Readings: 

Gen 45:3-11, 15:  Joseph meets his brothers.

I n this morning’s reading from Genesis, we may be hearing the account of the first refugees.  Joseph says to his brother’s “God sent me before you to preserve life” and invites his family to flee the famine in their native Egypt and join him in Egypt where there needs will be met.

Luke 6:27-38

This is part of Luke’s sermon on the Plain, Luke’s presentation of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount.  These profoundly significant teachings of Jesus have often been called the constitution, or the manifesto, of the Kingdom.

Jesus sets out here the primary marks of his disciples, of those who would seek to follow him.

Despite what the current US VP thinks, we are not to prioritise love of those close to us. 

“If you love those who love you, what is your thanks?  Even sinners love those who love them”. 

Rather he calls us to “be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate”.  To “give, that you shall receive”.

And in Matthew 25, Jesus lists the hallmarks of his disciples.  “I was hungry and you fed me, naked and you clothed me, a stranger and you welcomed me”.

There is an unmistakeable message here.  Followers, disciples, of Jesus are to be profoundly counter-cultural.  The needs of others are more important than our own needs.  Here, and in the parable of the Good Samaritan, those who would follow Jesus are called to abandon ‘us and them’ thinking, to refuse to prioritise the needs of my tribe, or to label and exclude others as enemies.

Rather, we to share our resources, to welcome the stranger; to refuse to respond to curse or hatred in the same spirit but to embrace and serve.

Indeed, welcoming the stranger has very deep Biblical roots and there are at least a half dozen direct references in the Hebrew scriptures.   Here’s one from Leviticus:

Leviticus 19:34
"The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

It’s in that spirit I am inviting Trentham parish to participate in the Wellington diocese’ refugee support programme.

Support of refugees is one of the three Dio social justice priorities, alongside homelessness and climate change.

There is currently estimated to be 108 million displaced people in the world, and about a third, that’s about 35 million people have crossed a border and became international refugees.  Wars, oppression and climate change are the major contributors and the numbers have been steadily increasing.

As an island nation, NZ does not experience the phenomenon currently experienced by Europe and the US; that of thousands of asylum seekers fleeing war, destruction, famine or persecution crossing borders in search of safety and peace.  We do have some such asylum seekers arriving by air, but the numbers are relatively small.

Refugees who arrive in New Zealand generally do so under official Government schemes.  Under the Refugee Quota Scheme, 1500 people per year are selected, usually from refugee camps around the world and invited to make their home in NZ.

Refugees arriving in 2024 into New Zealand under the programme, in order of arriving numbers were from Syria, Afghanistan, the Rohingya from Myanmar, The Congo, Columbia and Venezuela, and Iran.  There were smaller numbers from Pakistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Sri Lanka and multiple other counties.

One feature is that a significant number a single-parent families come, because one parent, usually the father has been killed, or has had to be left behind, at least temporarily for various reasons.

The Immigration Service manages the programme and 7 annual cohorts of about 200 at a time are received into the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland where they spend 5 weeks.  Any medical or mental health needs are identified and addressed.  A range of Government support agencies are introduced to the incoming families, some initial English language teaching is provided and arrivals are generally introduced to life in New Zealand.

A number of years ago Catholic and Anglican bishops invited the Government to increase the official refugee quota.  At least in Wellington, that request came with an offer of support.

Parishes throughout greater Wellington would support incoming refugee families by turning houses into homes.  How does it work?

In each region around the country, the Government has contracted support agencies to actively settle the families into their new homes and communities. In Wellington, that organisation is the Red Cross.

The Red Cross in Wellington each year settles approximately 200 people in about 50 family groups.  They are responsible for finding rental accommodation for the incoming families.  The Government provides essential furniture and a RC volunteer will journey with the family for 6 to 12 months, assisting them with the range of practical issues that will inevitably arise as the family copes with accessing schools, work, medical services, banks and supermarkets and so much more.

I should add that is anyone is interested in becoming a Red Cross volunteer, I know they would be keen to hear from you and I can put you in touch.

The Wellington Catholic and Anglican dioceses support this programme in one simple way.  We ensure the incoming families arrive into homes that are ready for them.  We collect everything from bedding, towels, pots & pans, rice-cookers, vacuum cleaners and microwaves, crockery and cutlery, toys for the kids – everything other than the furniture.  There’s also an initial pantry pack.

Before Covid, the programme worked like a well-oiled machine.  Families would be identified to parishes early, all families would arrive in Wellington at the same time and over a few days every quarter, goods would be delivered to the Cathedral for checking, and all houses set up on a day agreed weeks in advance.

Since Covid, and in large measure because of the acute housing shortage, families only leave Mangere when a house has been sourced for them.  This means we have to stay flexible.  We will have several weeks’ notice of the size of an incoming family but we may only have a week’s notice of the exact arrival date and address.

However, there are some recent signs that may be freeing up, and for the first time since my involvement, we are about to see some council homes made available.  Everything else has been secured on the private rental market.

There are two key roles within the Dio programme:

·         We need parishes to take responsibility for one, or maybe two, family collections a year.  I’m looking for someone, or a couple of people in each parish to coordinate the activity.  Most items can be new or quality second-hand, but a few items need to be bought new.

·         We then have set-up teams trained to pick up the collection and get the house ready.  Some parishes have their own set-up teams.  One or two are too small to manage the responsibility of a collection but are happy to do the set-ups.

There are currently about 20 parishes – and also a few schools – involved.  I took up this role in the middle of 2022.  Since that time, we have settled a total of 110 families and individuals, or nearly 450 people into Greater Wellington, i.e. to Porirua, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Wellinton itself.  The Catholics have supported a similar number.

In 2024 we settled 99 people in 24 groups.  That included 4 individuals, 6 single-parent families, and 14 other families.  The largest family size I have dealt with was a family of 8.  Three families totalling 19 people were settled here in Trentham.

There is one key constraint you need to be aware of. Most of these families are coming from deeply traumatic lives and experiences.  They often passionately prioritise their privacy.  If someone they don’t know turns up on their doorstep, even to offer help, it can be triggering for them.

So, the collecting parishes do not generally know the nationality of the family they are supporting. Set-up teams must not disclose the address of houses they have set-up.  I confess this has been a frustration; to me and to many of others who have been providing support.

The need to protect privacy IS paramount.  But I am attempting to negotiate with the Red Cross an approach which might allow our people to offer more support. 

That would involve a few parishes near to where refugee families seem to be regularly settled.  Trentham could be one. 

In each of those parishes, a small, team of 2 or 3 would be trained to provide neighbourly support to a family IF that family were to reach out and ask.  An invitation would be left as the house was set-up.  This would not be social work; rather friendship, a regular coffee or tea, and the offering of local knowledge and an extra contact alongside the Red Cross Social worker who remains the key support person.

So that is it.  I’ll be around afterward and happy to chat further to those of you who are interested to hear more.