Praying with Refugees

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Praying with Refugees

Humble Service

Reflection

I do not know what nationality to give myself: Rwandese, Ugandan or Kenyan. I am a refugee by virtue of the fact that my mother fled from Rwanda in the late 1960’s with her parents when she was a teenager. They took refuge in Uganda.

Civil war in Uganda forced my mother to flee to Kenya. In Kenya my mother benefited from a scholarship to study home economics, specializing in tailoring. She later received a loan from JRS to buy a sewing machine and set up her own business. To this day she sells her handiwork in the JRS Mikono craft shop in Nairobi.

Sometimes I am called to help in the Mikono craft shop as a shop attendant, and I meet refugees nearly every day through my work. The people I serve come with all sorts of problems. Most of the time I am not in a position to meet their needs, so the best I can do is listen.

During the Last Supper, Jesus displayed his humility by washing the disciples’ feet.

This is one of my greatest challenges now that I serve refugees. Serving others can be very difficult and it calls for an act of humility. I feel refugees expect so much from me sometimes, especially when I listen to their sad stories and they expect me to solve their problems.

The help they need may not be offered by the project I work on, so this is where I must be humble and let them know we are not in a position to assist them as they had hoped. I refer them elsewhere so they may receive the specific help they want. I often frustrate myself and at times I think I frustrate refugees too.

Agnes Asiimwe
JRS Kenya

Adapted from God in Exile, 2005

Suggestion for Prayer

Scripture reading for prayer:

1 Peter 5:5-6

And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: "God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble." So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

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Beacon, NY, USA

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