Many of the world's homeless people are refugees - people who flee their homes in times of war, political oppression or religious persecution. In this section, spend some time exploring the issue of homelessness from the perspectives of refugees and immigrants.
A Story
Reprint this poem by a 14 year old Sudanese refugee that is found on the Bishops' Conference website at http://www.usccb.org/mrs/refugeepoem.shtml , and was presented during the 2004 World Refugee Day.
Ask the young people:
- What kind of world do you think Deng Duot is describing?
- What would it be like to be 14 and a refugee?
- Describe, as best you can, the feelings that are named and those that aren't directly named here, but may be present in a young refugee.
- Is there anything his poem seems to ask of you?
- How do you feel as you read it?
- Are there any actions you feel urged to?
As is well known, a lack of housing is sometimes the result of political instability, of conflicts within a country or of war. In such circumstances, the question of refugees comes to the fore. They nearly always end up in the same situation as that of the homeless. What Have You Done to Your Homeless Brother? The Church and the Housing Problem
--Document of the Pontifical Commission "Justitia et Pax", 1987 During the U.N. Proclaimed International Year of Shelter for the Homeless
In many regions of the world today, people live in tragic situations of instability and uncertainty. It does not come as a surprise that in such contexts the poor and the destitute make plans to escape, to seek a new land that can offer them bread, dignity, and peace. This is the migration of the desperate.
--Pope John Paul II, Message on World Migration Day, 2000
Ask the young people if they'd ever thought of homelessness in these terms. Immigrants, migrants and refugees experience forms of homelessness, where one loses one's home due to disaster, violence, war, economics, politics, other factors.
YOU MIGHT INVITE INDIVIDUALS WHO WORK - OR WHO HAVE WORKED - WITH REFUGEES TO SPEAK. Contact the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center for resources http://www.mihrc.org/contactUs.asp
Scripture
There were an estimated 10.3 million refugees worldwide at the beginning of 2003, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). That means that there is a new refugee every 21 seconds, says Amnesty International.
What are these individuals' lives like? How are we called to respond? Divide into 4 groups. Assign each group a particular refugee situation/context and a passage from scripture.
(Give each group time to research their assigned refugee situation.)
- What is the political, economic background of the country from which these refugees came?
- Why did people in this context flee their homes?
- How did they leave?
- Where did they go?
- What kinds of living conditions did they experience in their journey?
- What other significant information do you find?
- Afghanistan
- Bosnia
- Colombia
- Sudan
- What is meant by this passage?
- What does this passage have to do with the context you researched?
- How does this passage ask you to respond to the context you researched?
- Deuteronomy 10:18-19
- Matthew 2:19-23
- Hebrews 13:1-2
- Jeremiah 22:3
Prayer and Action
Identify groups of refugees that the young people may keep in prayer. You might use individuals from the contexts assigned above. If possible, use any contacts or sources of information to get names or profiles of individuals or families. This puts a face on the "issue" and emphasizes the human dynamic.
Print prayer cards with the names or descriptions of the individuals or groups on one side, and one of the following psalm excerpts on the reverse. Note that the psalm lines are positive - that God is our refuge and strength. Make the point that we want to pray AND act so that these individuals find refuge in time of trouble.
We must reflect God's sheltering love in the way we carry with one another the needs and concerns of each other. Ask the young people to commit to praying for the individuals/groups on their card. Challenge them to learn as much as possible about the situation of the individuals/groups on their card. Invite them to investigate ways to actively support justice and care for these individuals/groups - and to report on that.
Psalm connections
Psalm 2:11
Happy are all who take refuge in God!
Psalm 5:12-13
All who take refuge in you will be glad and forever shout for joy. Protect them that you may be the joy of those who love your name. For you, LORD, bless the just; you surround them with favor like a shield.
Psalm 7:2
LORD my God, in you I take refuge; rescue me; save me
Psalm 11:1
In the LORD I take refuge
Psalm 14:6
The poor have the LORD as their refuge.
Psalm 16:1
Keep me safe, O God; in you I take refuge
Psalm 17:7
Show your wonderful love, you who deliver with your right arm those who seek refuge
Psalm 18:3
LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!
Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my life's refuge; of whom am I afraid?
Psalm 31:2-3
In you, LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice deliver me; incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me! Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to save me.
Psalm 36:8
How precious is your love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Psalm 46:2
God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.
Psalm 59:17
You are my fortress, my refuge in time of trouble.
Psalm 62:8-9
My safety and glory are with God, my strong rock and refuge.Trust God at all times, my people! Pour out your hearts to God our refuge!
Psalm 73:28
As for me, to be near God is my good, to make the Lord GOD my refuge.
Psalm 84:6-7
Happy are those who find refuge in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrim roads. As they pass through the valley, they find spring water to drink. Also from pools the Lord provides water for those who lose their way.
Psalm 91:2-4
"My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust." God will rescue you from the fowler's snare, from the destroying plague, Will shelter you with pinions, spread wings that you may take refuge; God's faithfulness is a protecting shield.
Psalm 119:11
You are my refuge and shield; in your word I hope.
Psalm 141:8
My eyes are upon you, O GOD, my Lord; in you I take refuge; do not strip me of life.
Psalm 142:6-7
I cry out to you, LORD, I say, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Listen to my cry for help, for I am brought very low. Rescue me.
