Hello church,
My name is Bee from the Hills campus. I volunteer with Citycare and since it's Refugee week, would like to share some stories and some thoughts.
I met Rita* at our free ESL (English as a Second Language) course run by Citycare, she's a Sri Lankan refugee & despite going through unimaginable struggles, still has a cheeky grin when she talks to you.
We run different levels of conversational English classes on Wednesday evenings. On this day, the class were talking about Sydney & one of the volunteers asked her if she'd been on any of the ferries in Sydney (us Sydney-siders are quite proud of our beautiful city & our ferries are a must for tourists & new visitors) Rita laughs and says "No, I don't think I ever want to step onto a boat again" Everyone laughed in response, but the weight of her remark sat with me for a while.
Bob* & Sarah* are a gorgeous couple in my connect. They are funny, intelligent and kind. We have vibrant discussions about theology, Farsi poetry & food. Bob makes a mean Persian coal barbecued lamb. They are refugees from Iran and their journey here was unexpected (they had to leave within days) and what blew me away when they were telling me the story of their perilous journey was their positive attitude and thankfulness to God throughout the process - I don't know many people who would be counting their blessings, whilst in a detention camp!
Bob was a clinical psychologist and also was an expert Peugeot
technician in Iran. Bob and Sarah had a lovely home and often had his friends
and family over for birthdays and other occasions. I have seen a few videos of
their friends and family having a lovely time together. Sarah usually has a
wistful look on her when they play those videos. I asked him why he decided to
come to Australia - he said that after he fled Iran, he had 3 options. The boat
to Europe left in 4 weeks, the boat to USA in 8 weeks and the boat to Australia
left in just a week so he decided then to take the boat that had the most
recent departure date since he didn't want to pay extra on hotels.
Sarah told me that one of the first places (outside of Iran) that she
truly felt "at home" was at my home during connect.
Migrants usually face the issue of being the "odd" one out. For refugees, this feeling is compounded with feelings of shame as Bob mentions "as soon as people know how I got here, I can see it in their eyes, silently judging me, they don't say anything, it's felt rather than heard"
People have an innate need to belong. We are social creatures & according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it's the next highest after physiological and safety needs. Our beautiful senior pastor Bobbie's heart acknowledges this need and we have a "Welcome Home" sign in the foyer of every Hillsong church worldwide. This is also the distinct feature of our “come as you are” Jesus Christ who accepts and loves every sinner He meets in The Bible.
I asked Bob what he would like to say to you, and he said the following.
How bad does Australia have to get for you to leave everything you know and leave for an unknown destination?
Migrants usually face the issue of being the "odd" one out. For refugees, this feeling is compounded with feelings of shame as Bob mentions "as soon as people know how I got here, I can see it in their eyes, silently judging me, they don't say anything, it's felt rather than heard"
People have an innate need to belong. We are social creatures & according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it's the next highest after physiological and safety needs. Our beautiful senior pastor Bobbie's heart acknowledges this need and we have a "Welcome Home" sign in the foyer of every Hillsong church worldwide. This is also the distinct feature of our “come as you are” Jesus Christ who accepts and loves every sinner He meets in The Bible.
I asked Bob what he would like to say to you, and he said the following.
How bad does Australia have to get for you to leave everything you know and leave for an unknown destination?
He asked me to imagine a place where there is no freedom of speech - a
place where one cannot say anything negative about an Australian political
leader for instance- he did mention a name but I will leave that out :)
He asked me to imagine living in a place where you were imprisoned if
you changed your religion.
He asked if I would continue to live there or find a way out.
That’s a lot to think about for one day. He left me with no words.
Some facts for you:
What's the difference between Asylum seeker and Refugee? An asylum
seeker is a refugee who hasn't had their claim as a refugee confirmed by the UN
or the government. "Refugee" in this context means an asylum
seeker whose application has been successful. In its broader context it means a
person fleeing e.g. civil war or natural disaster but not necessarily fearing
persecution as defined by the 1951 Refugee Convention.
It is not illegal to claim asylum.
The term "illegal immigrant" was first coined in late 1930s as
a slur by the British toward Jews who were fleeing the Nazis and entering
Palestine without authorisation. To quote Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace
Prize winner Elie Wiesel "no human being is illegal."
It costs $500,000 to detain an asylum seeker on Manus or Nauru for one year.
Australia is paying companies (who make a profit) who manage and run these detention centers.
The average time a person spends in a detention center is 454 days
Australia is the only country in the world to detain children indefinitely.
It costs $500,000 to detain an asylum seeker on Manus or Nauru for one year.
Australia is paying companies (who make a profit) who manage and run these detention centers.
The average time a person spends in a detention center is 454 days
Australia is the only country in the world to detain children indefinitely.
Australia signed a UN convention claiming to accept asylum seekers.
If we haven't learned from history, we haven't achieved much.
We, as a nation are writing our page in history right now, let's make sure we are remembered kindly by the future.
What can you do?
Write to your local council member on the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers
Pray for
- a solution in war torn countries
- persecution to cease
- wisdom & compassion for our leaders
- persecution to cease
- wisdom & compassion for our leaders
- resources
- safety for people who are currently fleeing
Volunteer at Citycare. We currently run free ESL program and Kilo of Kindness food drives
- safety for people who are currently fleeing
Volunteer at Citycare. We currently run free ESL program and Kilo of Kindness food drives
Champion and encourage those in the limelight fighting for justice (my
personal favourite is human rights activist and barrister - Julian Burnside and our very own Kylie Beach from Common Grace)
I leave you with this verse to ponder.
1 John 4:18 (NIV)
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Have a blessed week.
B
*Names changed for privacy reasons.
References
http://www.unhcr.org/Article 14
http://www.un.org/en/
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