Confronted by the conflict, slaughter, and seemingly endless anguish in so many places in our world, we wonder how God can allow such things to happen. The Old Testament describes how the people of Israel suffered war, violence, famine, persecution, and exile, and how they tried to find the presence of the loving God of the covenant in all those harsh realities.
This section of the website offers readers an opportunity to reflect and pray on the good and evil which happens. As we meet and work with refugees who have confronted evil and suffering, it is important to remind them and ourselves as well to keep in touch with God, the source of all good and love. This is the only way to withstand evil.
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Kenya: Still celebrating life - Holy Week in Kakuma refugee camp Kakuma, 09 April 2013 – Living in a refugee camp is often a daunting and excruciating experience. When the refugees try to make sense of their forced displacement, their religious faith offers them some solace and consolation. Here in Kakuma (Kenya), Christians during Holy week have had the opportunity to affirm their faith in life and love despite being in exile. Read more >> |
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Kenya: As refugees, we still can do great things Nairobi, 20 November 2012 - Wednesday 24th October will remain a memorable day not only for the refugee prayer group of Riruta Parish but also for JRS Nairobi region as a whole. Riruta stands out as the first to organise a successful Eucharistic celebration, since the formation of prayer groups. Read more >> |
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Praying with refugees in Nairobi (Nairobi) December 1, 2012 — Urban refugees in Nairobi live on the margins of society, not legally allowed to work, and struggling in an already over-crowded city. Fleeing violence, political instability and drought, refugees end up living in economically-deprived areas, desperate to find a place to call home, searching for hospitality in an unfamiliar country. Read more >> |
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Praying with Refugees in Uganda (Boston) August 1, 2012 — As we traveled toward Morobi in northern Uganda, Lodu informed me that Flabius, the head catechist in the village, had lost a daughter. But it was a much deeper tragedy. This good man had lost not only his daughter—and his wife a few years ago—but seven children to war and disease over time. Read more >> |
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Praying with Refugees in Congo (Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo) February 1, 2012 — About two million people have been internally displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by armed conflicts. The situation here is characterized by chronic and rampant sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls. Read more >> |
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Praying with Refugees: the spirit of accompaniment (Geneva) December 1, 2011 — The mission of Jesuit Refugee Service is to accompany, serve and plead the cause of refugees and forcibly displaced persons. Accompaniment, I have learned, is by its very nature reciprocal. It cannot be done alone and it cannot be done in a unilateral fashion. Read more >> |
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Praying with Ahmadiyya Muslim refugees (Bangkok) November 1, 2011 — Ahmadiyya Muslim refugees were forced to flee Pakistan due to religious persecution. August was a particularly challenging and happy month as this year it marked Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. During Ramadan, they are not allowed to eat or drink during sunlight hours, a challenge in the Cambodian heat. Read more >> |
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Praying with Refugees from Somalia (Nairobi) October 1, 2011 – Since the beginning of the drought and hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa in July, tens of thousands of refugees have fled Somalia, most of them into Kenya and Ethiopia. They march for days or even weeks. Some do not survive the journey; others lose family members on the way or have to leave them behind. Read more >> |
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Praying with Refugees in Syria (Aleppo, Syria) September 1, 2011 — Since the beginning of this year, the situation in a number of Arab countries has changed considerably — caused in great part by popular political movements. This has not only led to changes in the political regimes or bloody confrontations, but has also created much forced displacement of peoples. Read more >> |
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Praying with Refugees: the opportunity of education (Washington, D.C.) August 1, 2011 — Refugees don’t leave their countries simply because things are difficult, they leave because their lives are in danger and the situation is hopeless. They are driven by hope to seek new opportunities, not just for themselves, but, for their children. Read more >> |
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Praying with Refugees: hope for Haiti Washington DC, July 1, 2011 — The earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 caused much heartache, pain, and death. But, also present among the rubble was hope. For every story of hope there seemed to be one of heartbreak; every act of courage and progress teetered on the edge of frustration and hopelessness. Read more >> |
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Sudan: Caught in Between Praying with Refugees, January 2011. When Jesuit Refugee Service went to Southern Sudan in the late 1990s, the staff shared the terror of internally displaced people caught up in the prolonged civil war. As 2011 dawns, JRS is still in Southern Sudan, accompanying the people in peacetime as we did during the war. Read more >> |
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Les Bonnes Nouvelles: the Good News Praying with Refugees, December 2010. As we make our journey during this Advent season let us hope and pray that we can respond in haste in our travel toward God and in our interior travel and examination of our own soul. Let us also hope and pray that we can respond in haste along very concrete paths of service of our neighbor. Read more >> |
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Urban Refugees: Making Visible Refugees Hidden in Plain Sight This brief couplet of unknown origin captures in a few words the distinct charisms of four saints and founders of religious communities in the Church—the Cistercians, the Benedictines, the Franciscans and the Jesuits. Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), placed much focus on the plight of the poor in the great cities of his time. Read more >> |
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The Lord is Risen! (Washington, D.C.) April 1, 2010 - Their eyes were opened and they recognized him! A number of years ago Fr. Gildo Dominici was working with Jesuit Refugee Service in Galang, Indonesia. His reflection on living with refugees reminds us of the call to know the Risen Christ that refugees and those who work with and for them are invited to experience. Read more >> |
