Reflecting on the challenges of refugees
Craig Hampton reports on the 2024 CMS Southern conference
Photo: Sylvie Good walking with Syrian refugees in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley
This year the CMS annual Southern conference at High Leigh had the theme: The Challenges of Refugees – Loving our Neighbours.
by Craig Hampton
Our main speakers were Phil and Sylvie Good, recently returned from spending several years in Lebanon. They told us that there are 280 million migrants worldwide, and most of these reside in countries bordering conflict. In a small country like Lebanon, refugees make up a high proportion of the population. Many are from the recent war in Syria, but they follow on from other earlier exoduses from Israel/Palestine conflict.
Phil and Sylvie used the story of Joseph to highlight some of the broader issues that refugees encounter. Then they honed down on to their ministry, in particular working (alongside CMS local partners) with refugee children found wandering around the olive groves, for whom they helped to provide a school. Often the needs are so great it is difficult to know where to start, but like making a jigsaw puzzle a useful approach is to start with the edges. Despite the great needs, they were encouraged that refugees were turning to Christ.
Our other main speakers were Lea and Petra Williams based in Brno in the Czech Republic. Like Lebanon, it is a relatively small country (just 10 million people), but it has opened its borders to 450,000 Ukrainians. This has put significant pressure on the infrastructure. Refugees often enter the poor neighbourhoods and compete for lower paid jobs. For those already in this demographic, conflict can soon arise, as it has done with the existing large Roma community. This can then lead to changes in the national public mood towards refugees. Despite this, through the Vesna humanitarian NGO the Williams have been able to help hundreds of refugee families in need.
Rev Susan Height, our chaplain for the conference, not only guided through us the times of worship and the breaking of bread, but also gave us insight into what is like to be a refugee in the UK. She has special insight into the struggles that refugee and asylum seeker Christians have, both before they leave their homes and issues they encounter in the UK.
The weekend followed a familiar pattern in the beautiful surroundings of the High Leigh conference centre: prayer, worship, fellowship, news from CMS, good food and a time to relax.
