Posts Tagged ‘Refugee Resources’
20 Ways to Learn More About Refugees
Around the world, 103 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes â the highest number in recorded history. Of those, 32.5 million are considered refugees, having fled across an international border due to war, violence, conflict or persecution.
Thatâs millions of mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, teachers, doctors and friends â each created in the image of God â with full lives and identities long before they became refugees.
As we enter World Refugee Awareness Month and look toward World Refugee Day on June 20th, weâve compiled a list of books, podcasts, videos and more to help answer your questions about refugees. As you engage with and share these resources, we hope youâll be inspired to join us in creating a world where everyone can thrive.Â
READ
Some advocates have described Jesus as a refugee. But was he really? World Relief CEO Myal Greene tackles that question and how the answer should shape the Christian response to refugees and other vulnerable immigrants.
Blog: Drivers of Mass Displacement
People are displaced from their homes for myriad reasons, including persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and climate-related factors. World Reliefâs Lydia Dawson explains the drivers of mass displacement and how World Relief is responding globally.
Blog: Worth the Wait: A Story of Faith, Perseverance and Love, Despite the Odds
For seven years, Congolese refugees (and newlyweds!) Mbimbi and Goreth didnât know if they would ever see each other again. Read their story to learn more about the challenges and uncertainties that many refugees face as they rebuild.
Book: Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church
U.S. churches are at a critical crossroads â blurred lines between discipleship and partisanship have compromised our witness and confused our national and individual responses to refugees and âthe stranger.â In their book, pastor Eric Costanzo, missiologist Daniel Yang and World Relief’s Matthew Soerens find hope in the witness of global Christians, the poor and the ancient church.
Book: Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration
Karen GonzĂĄlez invites Christians passionate about serving immigrants to explore how we can create welcoming communities that put our immigrant neighbors at the center of the conversation.
Book: Everything Sad is Untrue: (a true story)
Following his motherâs vocal embrace of Christianity, Daniel Nayeri, his mother and his sister were forced to flee Iran. In this memoir, he retells the tales of his familyâs history from his perspective as a misfit middle schooler in Oklahoma.
Book: The Girl Who Smiled Beads
When Clementine was six years old, she and her 15-year-old sister, Clair, fled the massacre that was happening in their home country of Rwanda. In this riveting memoir, Clementine tells their story of rebuilding and reclaiming life on their own terms.
LISTEN
This World Relief mini-series offers a global and a biblical perspective on the subjects of immigration, mass displacement and refugee resettlement, diving into current policies and practices and sharing stories of our collective human experience.
This six-part series traces the U.S. refugee resettlement journey through the eyes of those directly experiencing it. Follow along as each episode brings the listener into the daily lives of refugees adjusting to life in the U.S.
Podcast Episode: Holly Andrews on How the Church Can Walk Alongside Refugees
In episode 4 of our Forward Together podcast series, Holly Andrews explains how churches can use the resources they already have to help refugees and other immigrants rebuild their lives.
WATCH
TEDx Talk: One Refugeeâs Life Experience | Come Nzibarega
Born and raised in Burundi, Come Nzibarega shares his story of escaping torture and civil war and why he thinks refugee camps are the richest places in the world.
For Ibrahimâs family, the road to resettlement, reunion and rebuilding has been long. Learn more about the obstacles families like his can face as they seek safety.
Video: Who are Refugees and How Do They Arrive in the United States?
From flight and displacement to arrival and integration, this 7-minute animated video tells the true story of a refugee familyâs experience in each stage of the refugee resettlement process.
STUDY
World Relief Workshop Course: Intro to Resettlement
Have you ever wondered what actually happens in the resettlement process or what a resettlement agency does? This FREE, 45-minute course will answer those questions and explain how you and your community can support refugees resettling in the U.S.
World Relief Workshop Course: Navigating Friendships
Navigating friendships with those who are different from us can be rewarding â and challenging! In this self-paced, online course youâll learn essential skills for building empowering, long-lasting friendships with those who may differ from you in culture, socioeconomic status and religion, and best practices for supporting a friend who lives with trauma. During the month of June, enroll for 50% off with code WORLDREFUGEEDAY50.
Bible Study: Christ Like Welcome
Jesus astonished the culture around him by giving voice to the speechless, frustrating the powerful and humbling the wise. In this 5-week study from our partners at Women of Welcome, learn how your welcome can become like his â wonderfully surprising, deeply challenging and firmly rooted in love.
