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Homelessness and Hospitality… ‘At Home’ Prayer Pack Is Ready!

18 January 2015

Just in time for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees this Sunday, 18th January 2015, Jesuit Refugee Service UK, together with Christian Life Community, has prepared the JRS reflection guide on homelessness and hospitality: ‘At Home’ Prayer Pack!
With so much material wealth in modern societies, there are still many people whose livelihoods are not secured and thus have to worry about day-to-day survival, as you can find out in the prayer pack:

It is not known how many asylum seekers are living destitute in our cities. Being ‘destitute’ means that you are not permitted to work or claim statutory benefits and so you become reliant on friends or charities to survive. This can happen while an asylum claim is being processed or has been refused.

We know that many rely on a hostel place, often short-term, or ‘sofa-surfing’ with friends or wider family members. Some sleep on the night buses, unable to lie down to sleep, or in doorways, fearful of violence or abuse. Daytimes can be a circuit of visits to day centres for hand-outs, meetings with lawyers and often waiting in libraries or other ‘anonymous’ public spaces.” – From the Prayer Pack

Along with practical help such as volunteering and giving donations, prayer is an excellent way of showing our genuine concern and solidarity for the destitute. Louise Zanré, Director of JRS UK says:

Many of the people we accompany at JRS derive a great deal of strength and hope from their faith. They are always pleased when I tell them of church services or community prayers I know to be taking place during which refugees are prayed for. Praying for refugees is one way in which solidarity and care can be shown. What I hope you will be able to experience from using this prayer pack, either in a group or as an individual, is being able to enter at least a little into the experience of the people we accompany and those who host them in their homes. That prayerful encounter will provide solidarity, but will help deepen your awareness of some of the problems our refugee friends might have in their lives.

We invite you to use this prayer pack and remember our brothers and sisters who need our acts of hospitality. These acts can take place in various ways and prayer is certainly one of them!

Packs are available to download as a pdf here.

An on-line version with spoken reflections and music is available at: www.pray-as-you-go.org.
To order a pack, please contact uk@jrs.net or call 020 7488 7310.

You can see the related news on JRS UK website at https://www.jrsuk.net/news/news2/index.php

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Jesuit Refugee Service UK
The Hurtado Jesuit Centre
2 Chandler Street, London E1W 2QT

020 7488 7310
uk@jrs.net

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