The Work of Restore: Working to bring Hope

Can you imagine……  that our country is under occupation from another country?  We have a puppet king who many label a collaborator as he is fixated on maintaining his remaining power and privileges at any cost to his own people.  At the helm of the Empire, is the god-like Supreme Leader with the power to control the lives of millions in occupied countries like ours. The whole empire is commanded to go back to where they were born for some bureaucratic counting exercise.  Rumours are rife, the latest being that this process is a ploy to increase taxes, drain more resources from our country and reduce rights again.

No-one dares to ignore the commands of the Supreme Leader because if you do, you disappear. You trundle off to your home town, a virtually unknown place as you left there as a young child years ago.  The hospitality trade is booming as more and more people pour in.  There is nowhere half-decent left to stay.  In the midst of this upheaval and fear, your first child is born, a son.  You may be a stranger in town, but people have still pitched up to celebrate with you.

However, joy turns to horror  when you wake in the night from a dream that warns you to leave immediately as our puppet king is out to kill all baby boys: which would include your son.  There is no time to plan, to get papers or ask for permission to travel.  You flee with next to nothing. This is a matter of life and death and a non-stop journey to get to safety, to cross a border where neither the king nor the supreme leader can touch you and yours.

And that is basically the postscript to the Christmas story.  Mary, Joseph and Jesus fled from Bethlehem to Egypt in the middle of the night to escape persecution from King Herod.  Egypt was a complete unknown, but at least they were safe.  Because they crossed a border due to persecution, at his most vulnerable age, Jesus became a refugee.  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us….. as a refugee.  Jesus understands fully the plight of refugees down the centuries and the experience and fears of refugees and asylum seekers in our city today.

A familiar verse that we hear read at Christmas is, “The light shines in the darkness and that the darkness has not extinguished it.”  How can we shine light into the darkness of the hostility towards refugees and especially asylum seekers?

Restore, a project of Birmingham Churches Together,  seeks to bring light, hope and a sense of belonging to refugees and asylum seekers living in our city today.  Why is hope important?  To quote Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “Hope is being able to see there is light despite all the darkness.”

Restore welcomes refugees and asylum seekers and helps them with integration through a one-to-one befriending scheme and regular group social activities to combat isolation, build community, help with conversational English and improve well-being and mental health.  What is the impact? One service user wrote, “You’ve offered something priceless: the feeling of being welcomed. You have helped turn strangers into neighbours and new arrivals into community members,  reminding us what real compassion looks like. Thank you for helping people not only survive but belong.”

Please shine light in the darkness in practical way through:

Volunteering as a befriender.  Find out more at our next training day on Saturday 7 February 2026:  https://www.restore-uk.org/news/2668

Giving financial support to keep projects like Restore going: https://wonderful.org/charities/243931

Praying for justice and compassion in politics, in the media and in wider society.  So that those who have fled persecution and war can rebuild their lives in safety in our communities.

A prayer for refugees shared with permission from Embrace the Middle East.

A prayer for refugees

God of compassion
whose own son experienced life as a refugee,
we remember those fleeing from danger,
hungry and afraid, with nowhere to call home.
God, give them warmth, security, food and peace.
 
God of hope,
we thank you for those who are working to bring relief and
comfort to those displaced,
showing glimpses of grace in the darkness of despair.
God, give them strength.
 
God of justice,
Guide the nations and the leaders of the world towards peace.
Stir hearts to be generous and compassionate.
God, help us to play our part in bringing about the change
we want to see.
 
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord

Amen

Used in the BCT e-news with kind permission from Embrace the Middle East https://embraceme.org/