this is not what we are…” he says. “They say ‘We are a very generous people, a very hospitable people, and we want to show that’.”

The initiative is also about recognising the contribution refugees have made to Australian society, with Mr Sanyü noting that Australia has settled as many as 800,000 refugees since World World II including people like comedian and award-winning author Anh Do.

“That is the positive side of it and people don’t hear about it. We hear about the negative side of the story all the time…(But) there is something else to this story.”

Mr Sanyü says that bringing Christians and refugees and asylum seekers together over a meal helps to break down barriers.

“Once they meet, a lot of barriers are broken…” he notes. “My dream is that if we have 1000 families invite refugees into their home, it will send a very strong signal to our politicians, our media and the rest of the world.”

To sign up for Welcome to My Place and for more details and resources, head to www.welcometomyplace.org.au

 

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