Bible Reading Plan: The I Was a Stranger Challenge
Take the challenge and discover Godâs heart for those who have been displaced. Over the course of 40 days, read one Bible passage a day that speaks to Godâs love for foreigners and refugees.
FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Childrenâs Book: Marisolâs Dress
In the midst of a revolution, young Marisol is forced to flee the life she knows and loves in vibrant Cuba. In this beautifully illustrated book, Emily Ozier follows her mother and grandmother as they journey to the U.S., facing challenges and celebrating along the way.
Childrenâs Book: My Two Blankets
When Cartwheel moves to a new country as a refugee, everything is strange: the animals, the plants, even the wind. An old blanket comforts her when sheâs sad, and a new blanket just might change her world. A story about leaving home, arriving in a foreign land and finding a new friend.
For parents and teachers wondering how to talk about mass displacement with children and teens, the UN Refugee Agency offers teaching materials on refugees, asylum and migration, as well as guidance for teachers working with refugee children in the classroom.
Are you ready to take the next step towards creating a more welcoming and just world for refugees and other vulnerable immigrants? Learn how you can join us today.
Karen Spencer is World Relief’s U.S. Marketing Partner and serves U.S. offices in the area of identity and messaging. She previously served as Mobilization Director for World Relief in Memphis, where she lives. She is a connector of people, places, passions and purpose.
Kelly Hill serves as a Content Writer at World Relief and previously served as Volunteer Services Manager at World Relief Triad in North Carolina. With a background in International and Intercultural Communication, she is passionate about the power of story to connect people of diverse experiences.
World Relief Strongly Condemns the Trump Administration for its Reported Plan to Abandon Persecuted Christians and Other Refugees
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
July 18, 2019
CONTACT:
Lauren Carl
carl@pinkstongroup.com
703-388-6734
World Relief Strongly Condemns the Trump Administration for its Reported Plan to Abandon Persecuted Christians and Other Refugees
BALTIMORE, Md. â Today, POLITICO reported that the Trump administration is considering zeroing out the number of refugees resettled in 2020. World Relief strongly condemns this proposal.
âThe U.S. refugee resettlement and placement program is the crown jewel of Americaâs humanitarian program,â commented World Relief President Scott Arbeiter. âThe worldâs need is clear: With over 70 million displaced persons, including over 25 million refugees, we are in the middle of the worst refugee crisis in recorded history. Our national commitment to welcoming refugees goes back at least to the era of World War II, when Jewish men, women and children displaced by the Nazis often had no safe place to which to flee. In the years that followed, the U.S. committed itself to protecting those forced to flee persecution, offering safety and religious freedom to some of the worldâs most vulnerable refugees, who have become grateful Americans â and who give back to this country many times over. We must not abandon this stabilizing role or those in desperate situations and in need of a safe haven.â
The historic norm for refugee resettlement as set by the annual Presidential Determination (PD) averages between 75,000-95,000. The current PD of 30,000 is abhorrently low, and it does not reflect either Americaâs commitment or ability to meet the global need through its current infrastructure of refugee resettlement agencies. World Relief is asking the administration to welcome 95,000 refugees in FY2020 which would be more in line with an appropriate global response to the refugee crisis.
âThe president has promised again and again to protect persecuted Christians, and refugee resettlement is an essential tool to achieve that end,â said World Relief CEO Tim Breene, noting that the number of persecuted Christians being resettled to the U.S. has declined dramatically in recent years, and now could be reduced to zero. âAmericans of faith should recognize and respond to this assault on our call to protect the âleast of theseâ â especially as a country where most citizens profess to be Christians. The United States used to be a leader in refugee resettlement but has fallen behind Canada, for example, which has a ninth of our population, in resettling refugees. We at World Relief pledge to continue to stand with refugees.â
While reports that the president is considering a PD as low as zero are credible, the final decision is usually not made until shortly before the beginning of the federal Fiscal Year on October 1, and there is still time for Americans to make their voices heard. World Relief is challenging those who care for refugees to speak out now, insisting to our elected officials that they not end this life-saving program.
Download the PDF version of this press release.
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About World Relief:
World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization that seeks to overcome violence, poverty and injustice. Through love in action, we bring hope, healing and restoration to millions of the worldâs most vulnerable women, men and children through vital and sustainable programs in disaster response, health and child development, economic development and peacebuilding, as well as refugee and immigration services in the U.S. For 75 years, weâve partnered with churches and communities, currently across more than 20 countries, to provide relief from suffering and help people rebuild their lives.
Learn more at worldrelief.org.