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Church World Service: Help and Hope
William Sage, Coordinator for International Programs for the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program, introduces the refugee issue to readers. He explains some of the conditions that create refugees and how Church World Service helps churches to make a difference in their lives.
How the New Immigration Law Affects You
Lilia Fernandez of UMCOR helps readers understand the new laws that affect immigrants in the United States. Today's headlines are full of stories in which immigrants receive no fair hearing; families are split apart, with some members deported; visas are denied; and assumptions are made by officers at the border. These laws may affect your friends, family, or neighbors. They've already affected some of ours. They also affect you because they limit the powers of the federal courts, unbalancing the balance of powers in the US Constitution.
Dr. Randolph Nugent, General Secretary of the GBGM, surveys the kind of mission movement needed today, while spotlighting the work of UMCOR in Bosnia and Congo (the former Zaire).
Crossing Into Mexico: Heading North
Paul Jeffrey visited the Guatemala/Mexico border to tell the story of how refugees cross the Suchiate River. Central Americans are only a few of the refugees who cross this border, hoping eventually to make their way through Mexico and into the United States. Refugees from China, Europe, Africa, and many other countries can be found here, searching for safe passage. Jeffrey writes about their perils along the way.
Meet two families from different parts of Africa now resettled in the United States with the help of United Methodist congregations. The Duoa family, refugees from Liberia in Côte d'Ivoire, miraculously won a lottery visa to come to the United States. But, without the help of strangers, the Duoas could not afford the journey or guarantee that they would have a sponsor in the United States. UMCOR, the Morford family, and First United Methodist Church of Santa Rosa came to their aid.
The Libah family are Benadirs from Somalia. They had to flee Somalia for Mombasa, Kenya, when their people became the target for religious persecution among various clans. Eleven of the Libah family were resettled in the United States with the help of UMCOR, the Northern Illinois Conference refugee office, and Elmhurst First United Methodist Church.
Ray Sells reports on a trip he took to a Mozambican refugee camp in South Africa with Church World Service. He gives a first-hand look at the conditions faced by refugees who stay in refugee camps.
Denise Johnson Stovall writes about Selemani Ruban Johnson, a young Rwandan boy who was adopted by Mil Dred Johnson. Johnson went to the Zaire refugee camp in Bukavu to volunteer as part of the VIM teams that worked with UMCOR. Selemani's parents and his brother had been killed amidst ethnic fighting. After her time in Bukavu, Johnson said: "I knew that I had to find a way to get that boy home."
The Rio Grande Conference, one of the United Methodist parish partner conferences, presents its ministries, visions, and needs to New World Outlook readers. Keep informed about the only Spanish-speaking conference in The United Methodist Church.
Two articles inform readers about two Asian populations that have been refugees for a long time but are rarely heard about in the American press. The Chakmas from Bangladesh have lived in northeastern India for more than a decade. This story comes to us from Dr. J. S. Murthy of the Methodist Church of India.
Mel Lehman of Church World Service writes about his visit to the Burma/Thai border where 117,000 Karen refugees from Burma have lived since political unrest and tensions with the government compelled them to move. Their struggles have been going on for nearly two decades.
Eastern European Refugees (Bosnia)
Karen Pass, a member of the First United Methodist Church of Delmar, New York, tells the story of how her congregation answered a call to resettle the Besic family, refugees from Bosnia.
Daycare for Migrant Children in Washington State
The Berry Good School of Skagit Valley, Washington State, is a productive partnership of strawberry growers, migrant workers, and the Burlington United Methodist Church. Patricia Schug of the Pacific-Northwest Conference writes about how migrant children are cared for while their parents work.
Refugee Migrations Map and Chart
Our exclusive New World Outlook map and chart show you the UNHCR figures
about where the top 10 refugee populations are coming from--and where
they are going. You might be surprised about the facts. What's your
guess for the number one refugee population in the world?
For more information regarding refugees, contact:
Lilia Fernandez, Executive Secretary for Refugee Ministries
UMCOR
475 Riverside Drive, Room 330
New York, NY 10115
E-mail: liliaf@gbgm-umc.org
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