Churches around the world have been asked to observe World Refugee Sunday later this month, setting it aside as a day to remember and pray for those who are “persecuted and oppressed around the world”.
Daadab refugee camp in north-east Kenya. PICTURE: Brendan Bannon/IOM/UNHCR
The World Evangelical Alliance and the Refugee Highway Partnership – a global network of Christians committed to welcoming and serving refugees – have joined in calling for Christians to take part in the day which is held on either the 16th or 23rd of June – the Sundays to either side of World Refugee Day on 20th June.
Tom Albinson, the WEA’s ambassador for refugees, displaced and stateless people, says Christians have a mandate from God to “love the alien as we love ourselves”. He adds that “the world around us is watching and hoping that we will step us to assist refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and stateless people”.
“World Refugee Sunday is a powerful opportunity for the church around the world to communicate to the world’s forcibly displaced people that they are not forgotten and that, together with God, we care deeply for them.”
More than 42 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes as a result of war, violence and persecution. The WEA says the day is an opportunity to raise awareness of “refugee realities” among Christians and to consider ways in which churches can include ministry among the forcibly displaced “within the scope of their mission”.
For more information about World Refugee Sunday, visit www.refugeehighway.net or www.facebook.com/worldrefugeesunday.
