Refugees
- Refugees are people who run away from their mother country to other countries to save their lives.
- People run away from their countries when there are wars or natural disasters such as famine, floods or earthquakes.
- Sometimes these refugees move to very strange lands and they may find communication a problem due to the language barrier.
- They also find it difficult to settle down.
- Jesus Christ was a refugee in Egypt. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take the baby Jesus and His mother to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill Him (Matthew 2:13-14).
- We have refugees in Kenya from neighbouring countries like Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia.
- In Kenya we have many church organisations working together to help refugees.
- These church organisations include:
a) National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK). The member churches here are the Anglican Church of Kenya, Africa Inland Church, Presbyterian Church of East Africa, Seventh Day Adventist and the Kenya Episcopal Conference, which is a body of Catholic Bishops of Kenya. The NCCK deals with counselling, allowances, medical care and shelter for the destitute.
b) Kenya Education Council (KEC), through the Kenya Catholic Secretariat (KCS), deals with providing formal education.
How can we help the refugees?
(Matthew 5:16)
- We can help refugees find their way around. We can show them where they can buy food and get affordable housing and clothes.
- We can visit them and play with their children.
- We can also pray for them.
- We can provide them with medical care.
- The government can also employ professionals from amongst the refugees to help them earn a living.
