Today, as part of the ministers' conference I am attending, Juliet Kilpin gave a presentation about the refugee crisis, specifically the situation of the Calais migrants. She explained that we were seeing the biggest movement of people since the Second World War. Calais was where migrants ended up when they were trying to cross into the UK. Just 23 miles away from us, across the Channel, people were living in terrible conditions. Juliet travels there every 7 to 10 days to meet with people and hear their stories. She shared with us some of what she had experienced.
Accommodation was basic, crowded and cold. The ground was muddy - and it wasn't just mud people were wading through. The local police frequently used tear gas to make life uncomfortable for the migrants, and to encourage them to move on. The situation was so desperate that people took huge risks hiding in trucks and jumping on to trains, because if they were going to die, they wanted to die trying. Today the residents of the 'Jungle' in Calais were waiting to hear if a huge area of the camp was going to be bulldozed by the French authorities. These were people who had fallen through the cracks: unable to stay in their home countries because of war or oppression; unwanted in France; unwelcome in the UK. The situation was bleak and heartbreaking. However, there were lots of small charities and passionate volunteers trying to make a difference in this desperate place.
I remember attending a book group meeting several years ago, when we were reading 'Three Cups of Tea' by Greg Mortenson. This book tells the story of a guy who used to sleep in his car in order to save as much money as possible to take back to Pakistan to build schools in poor communities. I was incredibly challenged by the story and I remember saying to the group that I felt bad about it. I might be working as an evangelist, but what was I really doing to help the poorest in society? One of my friends replied that, as an evangelist, I was doing the most important job of all. This was a kind thing to say, but it didn't take away my uneasy feeling.
Now, several years later, I realise that I was right to feel uncomfortable about this story. Telling people about Jesus Christ is a wonderful thing, but it surely has to be accompanied by showing mercy to the poorest in society, as Christ did. To proclaim Christ fully is to proclaim justice for the poor, and to take part in fulfilling that proclamation. I, like many others, listened to Juliet's stories from Calais while asking myself, Is God calling me to do more to practise the gospel as well as to tell it?
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