“An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.” (Matthew 2:13-15)

While  he was still a young child, Jesus became a refugee. Jesus, his mother, Mary, and Joseph had the experience of being dispossessed and marginalized as aliens in a foreign land.  They had to flee in the middle of the night to save their lives.

Like the experience of  Mary and Joseph, the stories we  hear from refugees often reflect the “immediacy” of their departure. When the rebels arrive there is no time to return to their house, or even to find their family. They just run to save their life.

The amazing thing is that Jesus understands this. This Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, take time to meditate on the fact that when Jesus chose to enter our world He came as a refugee.

You have probably heard of IQ (intelligence quotient) or EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) but have you heard of CQ (cultural intelligence quotient)? A cultural intelligence quotient ” measures the ability to effectively reach across the chasm of cultural difference in ways that are loving and respectful” says David Livermore in his   book “Cultural Intelligence- improving your CQ to engage our multicultural world” . This book is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to grow in relating cross-culturally.  Livermore aims to help christian leaders become more multicultural people so that we might better express love cross-culturally.

On David Livermores’ blog is a link to an interesting on-line tool that actually helps you assess your own cultural intelligence. If you want to try it go to: http://davidlivermore.com/cq

There is a great learning opportunity coming up on OCTOBER 23-24th 2009. International Teams is hosting a 2 day leadership conference on “glocal” (global and local) training for missional leaders.

DAVID LIVERMORE, will be the keynote speaker. He is a gifted communicator with a wealth of knowledge in the whole area of cultural intelligence. (If you haven’t read his book “Serving with Eyes Wide Open” you need to!)  This year he will introduce us to best practices for connecting across any cultural divide including national , ethnic, and organizational cultures.

There will also be several breakout sessions including:

• churches working together “glocally”
• embracing cultural diversity
• resourcing and fundraising missional activities
• preparing fora successful short term team
• planning for long term impact

I think it will be great learning day for all those interested in cross-cultural ministry. Please consider joining us.

For full event details and to register online visit: go2learn.iteams.ca or call International Teams Canada at 1 -800-465-7601 (toll free) . The conference is being held in Waterloo, ON. The registration deadline is October 16th and the cost is $50.

There will be a group from Hamilton going so if you are interested and need a ride let us know. Email  alisonjillwitt@gmail.com

IF you haven’t signed up yet- it’s not too late. The 6th annual Ride for Refugees happens here in Hamilton in just a couple weeks (Oct 3rd). The Ride for Refugees is a growing worldwide movement of people riding bikes, raising money, and advocating for refugees. Register yourself, lead a team, give generously or volunteer. Go to www.rideforrefugees.com for more info.

June 21st has been designated World Refugee Sunday by the World Evangelical Alliance.

We encourage you to consider including the forcefully displaced in our world today in your worship that day. Some ideas:

• Consider including them in your prayers during your worship service(s)
• Consider having your Sunday morning educational classes (aka Sunday School) to explore a biblical story about forcefully uprooted people (see “Refugees in the Bible” below for some ideas).
• Consider raising awareness of this global issue during your worship using one or more of the following resources:
  • Refugees in the Bible (27 kb)
  • Snapshot of Refugee Realities on the Refugee Highway Today (216 kb)
  • Understanding the Basic Terminology of Forced Displacement (519 kb or 77 kb)
• Consider asking a refugee or former refugee that is part of your fellowship to share their story of displacement with the church
• Consider including a note about World Refugee Sunday in your bulletin and other church publications
• Consider downloading and playing Hold On – a 5 minute musical prayer for uprooted people in the world during your offetory, prelude or postlude. Download Hold On by choosing a resolution and clicking a link below. QuickTime player required to view:
  • high resolution (126 MB)
  • medium resolution (42 MB)
• Consider downloading and playing “The Orphan, Widow and Alien“, a 3 minute interview from International Teams about the mandate of God’s people to love the refugee. Note: .mp4 file -QuickTime or iTunes Player required to view.
• Consider encouraging other pastors and churches you know about World Refugee Day
• Consider coming up with some better ideas and resources!

Take a look at www.refugeehighway.net, the official website of the Refugee Highway Partnership (WEA) for more resources to help churches observe this day.

Mark your calendars now! This October 3rd, join your friends and community in the 6th annual Ride for Refugees. It’s a growing worldwide movement of people riding bikes, raising money and advocating for refugees.

