20th March 2022 - Email from Dr Krish Kandiah (Sanctuary Foundation) linking Refugee aid agencies churches and communities for the Government Homes for Ukranian Refugees scheme: www.sanctuaryfoundation.org.uk
In the meantime what can churches do to help welcome Ukrainian refugees?
2. Encourage other churches to sign the pledge to welcome refugees.
3. Encourage households in your church that can sponsor/host a refugee and consider how you might be able to support them as a church.
4. Consider who in your congregation could be the lead on refugee work and encourage them to attend the church leaders events with you.
5. Put up a welcome banner outside of your church. We will send you a link to order one for your church.
6. If you know Ukrainian refugees who are here in the UK already, www.ukrainewelcome.org has some helpful information.
7. If you know of Ukrainians who are seeking refuge, please encourage them to register for sponsorship matching on https://www.homesforukraine.org.uk/
8. For those wishing to give financially, we would love you to consider supporting Sanctuary Foundationvia our friends at Stewardship, the Christian generosity service.
9. Baby Basics have a current campaign which will provide emergency help to those arriving in the UK with children under 5. This is a fantastic way to practically support those arriving with young children.
10. Consider whether as a church you can offer welcome packs, or welcome events to those refugees arriving in your community.
Prayer Focus
- Pray for Peace in Ukraine and for a change of heart from Russia’s leaders.
- Ukraine’s refugee crisis continues to increase – some 70 000 children a day are becoming refugees. Most people leaving are women and children and there are real concerns around the risk of abuse and trafficking.
- The government scheme is brand new and untested. Pray that it will allow many people to come to the UK safely and be looked after by appropriate carers.
- The civil servants working on developing this scheme are working extremely long hours.
- The Hong Kong resettlement, Afghan resettlement and now the Ukrainian humanitarian scheme all in the past year have brought significant challenges. Please pray for continued endurance and wisdom and for them to find encouragement in the good that they do.
Like many of you I have taken great comfort from Psalm 46 where it is promised that one day God will make all wars to cease. We cannot work with refugees without being constantly reminded of the first line of that Psalm: God is our refuge and strength.
Thank you so much for your support in this work.
