Refugee settlement - the result of war. Photo - Steve Taylor/NCCUMC

Each year people all over the world recognize World Refugee Day. World Refugee Day encourages us to prayerfully reflect on the lives of refugees, and raise awareness in our communities and congregations about refugee resettlement.

UMCOR, together with congregations and the Church World Service resettlement network across the country, has developed a series of World Refugee Day materials that can be accessed online and downloaded. There is a church bulletin insert for use on Sunday June 19, the day before World Refugee Day. Additionally, you can arrange to make an announcement about World Refugee Day during worship or another church gathering. Your church may also consider planning a worship service around the theme of refugees. You can download the poster and other materials here.

We need YOUR HELP to get the word out about these materials so please forward this email to your networks, colleagues, pastors and friends. We hope that you will make every effort to lift up this important day at your worship service on Sunday June 19^th.

Do you have an idea for raising awareness in your congregation about refugees? Is there a way that UMCOR might be able to help? Please don’t hesitate to contact us at UMCORRefugee@gbgm-umc.org or 212-870-3888. The more we hear from you, the better!

Woman receives assistance from JFON case worker

Today’s 10-Fold ministry is UMCOR’s Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON) Program, a ministry that welcomes immigrants into our churches and communities by providing free, high-quality immigration legal services, education, and advocacy.  Simply by following the link “Be counted” and submitting, $1 will be donated to the ministry by today’s sponsor.

Motivated by Christian values of love, justice, and compassion, JFON serves Read more »

Jesus says, “I was a stranger … and you welcomed me.”  Such is the work of UMCOR’s Justice for Our Neighbors Ministry.  Here is one small portrait of such love in action:

Michael Fombang was 12 years old and orphaned by war in the Democratic Republic of Congo when he fled the country in 2001.  He worked on freighters that traveled the world. When one of these docked in the Great Lakes in 2005, Michael was detained by US immigration authorities. He was classified a stowaway and inadmissible to the US except to pursue asylum status. Read more »

Over and over, we hear God’s call to “love the immigrant as you love yourself” (Lev. 19:34) and to “welcome the foreigner” as we welcome Jesus (Matt. 25:35).

Today we hear a lot about immigration, but we don’t always have the chance to hear directly from the families at the heart of the story.

The NC Council of Churches is sponsoring screenings of “Brother Towns” across the state – and you’re invited!  Join us for an evening with local filmmaker Charles Thompson as we explore faith, family and immigration through the eyes of inhabitants from two interlinked towns. Read more »

Bishop Gwinn, Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño (Desert Southwest Conference), and the Council of Bishops asks all United Methodists to join them as a committed people in the fight for comprehensive, just, and Christ-centered, immigration reform.   In such manner, all United Methodist are invited to participate in the Isaiah 58 National Solidarity Vigil and Fast that will begin on June 6, 2010 and continue with constant prayer and public witness through July 28.  The North Carolina Conference prayer and action will take place on week 7, July 18-24. During the week, congregations are invited to in constant prayer and action.  Possibilities include taking prayers to the streets, standing as witnesses outside the statehouse, detention center, school, and other places where the brokenness of our immigration system is most apparent.  For more information, please see:  National Solidarity Vigil and Fast For information on the United Methodist stance on just and comprehensive immigration reform, please see: Immigration Reform

You can download an excellent free Christ-centered immigration reform study-guide, “For You Once Were a Stranger” at:  Christian Immigration Study.