Refugee Week Wrap Up
As we emerge from a week focused on celebrating refugees, how will we continue to live out the values of a welcoming community?
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Matthew 5:46-47
I often speak of some of the injustices facing Aboriginal peoples - Stolen Land, Stolen Wages, Stolen Generations. Regularly people respond, “But Brooke, if we acknowledge this I fear that you will want my house.” I find this confronting and confusing. What Aboriginal person do you know has ever asked for your house?
You see, when someone, or a nation, has stolen, they will go to great lengths to protect that which is stolen and often use fear as a tactic. People are often fearful of Aboriginal peoples, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees.
Jesus confronts me each and every day, I call it being unsettled, by the great Un-Settler. It is in the confronting that we learn to love, and through love we find our family is much larger than we could ever imagine. With Jesus we find all peoples are loved and welcome - without condition.
Take Action
Take action by considering what's next. After Refugee Week is over, will you go back to your daily routines, or will you continue looking for ways to welcome?
We invite you to reflect on #RefugeeWeek2020 by listening to Colleen O’Connell’s song “Done you Wrong”.
Welcome means to think broader, to imagine bigger. Welcome means confronting the myths and stereotypes we hear in society to stop us being complicit in systems which are not welcoming.
Share what you’ve learned this Refugee Week in a comment on today’s Common Grace Facebook post or write your own post using the hashtag #RefugeeWeek2020.
Brooke Prentis is an Aboriginal Christian Leader and CEO of Common Grace. Brooke dreams of an Australia built on truth, justice, love, and hope.
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