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Editorial:
Minority Report
Anna Rankin
Comment:
Racism in Ulster: Up-front and Ugly
Ken Newell
From
the Director: Naming Our Sin
David W Porter
Faith
in Ulster: Facing Up to Diversity
Stephen Skuce
Faith
and Practice
Walter Lewis
Interview
with Rose Ozo: Where the Heart Is
Anna Rankin
Craigavon:
Religious Liberty in the Shadow of Drumcree
Small Steps
Tim Foley
Embracing the Stranger
Richard Kerr
Review:
On Eagle's Wing
Ethel White
Review:
Conflict, Controversy and Co-operation
John W Morrow
Review:
The Subversive Manifesto
John Kyle
Review:
L is for Lifestyle
Claire Martin
Review:
It Will Not Be Taken Away From Her
Cary Gibson
Review:
Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance
Paul Rankin
Review:
Two Little Boys
John Gillespie
Review:
Son
David Smith
EMBRACING THE STRANGER
ISOLATED, alienated, ostracised, vulnerable, victimized, vilified, virtually voiceless; all words that could well describe a person seeking asylum in Northern Ireland today. Stateless, insecure physically and emotionally, open to exploitation, racism and dehumanising treatment and essentially powerless to do anything about it. Forbidden to work, the opportunity to contribute to the welfare of family and society is limited. They have fled from situations of hardship, persecution, and war; many have witnessed suffering and the loss of relatives and friends. They come to Northern Ireland seeking a better life.
Quite honestly, I have been taken aback by the vulnerability of people seeking asylum in Belfast. Having spent over a decade in a country considered one of the poorest in the world, I am appalled to see people so much at the mercy of the establishment here. In Malawi, despite my ethnic and cultural differences, my faults and my failings, I was welcomed and accepted as a member of the community. Yet many asylum seekers in Ulster are met with impatience, indifference, suspicion and even open hostility.
A couple of years ago, a number of Christians from across the churches felt there was a need to respond to this situation and they formed Embrace; Christians together with asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland. Although still a small organisation, Embrace seeks to inform and resource the wider Christian community about the plight of asylum seekers and act as an advocate on their behalf. The basis of our response is the biblical mandate to defend the marginalised and the vulnerable and welcome the stranger.
God is portrayed in the scriptures as identifying with fallen and broken humanity. God revealed Himself as the God of the outsider when He intervened in the lives of the Israelites in Egypt. His liberation of His people from their oppression displayed His commitment to the marginalized and the vulnerable. And it is this concern, compassion and commitment that God holds up as a blueprint for His followers. His message to the people of Israel is that they must protect the orphan, the widow, the stranger; the weak and the vulnerable. The Old Testament usage and association of the Hebrew term ‘ger’ (stranger or sojourner) suggests the dependency and vulnerability of a person far from home and from family and community networks of protection and support. The exposure to exploitation is compounded when the stranger is also poor, a woman or a child.
God’s message regarding the stranger is best summarised in the book of Leviticus with the instruction “when an alien lives with you in your land, do not ill-treat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”1
The Israelites themselves are portrayed as sojourners or tenants on the land that God has given them and their tenancy is linked to their obedience to God. Indeed, the way in which the stranger, together with the widow and the orphan, is treated, is an indicator of the Israelites’ obedience to the law of God and it is this commitment to justice and the defence of the weak that the prophets highlight repeatedly. God does not want lip service; He desires obedience. He requires us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.2 The stranger provides the opportunity for the Israelite to reciprocate the heart of God for the downtrodden and the oppressed.
Jesus takes this a step further when he tells his disciples that what they do to the stranger, they do to Him. He is in the guise of the stranger, the poor and the weak and His call is to treat all people as we would treat Him. In the incarnation Jesus comes as a stranger into this world. Even His own do not receive, recognise or welcome Him. He didn’t fit the mindset, mould or expectations of the religious establishment. He was a threat to their positions and power, comfort and complacency. Indeed many of those who do recognise Him are on the fringes of Jewish society; the woman at the home of Simon the Pharisee3, the Roman centurion4 and the Syro-Phoenician woman5. His very birth illustrates this. He is born in a stable because his family are excluded from the inn. The angels announcing his birth appear to a group of uncouth, social misfits; the shepherds. A group of foreign, gentile astrologers follow a star to find Him.
Not only was Jesus a stranger; He was also a refugee. He experienced exile in Egypt. Sought by a tyrant, at the mercy of others, He became a refugee, fleeing with his parents for his life; making a hazardous journey and seeking asylum in another country.
Jesus understands those who seek refuge and asylum and identifies with them. As the stranger on the road to Emmaus, He draws alongside and supports the weak. His great call is to hospitality, a central theme of scripture. Jesus epitomised hospitality in his welcome and treatment of those on the fringes of society. But it was more than a welcome. His hospitality was about reconciliation and the transformation from stranger to guest and from guest to friend. Examples of this include the well-known stories of Zacchaeus and the woman at the well in Samaria.
The treatment of people seeking asylum is closely aligned and intertwined with racist, selfish and exclusive attitudes in society; including the Christian community. In the light of recent racial abuse, it is worth drawing our attention to the dignity that God bestows on all human beings, created in His image. Through the investment that God has made in Christ; His identification with humanity in taking on human form, His rejection and suffering, all human beings are given a dignity and respect. If God so loved, who are we to segregate and exclude. Mistreatment of the stranger and the person seeking asylum and refuge is an insult to God Himself.
The early church reflected a whole spectrum of social, ethnic and gender differences. The first Christians were not an homogenous group but people brought together in their common faith in Jesus Christ. Yet there were challenges in their relationships; something reflected in Paul’s letters. People seeking asylum come from many nationalities, ethnic groups and religious, cultural and language backgrounds. This wealth of different experiences offers a great opportunity to learn from other people and perspectives; something which is particularly important in Northern Ireland. It also poses challenges for any coordinated approach to supporting people seeking asylum. Further, most have faced incredible hardship and witnessed terrible situations first hand, prior to coming to Northern Ireland, and their treatment here makes most reticent about social interaction and especially speaking about their experiences.
Embrace has been active in implementing practical measures, including providing transport, helping with outings and support groups. We work together with other agencies to provide support for people seeking asylum and refuge. Our main focus however is to inform Christians of the reality of the situation for asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland, to develop resources for those who want to know more and get involved and to challenge information in the media and wider society that would paint a misleading picture of people coming to Northern Ireland. We also have a website www.embraceni.org which you can visit for more information.
The Epistles describe Christians as aliens and strangers in this world; misunderstood and vulnerable. Surely we, more than most, should understand, welcome, protect and support the strangers living in our communities.
NOTES:
1 Leviticus
19:33-34
2 Micah
6:8
3Luke
7
4 Mark
8:5-13
5 IVP Dictionary of Biblical Imagery(under ‘foreigner’)
6 Mark
7:24-30
RICHARD KERR is Assistant in Fisherwick Presbyterian Church and is Chair of Embrace.
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