This morning, Birgit and I participated in a weekly protest outside the ministry that handles Asylum seekers and refugees. With signs reading “Asyl ist Menschenrecht” (Asylum is a human right) and “Kein Mensch ist Illegal” (No human is illegal) we, with two men (whose names I did not completely catch: One was a two syllable name starting with E, but I can’t remember it. Names are driving me slowly crazy!) stood outside the ministry and passed out flyers to people coming there with the addresses of organizations that provide legal services and medical services.
As Birgit points out, people don’t generally leave home unless something really bad is going on there, and most refugees are fleeing really bad stuff. Surely the ones living with me these three weeks are. They come from Algeria, Afghanistan, Syria, they are fleeing destruction, the breakdown of their society, and even abuse in some cases. There are more, but I am not sure of all of them. They are full of worry about family left behind, or family that is dealing with immigration in other parts of the world, or even just people that are now very far from them. They come with nothing, and need to build their lives, usually alone, from scratch.
I am reminded these days that we are in the US facing an influx of refugees. How can my churches help support people coming from the war in Afghanistan? How can we perhaps be part of a team that helps people arriving with nothing get on their feet and live in a totally new reality, as refugees. It’s a hard question, and the politics of this world have produced so many refugees in this century and the last. I say, today a prayer for all of them, that God, however recognized or honored (or not) may walk with them through these frightening times.
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