Keep checking the website rideforrefugees.com for more details. As the time gets closer there will be more up-to-the-minute news and resources posted there. By participating in the Ride for Refugees, you can involve your friends, family, church or work-mates in raising much needed dollars  for the unique needs of refugees along the refugee highway, including refugee resettlement in Hamilton.

Register yourself, lead a team, give generously or volunteer. Please join us – Every Mile Matters.

Refugee Sunday this year falls on June 22nd. This is a great time to share with your congregation about the global refugee situtation. There are some great resources available to help you do that- from bulletin inserts, to prayers, to videos. Check them out and use them to educate, and inspire your church.  http://refugeehighway.net/

This is a unique blog featuring some incredible photos and reflections from people living in one of the refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.

Mae La Refugee Camp is home to over 45,000 refugees from Burma. Ethnic Karen make up 97% of the people living in Mae La.  Mae La established in 1984 is home to an entire generation of people in their 20s who have lived their whole lives in refugee camps. There are 26 schools, 5 community libraries, 24 churches, 5 mosques and 4 Buddhist monasteries inside the camp. Most of Mae La is surrounded by barbed wire and residents have restricted movement outside the camp.

 UNSEENWORLD is an innovative international arts project for workers and refugees to describe their lives through photography.

http://unseenmaela.blogspot.com/

Go see the movie Kite Runner. I suspect it will have a limited engagement in Hamilton. It is an excellent movie and gives some great insights into the experiences of Afghan refugees.

Here’s a link to an article that was recently published by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. It has some good challenges for our churches. Let us continue to spur one another on to the joys and challenges of interacting with refugees in our city.

How Churches can welcome the stranger

The Canadian Council for Refugees recently won in their legal challenge of the Safe Third Country Agreement at the Federal Court.  This is quite a surprise decision, and a very hopeful sign. This decision does not change the situation at the border, where the Safe Third Country Agreement will continue to apply for the time being. The final outcome is still uncertain, since of course the government is likely to be appealing the decision.

Arriving in Hamilton in mid-December is not much fun for refugees. The cold weather is a big shock to the system. However, at last week’s welcome circle the warm hospitality inside the Vine seemed to help. TrueCity volunteers had the privilege of partnering with SISO to welcome 45 newly arrived government sponsored refugees from Burma, Eritrea, and Afghanistan.  With the help of 3 translators we were able to let these newcomers know how glad we are that they have come to Hamilton.

It is so humbling to see the joy with which the simple welcome baskets are received. One family from Afghanistan took me aside and told me how happy they were to be here, and how these gifts were so special. The gifts are very small, but they convey a significant message- you are wanted here. After years of being on the move, and living in places where they are not wanted we cannot underestimate the value of that message.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Ride for Refugees on Oct 13th. It was a great day. No rain. Over a 100 riders in Hamilton. And thousands of dollars raised for refugee ministries here in Hamilton and around the globe. The final tally has not been made yet- but between the 3 sites (Waterloo, Brantford and Hamilton) we are over $225,000.

A big THANKS to Philpott Church for being the official hosts. They  did an amazing job.

The plan is to do it again next year. So we hope we will see even more Hamilton area churches on their bikes riding on behalf of the 30 million displaced people in our world.

Please join us for a great learning opportunity.

Saturday October 27th
9:30-11:30 am
“The Vine”  corner of Vine St. & Park St. N
 Light refreshments will be served

Presenter: Jeremiah Eastman LLB Immigration Lawyer (and former lawyer with the federal department of Citizenship and Immigration)  Jeremiah is a refugee lawyer who previously worked for Immigration. His unique experiences and knowledge will make for a fascinating discussion. Together we hope to learn more about the Canadian immigration system  so that we can better serve refugees in Hamilton.To learn more about Jeremiah click on this link:
 http://www.carters.ca/lawyers/jeastman.html

I just watched the movie “God Grew Tired Of Us“. It’s a great documentary chronicling the journeys of 3 young Sudanese men as they fled their home in Sudan, spent a decade in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, and finally were resettled in cities across the USA. It is definitely worth seeing. I recommend this file for anyone who wants to better understand the huge adjustments refugees face in coming to North America. Of course, not all refugees are coming from such radically different cultures. But many are. I think the experience of the Sudanese Lost Boys has many similarities to the Karen people coming from refugee camps in Thailand. They face many of the same hurdles.

So go to your local video store and rent this movie. Or maybe you can convince your church library to buy it! It will be a good investment.