Readings and resources
- Theme:
- Refugees and Migrants
BIBLE READINGS
- Genesis 21: 8-21 The three visitors
- Genesis 28: 10-17 Jacob's dream at Bethel
- Exodus 23: 1-9 Laws of justice and mercy
- Ruth 1: 16-22 Ruth and Naomi leave Moab and travel to Bethlehem
- Psalm 137 Lament of the exiles who were taken to Babylon
- Lamentations 5: 1-15, 19-22 Plea for mercy by a conquered people
- Micah 4: 1-7 The mountain of the Lord
- Matthew 2: 13-15 Jesus and his parents become refugees
- Matthew 25: 31-46 The parable of the sheep and the goats
- Luke 1: 46-55 Mary's "Magnificat"
- Luke 10: 25-37 The parable of the Good Samaritan
Also see Refugees and the Bible - readings to explore and Wandering people - learning from the Bible
POEMS
On Another's Sorrow
Can I see another's woe
And not be in sorrow too.
Can I see another's grief
And not seek for kind relief.
Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrows share,
Can a father see his child,
Weep, nor be with sorrow filled.
Can a mother sit and hear,
An infant groan an infant fear-
No no never can it be.
Never never can it be.
And can he who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small birds grief & care
Hear the woes that infants bear-
And not sit beside the nest
Pouring pity on their breast,
And not sit the cradle near
Weeping tear on infant's tear. . .
He doth give his joy to all.
He becomes an infant small.
He becomes a man of woe
He doth feel the sorrow too.
Think not, thou canst sigh a sigh,
And thy maker is not by.
Think not, thou canst weep a tear,
And thy maker is not near.
O! he gives to us his joy,
That our grief he may destroy
Till our grief is fled & gone
He doth sit by us and moan.
William Blake 1757-1827
Refugees
Now praised be God for all these unfamiliar faces
That I behold when I walk through our English streets.
This motley people exiled from far, ravaged places-
Not East and West alone, but South here also meets!
Ever to England's refuge have the dispossessed
Brought their vast wealth of mind: to-day a grander gift
Enriches our Garden Land already by Nature blest.
I see defeated, silent-dragging men (Ah, lift
Your heads, my ill-starred brothers, lose the old despair!)
Women I see, heavy with memories. . . I mark,
Hidden behind their eyes, a heartbreak past repair (Women, be your hearts eased: your children from a dark
Blacker than frightening night are safe). These too I see-
The children here, of their own lands bereft, and yet
Laughing again, new flowers in our proud garden, growing free.
Now praised be God that children, laughing, can forget.
Thomas Moult
In Pain
In the pain, misfortune, oppression,
and death of the people,
God is silent.
God is silent on the cross,
in the crucified.
And this silence is God's word,
God's cry.
In solidarity,
God speaks the language of love.
Jon Sobrino - from Pain-Bearers, published by Methodist Division of Ministries 1996
PRAYERS
Lord Jesus
You knew what it was to be a refugee
when your parents fled from Herod
You knew what it was to be homeless
with no where to lay your head
You knew what it was to be friendless
when those you loved betrayed you
You knew what it was to be utterly derelict
as you cried from the cross
What ever we suffer
You have been there first.
Forgive us for doubting you
And give us the strength to go on.
Amen.
The Prayer of Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
A Prayer for World Peace
Lord, we pray for the power to be gentle;
the strength to be forgiving;
the patience to be understanding;
and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding on to what we believe to be right.
May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil
and the power of love to overcome hatred.
We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe
in a world emancipated from violence,
a new world where fear shall no longer lead us to commit injustice,
nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.
Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy to the task of making peace,
praying always for the inspiration and the power
to fulfil the destiny for which we all were created.
From the Week of Prayer for World Peace 1978
O Lord, whose birth was heralded with songs of peace
Hear us now as we pray for peace
And for those whose lives are destroyed by conflict.
We pray for the Middles East
Countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Israel
Where people are daily injured and killed.
We remember there is Genocide in places like Sudan - Darfur and Chad, -
The political persecution of whole peoples in Zimbabwe
That in many places
neighbour is eliminating neighbour.
So often war is accompanied by shortages and people starve, are deprived of medication and education.
We pray for the peace keepers
So often doing a thankless job
We pray for politicians
Criticised by all sides
but doggedly working for justice,
We pray for aid workers
Risking so much to help the needy
Strengthen in their work
Do not let them become disheartened
Work through them to bring peace that lasts. Amen
When we see the troubles on our TV screens
We cannot be surprised that people flee.
Help us to welcome the stranger
To provide for the needy
To counsel the abused.
Make our country a place of refuge and hope
For the love of Jesus. Amen
Wondrous and holy God, creator of the universe, you make all people in your own image, you live and work in our midst. You bless us with an immense variety of cultures and ways of responding to you. You show us new patterns of living and loving in Jesus. You give us strength by your Holy Spirit.
We bless and thank you
Forgive all among us who put boundaries around your presence, love and work; who use diversity to divide people - to demonise some and accord privileged status to others; who seek to dominate or destroy those who are different.
Have mercy on us all.
Show us all how to live and work with others; to receive diversity as a gift and not a threat; to move beyond tolerance of those who are different to mutual respect and trust. Show us the art of listening with respect to one another. Grant us the help of your Spirit that in humility we may share with others our faith and story.
In the name of Christ. Amen
'Unlocking the Doors' by Inderjit Bhogal
When using the above prayer in public worship, take time to light a candle at the end of each stanza, and/or use the three stanzas at different points in the service.
DEFINITIONS
Internally displaced person - Someone who has been uprooted from their home due to violence, poverty or disaster but who remains within their national boundaries
Migrant - someone who has moved from their country of ordinary residence to another country
Asylum seeker - someone who whilst in a country other than that in which they are resident applies for asylum
Refugee - someone who has emigrated from their country of ordinary residence because they have a well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion and has been granted asylum
HELPFUL ORGANISATIONS
Refugee Action www.refugee-action.org.uk
Amnesty International www.amnesty.org
Association of Visitors to Immigration detainees www.aviddetention.org.uk
Asylum Aid www.asylumaid.org.uk
Churches Commission for Racial Justice www.ccrj.org.uk
Home Office www.homeoffice.gov.uk
House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights: Fourteenth Report
/www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200304/jtselect/jtrights/130/13002.htm
Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org
Immigration Advisory Service www.iasuk.org
Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture www.torturecare.org.uk
Refugee Council www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
Shelter www.shelter.org.uk
United Nations High Commission for Refugees www.unhcr.ch
The Methodist Church is not responsible for the content of external sites. Links are provided for research and information and do not imply our approval.
Material collated by the Rev Terence Young, Superintendent Methodist Minister in the Darwen Churches Partnership