I, too, will…tear off a tender shoot, And plant it on a high

and lofty mountain.Ezekiel 17:22

DAY OF PRAYER FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS

it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.

Mark 4:26-27

This is how it is with the kingdom of God;

10.5 million people are currently recognised as refugees; people who have crossed borders to escape persecution

because of their race, religion, political beliefs or social group.

Thai-Burma border refugee campPhoto: Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand

More than twice as many people are Internally Displaced People;27.5 million people have left their homes for very similar reasons to

refugees, but have not crossed an international border.

Malian refugees in the Sahel, 2012Photo: Jean-Philippe Debus/Catholic Relief Services

New Zealand accepts 750 resettled refugees and around 250 asylum seeking refugees each year.

Photo: Refugee Services

Fewer than one percent of refugees are ever resettled.

Refugees must start again to rebuild their lives….

I, too, will…tear off a tender shoot, And plant it on a high and lofty mountain.Ezekiel 17:22

Putting down roots, reaching out…

The seed would sprout and grow…the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear….Mark 4:27-28

Learning to speak a new language….Settling into school….

Acquiring skills for a new job….Learning about the Kiwi way of life….

Planted in the house of the LORD, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.Psalm 92:14

Getting a job…Making friends….

Reuniting with family…Building community…

It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.Ezekiel 17: 23

All over Aotearoa New Zealand refugees and migrants are putting down roots and beginning new lives…

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade. Mark 4:31-32

Images: Refugee Services

Asylum seekers, who fled from persecution, violence

and situations that put their life at risk, stand in need of our understanding and welcome,

of respect for their human dignity and rights, as well as awareness of their duties.

Pope Benedict XVI: Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 2012

Supporting refugees

in Aotearoa New Zealandand

Around the world