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CWS/IRP Offers Resources for World Refugee Day, June 20, 2006
Maryan, Halima, and Khadija, daughters of Hassan Dayow, Somali Bantu family resettled in the U.S. with the help of CWS.
Photo: Lutheran Family Services
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Christians' involvement in refugee assistance is well grounded in the central theme of biblical hospitality -- welcoming the stranger. The Bible is clear: God loves and cares for refugees and wants us to do the same. That theme is lifted up in resources offered by the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program (CWS/IRP) for observances of World Refugee Day, June 20.
World Refugee Day is an annual global observance, designated by the United Nations. CWS/IRP encourages congregations and other groups to take time on or around June 20 to remember that some 33 million people in our world are forcibly uprooted from their homes, and to work so that refugees can return home or find new homes safe from persecution and violence. For such observances, CWS/IRP offers a congregational bulletin insert and worship resources.
The bulletin insert/flyer tells the story of Somali Bantu refugees Buley Dure and her husband, Hassan Dayow, now living in Columbia, S.C., with their four daughters. It offers "Refugee Facts," the U.N. definition of "refugee," and information about the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program. The worship resources include a call to worship, invocation, Scripture selections and a benediction.
CWS/IRP and member denominations provide help and homes to refugees, and work to build a hospitable community in the United States for uprooted people. Since 1946, CWS has helped more than 450,000 refugees begin new lives in the United States, and continues to resettle about 8,000 refugees and Cuban and Haitian entrants each year, with congregations and affiliate agencies providing services locally. In refugee camps in Africa and Asia, CWS provides health care and post-primary education through its Durable Solutions for Displaced People program, and spiritual care for immigrant detainees through its Religious Services Program.
For more information, visit the CWS/IRP website or phone CWS/IRP at 212-870-3300.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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