Who is a refugee?

The United Nations Convention of 1951 defines a refugee as a person fleeing persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Refugees come to North America in a variety of ways: as a refugee claimant (also referred to as an asylum seeker), government assisted refugee, or privately sponsored refugee (Canada).

Though the overwhelming majority of refugees will never be permanently resettled into a new country, some individuals may come to the host country through the sponsorship of the government or, in Canada’s case, a private organization or group. While the hope for many is to return to their homeland, many will wait decades. They may eventually return, but home may have become unrecognizable and family members may have been lost along the way. Refugees typically wait in urban centers or refugee camps run by the United Nations until they can return home or are selected for resettlement. Those who are considered for resettlement are among the most vulnerable members of their community. Government assisted refugees and privately sponsored refugees (Canada) undergo the refugee and resettlement screening process abroad and arrive in their new home with documentation.

In Canada and the United States, it is also possible for individuals to arrive in the host country and make either a port-of-entry or inland asylum claim. Learn more details on this rigorous process in the U.S. and in Canada.

These facts and figures begin to paint a picture of the plight of refugees around the world: 

• 1 in every 78 people on earth has been forced to flee their home 

• 69% of the world’s refugees come from just five countries: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar 

• In 2021, just 4% of the estimated 1.4 million refugees in need of resettlement were resettled 

• Between 2018 and 2021, an average of between 350, 000 and 400, 000 children were born into a refugee life per year 

• 42% of forcibly displaced persons are children under the age of 18 

As you try to absorb the scale and significance of the numbers above, we invite you to pause for a moment. Remember that each statistic represents real peoples’ lives. Though we may struggle to understand these experiences fully, these individuals hold stories of deep pain and suffering.

We are blessed to now call many refugees our friends and neighbors. However, we recognize that there are some individuals whose names and journeys we will never know. Even so, we know that each of these individuals remain a unique image-bearer of God, in whose likeness we are all made.

Learn more about refugees and the refugee resettlement process with resources from the Social Justice team and World Renew. 

Who Are They and What’s the Difference?

As news has circulated about “migrant caravans” coming to the U.S. southern border, or “illegal border crossings” into Canada, there has been a lot of confusion about:

• whether those arriving are doing so “legally,” and
• the difference between asylum-seekers (also known as refugee claimants in Canada) and refugees.

To faithfully and lovingly respond to our refugee and asylum-seeking neighbors at this time, we must be truth-tellers.

It is legal to seek asylum. Under both U.S. and Canadian law, people who enter the country—whether at a port of entry or elsewhere—have a legal right to request asylum if they fear persecution in their home country. They do not need to have papers (be “documented”) to exercise this right.

The grounds for receiving asylum and refugee status are the same: a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

A refugee has already gone through the rigorous process of vetting and background checks prior to arriving to the U.S. or Canada—their claim has already been decided. An asylum-seeker shows up to the U.S. border and then goes through the process—their claim has yet to be decided. In Canada, asylum-seekers are called refugee claimants, but the distinction is the same.

Find more information about the situation in Canada.

Sources: Amnesty International, Habitat For Humanity, NPR

We encourage you to seek out ways to celebrate and remember refugees this World Refugee Day, and during the whole month of June. We have included a few ideas for you and your church community to consider. Maybe one of these ideas will spark your own ideas too!

Host a Welcome Dinner:

The Bible calls us to practice a deep form of hospitality: philoxenia, or love for the stranger. You can practice this value by hosting a meal for recently arrived newcomers and refugees. This meal could take place at your church, at another church you partner with, or at a local community center. The act of inviting recently arrived immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers to join you around a common table demonstrates a desire to create a welcoming space, build relationships, and learn from one another. Read Trixie’s reflections on her church’s welcome dinner on Do Justice.

Join with Your Neighbors on World Refugee Day:

Contact local newcomer-serving organizations to learn about World Refugee Day. Invite friends, family, and members of your church to volunteer at or attend the event with you. This is a great way to meet new people and stand in solidarity with others who desire to be part of a community that both welcomes and befriends the stranger.

Hold a Prayer Service or Vigil:

The statistics listed earlier do not fully capture the pain, heartbreak, and suffering faced by people around the world who are forced to leave their homes. As we celebrate the ways in which we are able to offer welcome, we mourn the millions of lives around the world that are torn apart by persecution, violence, and fear. We encourage you and your church to consider hosting a prayer service to remember the plight of refugees, to pray for protection and comfort, and to ask for a transformation of hearts to be open to welcome. In the Worship section of this resource, you will find a variety of themes and ideas to build from as you plan your service.

Partner with Local Settlement Service Agencies:

Reach out to local settlement service agencies as a way to further support refugees already in the United States or Canada. Through this partnership, your congregations will gain a heightened awareness of the current policy challenges and settlement needs of refugees in your area. Read a reflection on this form of partnership on Do Justice. 

We don’t have to dig deep in Scripture to find God’s call to welcome the stranger—from warnings that the way that we treat foreigners reveals the state of our relationship with God (Mal. 3:5), to the call to practice hospitality (Rom. 12:13), to God’s oft-repeated refrain to the Israelites: “Love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deut. 10:19). Jesus even said that when we welcome the stranger, we welcome him (Matt. 25:40)! Jesus himself was a refugee who escaped with his family from the violence of King Herod to the unfamiliar landscape of Egypt (Matt. 2:13). Because we seek the heart of God, we too have a heart for refugees and recognize our call to walk with them in advocacy, justice, and welcome.

