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.

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

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.

The summer was really busy for us.  Since my last post, I have been back again to Malta for a visit and I have continued to visit refugees here in this area.  I wrote about some of these visits as well  on the IAFR story page.  Above is a larger photo of the one that I wrote about on the story
page.

We have had a few inquiries already about ministry in Malta. It’s only a matter of time before we are finally able to place someone there fulltime.  I am still planning to go back there with a short term team in November. It’s not too late to sign up!

The kids went to camp for a week and were in Germany as well this past month. They’ve enjoyed being back and reconnecting now in the neighborhood.  School starts in one week. Last night we went to our  Iranian neighbors and ate  Ghormeh Sabzi  –which is one of our favorites.

This was the route of our tour.

The tour lasted 8 days. We rode over 600 km and visited about 11 different camps with over 600 refugees total. There is a high turnover of refugees in these camps every 3-4 weeks, and  several thousand refugees will likely pass through this area every year. The “jungletour” was organized last year for the first time by a collection of French volunteers who want to raise the awareness and solidarity for the undeclared asylum seekers in this area.

These camps are unofficial places where refugees have settled while they pass through the area. A “Jungle” is the name that some refugees have used to call these places. Most of the refugees are unregistered and therefore have no access to any kind of aid. They are very dependent on the various aid organizations that come out to assist them and to bring them food and supplies.

I have marked the camps on the map above and you can trace our journey there. If you would like a description of each marker, please click here to go to the jungletour map

Our next email update will feature some more stories and views from the jungletour.  If you would like to receive our updates, please be sure to sign up for them by using the link at the bottom of this page after scrolling down. There is also a link to cancel them at anytime.

Unfortunately, my camera fell off of my bike on the 3rd day and broke!  I’m sending it to Nikon and I hope they can repair it. Needless to say it’s a crucial tool for communicating about our work and on behalf of refugees.

The route goes from Bailleul to Lille, Calais, Ostende, Bruge, Gent and Brussels. Right now I am writing from Dunkirk. I will post some photos zhen I get bqck home next weekend. 

Be sure to check back by!

I also took the Noah and Luke to Brussels for a tour of the EU parliament. We went by the Waterloo battlefield on the way home, which they loved, although you wouldn’t have known it.

My aim was to identify some of the challenges both the national church and the migrant churches face in overcoming forced displacement.   I was encouraged to see their awareness and concern for the voiceless among God’s people.  The workshop identified the following list of challenges and issues to overcome in working with refugees:

The challenges to address and overcome in working with refugees

1) overcome prejudice
2) How do we build a welcoming place
3) Be wholistic in approach
4) Increase the awareness of human rights issues
5) How to be practical and meet needs
6)  Identify and empower the talents and skills of refugees
7)  Work within a system that does not allow work
8)  Overcoming the labels and  responding  in light of –or despite the labels.
9)  How can we partner and influence the situation before refugees arrive in Europe?
10)  Find the common experiences that we might have