Sydnor Update

I just returned from the European Mission-Net congress in Erfurt, Germany. Nearly 3000 youth from around Europe attended. I promoted the Refugee highway partnership  among all the organizations represented. 

I also gave a seminar called “Making the gospel relevant among immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees.” It was well attended with standing room only, and it generated some good response. There is a story and photo about the seminar on the IAFR story page.

I took Tessa and Noah with me, and signed them up for the service team in order to cut our costs in half. They served long 8 hour days in the dining hall. But after I saw all the work they had to do, I felt bad and joined in to help as well!

Despite the hard work, they came back excited about the mission possibilities in their own life.

Below are some pictures of our trip to Italy. We were overwhelmed by Italian hospitality and their pleas for help. The leader in the Italian evangelical Alliance said, the churches need help now with building a long term strategy for refugee ministry.

I came away excited because I could take a couple with me who are seriously praying about how to serve longterm in Italy among refugees.

Gentry on the steps

The man on the stairs is Gentry from Nigeria. Gentry had a successful business in Libya. He is one of 10 children and was able to support his family many times over back in Nigeria. He would return in a second, but he says it is not safe because so many of the Militia in Libya were Africans hired by Gadafi to do the fighting. The question Godwin faces now like all refugees is “What will I do with my life?”

Godwin told me that you sign your death warrant when you step onto a boat to flea as a refugee. He was forced on a boat with several hundred others and landed in Sicily. Please remember Gentry and others like him in your prayers

I met a small team from London this weekend in Calais. London is only 2 hours away, and they came over to visit refugees and to see the situation first hand.  We visited at each of the food distributions and spent some time praying for the situation.

This was the first time for this team to visit refugees like this. Some of their hopes were to learn about the issues first hand and to go back with a renewed desire to engage with refugees in practical ways.

Next week in Britain there will be a court decision about whether it will be legal for the government to return refugees to both Greece and Italy from the UK. Increasingly the countries in southern Europe have not been to able to provide the necessary care. Many of the refugees in southern Europe make their way continually up through France in an effort to reach England.

Click here to see a short report by the Guardian newspaper in order to understand the current pressures in Europe. Also be sure to check out these Updates next week. I’ll be going to Italy to visit some of these refugees referred to in the report.