April 27, 2006

NEW YORK – Church World Service is offering congregations special resources to help celebrate World Refugee on June 20.

World Refugee Day is an annual global observance, designated by the United Nations.

Congregations and other groups are encouraged to remember the 33 million people in the world who are forcibly uprooted from their homes, and to work to help make it possible for refugees to return home or to find new homes where they are safe from persecution and violence.

To help congregations plan and present services focused welcoming the stranger, Church World Service's immigration and refugee program has prepared a congregational bulletin insert and worship resources.

The bulletin insert tells the story of Somali Bantu refugee family, Buley Dure and Hassan Dayow and their four daughters, now living in Columbia, S.C. It offers "Refugee Facts," the U.N. definition of "refugee," and information about the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program.

The worship resources include a call to worship, invocation, Scripture selections and a benediction.

Church World Service and member denominations provide help and homes to refugees, and work to build a hospitable community in the United States for uprooted people.

Since 1946, CWS has helped more than 450,000 refugees begin new lives in the United States, and continues to resettle about 8,000 refugees and Cuban and Haitian entrants each year, with congregations and affiliate agencies providing services locally.

In refugee camps in Africa and Asia, CWS provides health care and post-primary education through its Durable Solutions for Displaced People program, and spiritual care for immigrant detainees through its Religious Services Program.

Church World Service