The Troubled Waters for the World's Refugees

 We pray for the countries and regions that have hosted refugees. Knowing that refugee camps can be overcrowded, we pray for the continued safety of the camps and offer our thanks to those who work toward providing the basics of shelter, food, health care, and education.

We pray for refugees who have held onto hope while facing death. And we pray for the millions of refuges around the world who have fled their homes in search of basic human needs. We give thanks for their strong faith and pray that they will find the security and stability we all seek.

Gracious and loving God,Come, hear our prayers.

from a United Church of Canada Prayer for Refugees 

Until a couple of days ago I wasn't aware that tourist trips via submersible vessels to the wreck of the Titanic were possible. At a quarter of a million US dollars per guest this wasn't going to make it onto my vacation list. It was the news that a submersible with several people aboard went out of contact on Sunday and there is still no evidence of its whereabouts. A massive search is underway with involvement from both the Canadian and American coastguard. We can pray that there is a good outcome but time is running out for recovery. 

I thought about this situation when I saw that this is World Refugee Day. So many refugees/migrants/asylum seekers undertake  journeys across perilous waters in the hope of a better life. They have often used their life savings to pay unscrupulous smugglers and the outcome is regularly deadly. 

Just three weeks ago an estimated 700 asylum seekers, most without flotation devices, drowned in the Mediterranean in a matter of a few days.This was the deadliest week since 2015 when the losses at sea galvanized Canadians into sponsoring thousands of Syrian refugees. A few days ago another boat capsized resulting in the deaths of 70 or more of those aboard. Yet these terrible incidents don't get nearly the media coverage in North America as the disappearance of the Titanic submersible. 

While smugglers have been arrested,  those children, women, men can't be brought back to life. Their desperation contributed to their demise, but so did greed, and the growing hard-heartedness of European nations. Greece has borne the brunt of the influx of migrants and as a result have become increasingly unwilling to receive more. 

The rescue ship Sea-Watch 4, purchased by a crowdfund led by the Evangelical Church in Germany,  operates in the Mediterranean Sea to help migrants attempting to reach Europe from North Africa.

Greece has been fining and threatening prison sentences for rescue organizations, a bizarre tactic against those who are responding to the crisis. Back in January a Greek court dropped charges against 24 immigrant rescue volunteers including 27-year-old Syrian swimmer Sara Mardini, one of two sisters who were the subject of the docudrama film, The Swimmers. This is a film well worth watching. 

There are a number of Christian rescue teams operating in the Mediterranean, and we can keep them in our prayers. We can pray for governments around the world, including our own, that there will be a willingness to accept those seeking shelter from the ravaging effects of war, climate change, and persecution based in religion and gender. 

Jesus Was a Refugee

Jesus was a refugee.

That’s how the story goes,

fleeing with his mom and dad

in the night from his foes.

 

Newborn in his parents’ arms,

he left nativity,

on the run, in search of peace,

far from captivity.

 

Refugees—the same today,

all yearning for new life,

leaving countries so war-torn,

escaping from the strife.

 

Refugees—we welcome them

as they begin anew.

We show hospitality

and love in what we do.

 —John Wesley Oldham #7727. Metre is roughly 7676.