Responding to Refugee Needs: In Europe and at Home
9/9/2015
Migrants form a crowd at the Keleti pályaudvar train station Sept. 2 in Budapest while waiting passage to Germany, Austria and other wealthier countries within the European Union where the laws on refugee protection are better. Photo by Daniel Peters for United Methodist News Service.
Updated 9/12/2015
The General Board of Global Ministries has shared an update and information on the ways The United Methodist Church in Europe and at the international level is responding to the migration crisis. Read the latest information at http://www.umcmission.org/learn-about-us/news-and-stories/2015/september/0911welcomingthestranger
The outreach includes the work of UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), which along with partner partner Global Medic is providing health kits and food kits to 750 refugee families arriving on the Greek islands of Kos and Lesbos.
UMC.org shared a report last week from Messstetten, Germany, where a former military barrack serves as an initial processing center for asylum seekers.
The town’s 5,000 residents are coping with an influx of some 1,000 refugees. United Methodists in Messstetten are working with others “to offer services so that the newcomers feel that they are welcome,” says Bishop Rosemarie Wenner and the Rev. Johannes Knoeller, a district superintendent, of The United Methodist Church in Germany. The ways in which The United Methodist Church responds will continue to emerge.
Follow UMCOR via its website and social media for the most current updates.
To respond hands-on to refugee needs, consider reaching out to the sizeable refugee populations in North Georgia. New American Pathways (http://newamericanpathways.