Tag: WithRefugees

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Call to Action

Dzaleka Refugee Camp. photo credit – Jacob Tornga, IAFR

Tomorrow is World Refugee Day. Yesterday the new statistics came out and the news is not good.

The numbers continue to move upward, now sitting just under 80 million (79.5) people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to human causes. Add a global pandemic, the continuing environmental challenges, and countries adopting policies and tactics to close opportunities for those who are most vulnerable and in desperate need of help.

I am grateful to serve with an organization where every day we get up looking to bring hope and help to those who are struggling to survive and recover from their forced displacement. In light of World Refugee Day, IAFR President Tom Albinson, has published a call to action, especially to the faith community. You can find it here.

In the midst of our challenges and difficulties, let us not forget those traveling the refugee highway.

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Hope

Meeting at Cedarstone Partners – photo credit: Tim Barnes- IAFR

As a smaller mission, we use an outside organization, Cedarstone Partners, to take care of our financial and accounting needs. They have been a great partner over the past 5 years, making it possible for IAFR to grow in scope and impact.

One of their Managing Directors, Lisa reached out to us this week to see how we were doing and how they might help in this turbulent time. So I took the time to give her a snapshot of what we were up to and how we were operating in this time of “Sheltering at Home”.

In my reply, I used this line; “So, though stuck in place, we continue to do our best to take kingdom action as God provides and opens the door.” Her reply to me; “This line is hope.”

As we are bombarded with bad news and overwhelming circumstances, hope feels in short supply. But as I was recently reminded by a refugee pastor friend, “God will be God in all circumstances.” May this bring hope to you as it has in the lives of so many of our brothers and sisters who are displaced around the globe.

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Week 3

I am on my third week of working from home due to our state’s Shelter at Home mandate due to Covid-19. There is both good and bad to this.

The Good – I really do like my home office. As I already work remotely from the IAFR main office located in Minneapolis, my home office is where I started more than 5 1/2 years ago. With windows on two sides, I love the light that streams in on these spring days.

My wife has moved her business into our basement and she and my daughter are keeping very busy, doing their best to keep it sustainable in this challenging time. But we do run into each other regularly, as we navigate up and down the stairs. Being on this journey together, makes it seem more doable.

The Bad – Everything has changed. Yesterday I had to write a difficult letter to one of our partners in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, informing them of an indefinite delay on a project that we are working on together. Canceled travel, concerns about future resources, challenges of individual’s commitment and attention to the project while dealing with the pandemic, and also the potential impact of Covid-19 on the refugee contexts in which work…all this has led to this delay.

These realities are true, not just in Dzaleka, but in many of the places where IAFR is present. As an organization that values relationship, showing up where the displaced find themselves, and looking to bring hope in difficult situations, we are now wrestling with what does our work look like at the moment.

And yet, with challenge comes opportunity. Working together with our refugee friends and churches in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, a plan, resources, and materials came together in a short amount of time, for these churches in the camp to become soap/water distribution sites. One small way to help fight against the Covid-19 potential. And we are looking at other similar opportunities.

So each day, my IAFR colleagues and I get up and despite our current reality, look for the chance to bring hope and tangible actions to those whom are most vulnerable.

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Moving forward in 2020

2020 is in full swing…and it is ramping up to be an exciting and challenging year for IAFR. Challenging because the number of places and conflicts that produce forcibly displaced people continue to rise. Exciting because of the people, churches, and resources that God seems to be sending our way, allowing us to step into these situations.

Refugee situations in Asia have come our way, and for the first time it feels like we are being pulled to respond. In times past, we have not had the bandwidth to do so. Currently, we are considering situations in Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Some of us are planning to show up in one or more of these locations this spring.

2020 is also a year where continued work on our organizational infrastructure will be a focus. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it.

Actually, this infrastructure facilitates our IAFR community to be more effective in serving, funding, and showing up in the places that God opens up for us. I am grateful for my operations/admin team that is willing to jump into this area with me.

So we are hanging on, moving forward each day, and faithfully showing up where we are needed.

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Project Proposals – Malawi

Woodworking in the Vocation Skills Training – photo credit: There Is Hope, Malawi

My colleague, Jake Tornga, and I have been working on two new project proposals.  Both are focused on the Dzaleka Refugee Center in Malawi and are working in conjunction with our partner, There Is Hope Malawi. 

One of the ways to help people survive and recover from their forced displacement is to help them develop new capacities.  There Is Hope has created two programs…a Vocational Skills training program and Small Scale Business grants program.  Both are bringing hope and opportunity to refugees and the host community.

We will be presenting these projects to the IAFR US Board next weekend, proposing that IAFR commit to supporting these projects financially and with our presence.  You can pray for wisdom, as the Board considers these proposals.

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Post Conference

IAFR Staff 2018 – photo credit: Tom Albinson – IAFR

So much of my time these past few weeks has been in preparation for the 2018 IAFR Conference, the annual gathering of our global staff.  Despite a hiccup or two, the week went well.  Conversations, worship and devotional teaching, training and discussion sessions, times of prayer, plus fun activities led to a week of refreshment, challenge, and encouragement.  Our growing team was represented by people from the U.S., Canada, Iraq, Philippines, Somalia, Scotland, and South Africa.  What an exciting, diverse team.  

The challenges remain large but I believe we left encouraged and ready to press on.  Now back to the daily grind of living the Kingdom of God among those who have been displaced.

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Complete

The UNHCR NGO Consultation is complete.  The time was challenging, stimulating, and informative.  To see more than 600 people representing 350 organizations focused on the refugee crisis was so encouraging.  One of the highlights was participating in a workshop/discussion on Faith Sensitivity in the Humanitarian Space.  There is a recognition that faith plays a significant part in helping refugees survive and recover from their displacement.  And we must help those working, in what is often seen as a secular space, to understand the important role faith plays.

I come away from this gathering with a strong sense that IAFR is positioned well to make a significant impact, both in word and action, in the continuing refugee situation.  With that in mind, Tom and I are spending focused time today in Geneva, working on sharpening the vision of IAFR and looking ahead.  Not a bad place to be working.