World Refugee Day is a fitting opportunity to highlight these biblical themes in your worship service or family devotions. Our call to do justice flows out of our relationship with God!

Sunday School Idea

Welcome cards (Activity 2) (World Evangelicals)

One Lesson (IAFR) 

This activity prompts kids to take a step to welcome refugees by writing a card that can be sent either to the government as an advocacy action or to a local organization that welcomes refugees.

Children’s Message Idea

Learning About Refugee Stories at Sunday School (from the CRC’s Journey With Me toolkit)

There are four lessons at this link, all based on stories or children’s books about refugee realities.

Prayers

Refugee Sponsorship and Resettlement Handbook (World Renew)

Pages 198-209 of World Renew's Refugee Sponsorship and Resettlement Handbook offers several prayers and affirmations of faith for congregational use. 

Refugees’ Litany of Lament and Hope (World Renew)

This powerful prayer imagines life in a refugee camp and demonstrates the tension between despair and hope in a vivid way. 

Immigrants are a Blessing Litany (Thrive)

This prayer of thanksgiving emphasizes that immigrants are a blessing and so, together, we give thanks. 

Resources for Preaching

Scripture Passages and Sermon Examples (from the CRC’s Journey With Me toolkit)

This PDF includes dozens of Scripture references, as well as three sermons about refugees or immigrants that have been preached in Christian Reformed churches in either Canada or the United States.

Why Sponsor Refugees - A Sermon Starter (World Renew)

Songs

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (from the CRC’s Journey With Me toolkit)

These 14 songs that relate to the call to welcome the stranger are drawn from the Lift Up Your Hearts hymnal and can also be found in other common song collections.

Creative Element

“God’s Eye Is on the Refugee” skit (Reformed Worship)

This creative and easy-to-use skit helps a congregation to imagine different stages of refugees’ journeys and invites them into deeper empathy and reflection. 

Refugee Sunday

Although there is a specific day in April designated “Refugee Sunday” in Canada, the material intended for this day can be used during any worship service throughout the year. On Refugee Sunday, we reflect on the work of churches across Canada in welcoming refugees and supporting them throughout their settlement process. The prayers and financial support offered during this service will further the CRC’s involvement in refugee ministry.

Refugee Sunday Resources from World Renew

Find additional resources in the "Worship" section of the following pages:

• Center for Public Dialogue | Refugee Justice
• Social Justice | Refugees

In following Christ’s call to welcome the stranger, we must begin by acknowledging the significant role of the government in welcoming refugees in both Canada and the U.S. For example, government policies dictate the number of refugees granted entry into each country. Christian citizens have the ability to participate in the legislative process by advocating for laws that reflect justice and hospitality. Such participation flows from philoxenia (love of the stranger), a love to which we are called. Therefore, as Christians, we have a unique opportunity to welcome the stranger and defend the cause of the vulnerable.

It is the job of each elected official to listen to constituents—that’s you! We have the opportunity to regularly communicate with our members of Congress and Parliament to demonstrate that Christians across North America remain committed to the work of hospitality within our communities.

These days, laws and policies affecting refugees are changing frequently. If you’d like to practice biblical advocacy and stay in the loop on current advocacy opportunities, sign up for regular calls to action through our action centre.

Whether you live in Canada or the United States, you and your church can play an active role in welcoming refugees and walking alongside them as they settle in your community.

Canada

For members of the CRC in Canada, the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program (PSRP) presents an incredible opportunity to play a meaningful role in the welcome and integration of refugees. The program, unique to Canada and administered by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), allows individuals and churches to apply to sponsor refugees. Refugees can be referred to churches by people within Canada who have a connection to a refugee family in asylum overseas or by IRCC. As a Sponsorship Agreement Holder organization with a signed agreement with IRCC to resettle refugees, World Renew can approve churches and groups who wish to sponsor refugees under its agreement. After refugees arrive in Canada, sponsors walk alongside the newcomers and provide financial and settlement support in areas such as transportation, housing, banking, and health care. Since its establishment in 1979, the program has given Canadians the opportunity to formally support more than 327,000 refugees. If your church is interested in learning more about refugee sponsorship in Canada through World Renew, please call 1-888-975-3769 or visit worldrenew.ca/refugee-sponsorship

United States

The CRC in the U.S. is part of a system of efficient and effective public-private partnerships between the U.S. Department of State, non-profit agencies, and churches in communities all across the country.

The State Department brings refugees to the U.S. through government-approved refugee resettlement agencies that have local affiliate agencies which directly assist refugees from the moment they arrive in their new cities. Refugee families get connected with CRC churches through the local agencies to help them adjust and integrate into their new communities.

In West Michigan, Bethany Christian Services is one of these local agencies that recruits churches, assigns refugee families, and supervises their relationship. In other regions of the U.S., Bethany serves as the liaison between a willing refugee-sponsor church and the local refugee resettlement agency.

If your church is interested in learning more about how to sponsor refugees in the U.S., visit Bethany Christian Services (www.bethany.org) or call (800) 238-4269 for more information.

There are several ministries in the Christian Reformed Church that work closely together to welcome, advocate with, and support refugees. Please remember them in your personal and congregational giving!

If you’d like to support these ministries, you can give on their designated giving Sunday or donate through their websites.

CRCNA Thrive (Refugee & Immigration Advocacy)

Centre for Public Dialogue (Justice and Hope Sunday) 

World Renew (Refugee Sunday)