tomanddonna.net

these people were forcefully displaced in their own country (Uganda) due to the fierce warfare of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). at its peak, the fighting displaced over 1.4 million people in the region of Uganda around the city of Gulu. if you heard of the “invisible children” or “night commuters”, Gulu, Uganda, became their city of refuge.

i was there in June to celebrate World Refugee Day as part of a delegation of the Refugee Highway Partnership that we helped launch back in 2001.

these people have suffered unspeakable things. their suffering continues today.

playing their home made instruments, they shared this praise song with us. i regret to say i did not ask for a translation.

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take a look at the “NAVIGATE” bar near the top of this page and note that i added a “HIGHWAY GALLERY”. this gallery is where i will post my favorite photos taken while traveling the Refugee Highway.

they say that a picture is worth 1,000 words, so i’ll let these photos do the talking.

donna works at a place called “Covenant Village”. sometimes the village feels a long way from the refugee highway. we dream of a day when we can both work more closely together again.

but tonight brought the village and the highway a bit closer together…

it was staff appreciation night for the village. it ended with a musical comedy called “forever plaid” at a place just outside of the Cities called “the old log theater”.

we took our seats shortly before curtain call. i was pleased to find myself seated next to a couple originally from the D. R. Congo (DRC) - one of the world’s long-term refugee producing nations. he’s a chemical engineer in the USA now and his wife works at the village.

i met Saul during the intermission. he works building and grounds at the village. he had a bit of an accent. i asked him where he was from…

Saul: “Russia.”

Tom: “when did you come to the USA?”

Saul: “20 years ago.”

Tom: “did you come directly to the USA from Russia?”

Saul: “no.” i first fled to Austria.”

Tom: “when?”

Saul: “1989.”

Tom: “wow!. i was in Austria working with refugees in 1989. where did you stay?”

Saul: “i first stayed in a village near Vienna called Gablitz.”

Tom: “no way! that’s where donna and i first met!”

…and the conversation continued from there.

Saul was part of a massive exodus of Jews from the USSR as that empire crumbled into history. many fled through Austria. Saul, like many others, ended up in towns just outside of Rome from which they then immigrated to the USA. donna and i remember how hundreds of Jewish refugees from Russia poured into the village of Bad Kreuzen where we lived at that time.

tonight held a special moment for us. the refugee highway isn’t as far away from the village as we thought…

drew created this advertisement for ezWebbit as part of a high school artwork assignment. i love it!

june 22 is World Refugee Sunday

we are encouraging churches to raise awareness of the plight of the over 35 million forcefully displaced people around the world - and this is a great opportunity.

our friends at the Refugee Highway Partnership that we helped create back in 2001 with the World Evangelical Fellowship have developed user-friendly resources to help churches celebrate this special day. some of the downloadable resources include:

• bulletin inserts
• posters
• sermon suggestions
• resource kits
• and more!

Another good source of more such material can be downloaded from the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

i hope you find a creative way to help the church embrace her calling to love the alien as we love ourselves. (Lev. 19.34)

both history and 1st hand observation have me wondering how change-friendly the church (or any religious institution for that matter) really is.

most churches are keen on wanting to change the society around them. but what about change from within?

perhaps one of the roles the church serves in society is to be a bastion of stability in a world that is constantly changing? perhaps that is what often draws people to churches? perhaps people are drawn to a place where they know that will not have changed much (if at all) over the course of time?

perhaps they run to the church as a refuge from change?

if so, could it be that many churches are filled up with change-resistent people? at least when it comes to change related to the church itself?

this then begs the question; is that the church Jesus launched 2000 years ago?

the creation story in Genesis ends with the 7th day and the words…

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested  from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

it struck me recently that i have been living with the assumption that we are still in the 7th day - God’s day of rest. but the biblical story doesn’t end with a weary napping Creator.

the story is of a God that is personally and actively at work in our story - in history.

God is working again.

we’re living in the 8th day.