The Ghimires, Bhutanese refugees resettled from Nepal to Lancaster , Pa. CWS photo.

 What does it mean to be “home?”  

Forced to leave their native Bhutan in 1992 because of government persecution of the country’s ethnic Nepali minority, the Ghimire family spent 17 years as refugees in Nepal .  They had a roof over their head, but they were not “home.”  Nepal kept them confined to a camp, dependent on food rations and unable to work legally.  

In 2009, the U.S. refugee program resettled them to Lancaster , Pennsylvania , where Church World Service found and furnished an apartment for them.  CWS also started them on their way to recovering a sense of home by helping them learn their way around Lancaster , make friends, and find work, educational opportunities and ways to contribute to their new community.  

Like the exiles in Babylon, described in Jeremiah 29: 4-7 and 11, the Ghimires are able to “plant gardens and eat what they produce,” seek the welfare of their new city, and envision a future with hope.  

Invocation  

Caring God, in our worship today may we find the warm embrace of your love; a love that offers security; a love that makes us feel at home; a love that offers hope.  May your Spirit dwell among us and guide our meditations as we focus on the hopes and dreams of people seeking refuge.   

Prayer  

In this time of quietness, we lift our petitions to you, O God.  Around the world we hear the cries of fathers and mothers without homes or hospitable communities where they can raise their children in safety and peace.  We see refugees fleeing war and persecution for unknown destinations, hoping to find safety in unfamiliar lands.  

Strengthen us to welcome refugees who seek safety and home in our community.  Through our care and concern, through our sharing of the bounty that we have received, may all refugees one day be at home and be able to live for a blessed future. Amen.  

Scripture: Jeremiah 29: 4-7, 11  

Benediction  

For the world’s refugees, we have prayed.  For the world’s refugees, we have remembered the journey.  For the world’s refugees, we have opened our homes.  Give each of those persons who are displaced a safe place of refuge where a future with hope may be realized.  Let them no longer live in exile but truly have a place to call home.  Amen.  

To learn how you can help welcome refugees to your community, please contact your member communion or:  

CHURCH WORLD SERVICEIMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROGRAM
www.churchworldservice.org/Immigration
212-870-3300

Darfuri refugees in Chad .  Photo by Kendra Rinas.

 2010 World Refugee Day Theme: Home  

Driven from their homes by armed conflict and persecution, refugees flee in search of safety.  Many take shelter in camps.  Many will get stuck there.  Some will be able to return to their countries after conditions improve.  A few will be able to integrate into their host country or resettle to a third country, such as the United States .   

Finding a sense of home in a new country is a long-term process.  It involves not just finding housing, learning English and getting a job, but also becoming a participating member of a new community.  This process of integrating includes adaption of both refugees and host communities.  

U.S. congregations and communities can help refugees “come home.”  Contact Church World Service, your communion or your local refugee resettlement agency to volunteer.  And urge your members of Congress to support such legislation as the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 (S. 3113).  The Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121) can connect you to your Senators and Representative.

Who is a Refugee?  

A refugee is a person who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”  

Defined at the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees

 Refugee Facts  

Sources: Church World Service, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre , U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.  

Church World Service  

Church World Service and participating communions work together to protect and assist uprooted people worldwide.  CWS provides help and homes to refugees, resettling about 8,000 refugees and entrants in the United States every year.  Congregations and affiliate agencies provide services locally.  Around the world, CWS helps meet the needs of people in protracted refugee situations through its Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons program.  CWS also promotes policies and practices that foster fairness, support, and welcome for the uprooted.  For more information, contact your communion or:  

CHURCH WORLD SERVICEIMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROGRAM
www.churchworldservice.org/Immigration
212-870-3300

Leading Churches in Green Pastures-Caring for Creation Conference at Camp Fowler
Hit’s Home: Inspires and Encourages Action
May 23-25, 2010  
·I appreciated the openness, the sense of shared purpose!  

·Most valuable to me? Learning and thinking about these issues in such a lovely place  

·Knowledge and leadership from leaders who have themselves spent years learning/teaching about these issues  

·Everything-the presenters, the space, the networking, the “playing together”  

·I got so many ideas I could take back to my church-worship was beautiful  

All the workshops offered direct application. There were resources and ideas for individual and congregational use about organic gardening, eating locally, choosing energy efficiency, preaching the caring of creation and micro farming.  

The inspiring presentations by our authors, our thoughtful and rich worships, our times to rest, play, converse and reflect all combined to immerse us in the focus of

caring for creation. The stewardship of creation is a call we gladly accept in gratitude to our Creator God.  

This opportunity was provided in conjunction with Camp Fowler, The Classis Ministries Board of Albany Synod, the RCA, and the Episcopal Church. This ecumenical experience is a good indicator that we can, will and must address

issues central to caring  for God’s world and each other.  

Thanks go to all who presented at the event and helped make this conference a reality!