We're sharing the blessing of a beautiful country

Between 2004 and 2005, the Federal Government allowed 13,000 people to enter Australia on humanitarian grounds.

Even after asylum seekers like these 13,000 have been successful in gaining refugee status, they face many hardships.

The adjustment to a new country, racism and the threat of rejection by the local community are but a few problems they face.

The Uniting Church is committed to helping refugees overcome these obstacles.
Anyone can help with this task.

In July 2000, the Ninth Assembly of the Uniting Church resolved to "encourage members, agencies, congregations and councils of the Uniting Church to welcome recently arrived refugees into their communities and to provide support and advocacy as they are able."

Jesmond Park Uniting is one of the churches responding to that call.

Located in the Hunter region, the congregation is involved in helping refugees settle into their new surroundings. This includes child care for mothers going to TAFE to learn English, an all-age soccer team entered in the local churches' soccer competition, HELP, a Homework and English Literacy Program for primary school children, and a youth group predominantly made of African children.

According to congregation minister the Rev. Maz Smith, the church "felt God has blessed them with a beautiful free country to live in, many possessions and security. They were willing to share that blessing with others."

Christ's compassion

Dapto in the Illawarra district is another area where refugees have found support from the local congregation.

In May 2005, Chinese couple Edward and Carol Lo were threatened with deportation. They had arrived in Australia illegally 17 years previously and unsuccessfully applied for refugee status.

Their two sons aged 11 and 13 were Australian citizens and would have been separated from their parents. Thanks to the advocacy of the Rev. Owen Lukins, the couple were able to stay.

Mr Lukins said that advocating on the couple's behalf was a matter of showing Christ's compassion.

"The two children were caught up in something not of their own doing," he said. "They were already suffering as they faced up to the upheaval of … being separated from their parents."

As these examples show, work on behalf of refugees takes a variety of forms. Mr Lukins said individuals should discern if they were called to do such work.

"Anyone can write a letter of support, but some people will be called to go a lot further by getting alongside refugees in practical ways," Mr Lukins said.

"I don't believe every church member will be called to get directly involved in the area of advocacy for refugees but, as with any area of ministry, we should all be open to the possibility," he said.

Profound experience

This call recently led Nick Kerr to leave his position at the South Australian Synod's Communications Unit in order to work with Adelaide's Sudanese refugees as a deacon.

Mr Kerr first encountered the plight of these refugees ten years ago when he was writing stories about them. Since then, he has made several trips to Africa with Christian World Aid.

"The experience of just being with people - in Sudan itself, in refugee camps, in the slums of Kenya - well, it really was profound," Mr Kerr said.

His travels also took him to the world's biggest hospital for war wounded, near the Sudan border, and put him in contact with former child soldiers and slaves.

"You can't experience that sort of thing and not be changed," he said.

"People are facing very real human need. There's urgency about showing Christ's love and compassion in action. If we're to be true to Christ, we must get involved."
Many of those who have worked on behalf of refugees say political awareness is not a necessity.

"I am not a very political person at all," Mr Lukins told Insights. "It was very much a 'learn as you go' approach for me."

"I'd say it's more important to be genuine, receptive, welcoming and human than to be politically aware," Mr Kerr added.

"The important thing is to respect and value other people and their experiences - and be ready to listen, to broaden your own attitudes and understanding, and enlarge your own experience."

No barriers

Mr Kerr told Insights that differences in viewpoints were likewise no barrier to Christians' ability to cooperate on refugee issues.

"This is an area where Christians can work together. There are no theological barriers in this work."

Mr Lukins said that his own theology was challenged as a result of his experiences of the refugees' fight to stay in Australia.

"Theologically I could possibly be branded 'conservative evangelical' but, increasingly as a pastor reaching out to the community, I have come to recognise the importance of being a voice for justice.

"Not only do individual people need to be transformed by the gospel, but the structures of our society that impact on the lives of many people possibly need to be transformed as well."

Difficult challenges

Advocating on refugee's behalf is hard work.

For refugees, the process of beginning a new life in Australia can be an alienating one.

They struggle to get to grips with their new surroundings.

Mr Kerr said he knew refugees who described themselves as "lost".
"The culture is so different," he said. "Family life is so different. The church is so different. Many are getting into difficulties of various sorts - and they often don't understand what's happening."

Racism directed towards refugees furthers this sense of alienation.
According to Ms Smith, Newcastle's "very small international population" ensured that the Sudanese refugees stood out.

"With such a huge cultural adjustment to make and so many things they could get wrong it was important they have some 'shepherds' and defenders," she said.
"When the racism boiled over, the churches and others were there alongside the African community."

Perhaps the most difficult challenge is the possibility of a refugee being deported.
Mr Lukins said that trying to prevent that from happening to the Lo family taught him perseverance.

"I found it was important not to give up," he said. "We were taken to the very brink before the breakthrough took place - a matter of a few days before the parents were due to fly out. They had already arranged their tickets."

The rewards

While stressful, work with refugees can be highly rewarding.

"This group of people has taught us more than we could have imagined," Ms Smith said.

"We have made mistakes and they have been gracious and patient with us. Our mission plan was hijacked and our congregation looks completely different but we are really pleased that it does."

Mr Lukins also said working on behalf of refugees was rewarding.
"It is both humbling and sobering to realise that our advocacy may be the key to a refugee finding a home in Australia, a country that so many people in the world long to live in," he said.

For churches working on behalf of refugees, help is needed in a wide range of roles. Ms Smith said that Jesmond Park Uniting was looking for others to become involved in the HELP program, which takes in other kids from a local primary school. She said they were always looking for tutors.

"We would expand into high school support and English spelling and reading practice for women," she said. "We'd also love to have youth group leaders so that we could rotate leadership and someone to manage the soccer team."

Jonathan Foye