How Do I Do This?
25 August, 2010
I have to be honest and say that while I was walking into a Detention Centre last December for our annual Christmas Party, I had one question, "Susana, how do I do this?", because to be honest I had no idea how you talk to refugees and asylum seekers. When you come face-to-face with people who are not in your everyday world – the fear of the unknown is often our biggest hurdle to overcome.
Within ten minutes I was talking & laughing with a group of men from Iraq – they were laughing ‘cause I asked “what bought them to Australia?”. Their reply - “Darling, we are from Iraq.” Yep, no more needed to be said. Our team, along with another church had a great Christmas Party with these people and hopefully we brought some friendship and joy into their world.
Whenever I get a chance to tell people about the places that Hillsong CityCare actually gets to in a week – such as women experiencing domestic violence; people who are homeless living rough on the streets; beautiful families who are refugees from places such as Sudan, Afghanistan who know absolutely no one in Australia; elderly people in nursing homes in need of a visit; supporting people who are extremely isolated and have very little social support; mentoring youth & children; families who have a child with some form of cancer; people struggling to provide enough food for their family – just to mention a few – the response is always the same: ‘I NEVER KNEW WE DID ALL THAT!’
Need is absolutely everywhere.
Our response, not our intention, is critical!
Push past the unknown, take a step, and get involved.
One person (not an ‘issue’) is on the other end waiting – and who knows what help & what hope you may bring.
WE WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO GET INVOLVED!
“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” (Howard Zinn)
Donna
FYI: Susana Campos is our amazing Manager of CityCare Blacktown Centre. Susana pioneered & developed our Adopt A Family program which is a support program to newly arrived refugees to Australia. She is a registered nurse and has been in leadership at Hillsong Church and CityCare roles.
For more information on Hillsong CityCare and how you can get involved please visit myhillsong.com/citycare
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Hillsong Collected is a blog. It is an ongoing collection of thoughts and stories from the leadership and key team of Hillsong Church around the world, conveniently packaged in three different streams.
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