Where do you feel safe?
Do you have a place or a person that you retreat to when you feel stressed and anxious? Safety is something that we can easily take for granted, until it’s gone. Maria* knew this all too well as she anxiously watched her children sleep on rigid airport chairs, leaning on one another, exhausted from the journey and all the unknowns. Maria wondered how she would care for them, where they would go. They had fled their home country because her life was in danger but here in the UK they had no friends or family, Maria knew she had to keep her children safe, but she didn’t know how.
“Maria knew she had to keep her
children safe, but she didn’t know how.”
When God created human beings, he gave them a safe place to live – a beautiful garden that contained everything they needed. They would walk in this vibrant space with their creator every day, knowing that they were seen, protected and loved. When sin entered the world, Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, their place of safety, and had to make their way in a wide and uncertain world, facing danger and hard labour in order to survive. The longing Adam and Eve felt as they left the garden is the same ache Maria must have felt as she stepped into an unknown country to start her life again.
This longing for Eden, for a place that is free from sin and pain exists in all of us still. There are many reasons why we might not feel safe. Many of us carry trauma or painful experiences that make safety hard to feel. Difficult childhoods or past hurts shape our bodies and minds in ways that can make trusting others challenging. When the world that we know feels under threat, our instinct is to want to protect ourselves and sometimes that protection looks like fear, suspicion or anger.
“Many of us carry trauma or painful
experiences that make safety hard to feel.”
Much public discussion around immigration does not consider the real life stories of people like Maria, instead it is shaped by fear-based messaging. Fear of not having enough to go round, fear of what crimes people coming to our nation might commit, fear of losing our cultural identity. Fear drives newspaper sales and social media algorithms and can influence the way we vote, the way we speak and the way we act.
Behind the fear based headlines, the numbers tell a different story. Because people seeking asylum make up well under 1% of the UK population, any statistics, whether positive or negative, appear disproportionately large when expressed as a percentage. I’ve found sites like this one by Refugee Action really helpful. If we take the time to understand how the numbers are being crunched, it can save us from fear and help us to respond with love.
“As Christians we are invited to model a different way,
responding not with fear or resentment
but with hospitality, dignity and shared hope.”
For those of us living in areas of high deprivation, it’s vital that we have a Christ-like approach to fear and it’s important that we get our language right and our facts straight in order to have honest and loving conversations. In communities already carrying the weight of multiple deprivation, the arrival of people seeking asylum can understandably heighten tensions, yet as Christians we are invited to model a different way, responding not with fear or resentment but with hospitality, dignity and shared hope.
Not long after she arrived in the UK, Maria met some followers of Jesus who invited her to join their church. They welcomed her as family, celebrating her children’s birthdays with cake and singing. Maria says ’My arrival at the church was exciting, not knowing anyone. With all the faith and strength in my heart I brought my children. Then there in the house of God we found wonderful people who welcomed me very well. At that time I could hardly speak any English, I only felt the force that led me in search of God. Without him, we are nothing.’
“God is love, and his perfect love meets
us in our fear and gently drives it out.”
Maria’s experience is a small picture of the welcome God has always designed for his people. Proverbs 18v10 assures us that the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are saved. God’s plan is for people to know and love him, to find refuge and safety in his presence where we are welcomed in because of the work of Jesus on the cross. Jesus gave up his home in heaven for us, he left his safe place and he laid down his life in order to make a way for us to enter God’s presence once again without fear or deception. He came to knock down our walls and unclench our fists from the weapons we use to protect ourselves. God is love, and his perfect love meets us in our fear and gently drives it out.
I asked Maria how being part of a church family has made a difference to her life. She told me ‘I feel like I’ve found a family in Christ Jesus, now my fears are fading away because I’ve found some really lovely people. My children are happy and that is very comforting to me.’ If you find yourself longing for the safety and welcome that Maria experienced, know that God sees that longing. His invitation to you stands open. As you give your heart to him, he will help you heal from your trauma and fears and break down your walls so that you are able to welcome and love others with the same love that he has extended to you.
*name has been changed.
If you’re wondering how to respond beyond reflection, advocacy is one place to begin. Writing to your MP can help shape a more compassionate conversation around refugees, and you can find support and resources to do this here: stpetersnorbiton.org.uk/advocacy
Refugee Action refugee-action.org.uk