The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) together with the Refugee Highway Partnership encourages Churches around the world to participate in this year’s World Refugee Sunday which will be observed on the two consecutive Sundays of June 17 and 24, 2012.
The event which is based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:35,40: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me! …Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of my brethren you did it to me” aims to raise awareness and call believers “to remember and discern how to actively love more than 42 million forcibly displaced people in the world.”
Refugees are the people forced to flee their country because they have been persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. Today, every second there are people fleeing from their homes and cities seeking safe havens.
The Refugee Highway Partnership (RHP) was originally launched as a cooperative network within the WEA in 2001 and is now a worldwide community of Christians who share a commitment to welcome and serve refugees. The RHP also desires to see the church become more actively involved in refugee ministry.
“Refugees seek for protection and acceptance to build their life, but in reality they often experience social exclusion, largely by being ignored, marginalised or barred by country borders,” the RHP writes.
Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the WEA, says: “The church around the world needs to walk with the millions of people who travel the Refugee Highway. I urge all churches to actively participate in this year’s World Refugee Sunday.”
The RHP offers many quality resources to help observe these important Sundays of the year. Please visit www.refugeehighway.net/events/world-refugee-sunday for small group resources, prayer guides, and posters to pass along to friends. There are also World Refugee Sunday Updates on the website as churches and organizations from around the world share how they are observing this Sunday.
For more information, go to www.refugeehighway.net or “Like” RHP’s Facebook page where more updates will be shared.
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