Amid heated political debate over “illegal immigrants” in the UK, writer Angie Jones steps inside Wethersfield Immigration Camp to meet the people behind the headlines. What she finds are not statistics or soundbites, but men with names, stories, and unshakable faith.
Some months ago I volunteered to help at the Conversational English classes at The Wethersfield Immigration Camp. It’s a huge site behind high fences topped with rolled - up barbed wire. You need identity documents to get past the gates. Security guards escort you to the classroom where we meet asylum seekers.
You sit at a table, eager faces stare at you, hoping you can help them to learn the language. I say hello and tell them my name. I ask them to pass round a whiteboard and marker and each write their name and country of origin. Muslims, Christians, Hindus herded together.
READ MORE: Working with refugees changed me for the better
Mohammed – Yemen. Mohammed – Palestine (who weeps when he speaks of his little daughter). Hayalom- Eritrea. Mohammed - Afghanistan. Hassan- Sudan. Terahj – Iran.
Men who have escaped death and persecution, men who travelled hundreds of miles, often on foot
Men who have escaped death and persecution, men who travelled hundreds of miles, often on foot. Men who have paid too much money for a dangerous boat trip to cross the English Channel having known rejection by countries they passed through. Men who have lost everything, their jobs, their homeland, their family. Men who belong nowhere, utterly homeless. Men hoping that the UK will welcome them.
READ MORE: Caring for young refugees
And yes, I watch the news. See the forlorn figures being escorted to shore. Sense the mood. Then I read Matthew 25. Words of Jesus. And I know it isn’t enough to spend just a morning there, once a week.
“I was a stranger and you invited Me in….Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me.”
So we sit in our little car, by the main gate and the security guards let three men out. We know their names. They are from Eritrea and Iran. We know they’re Christians but that’s all. We met them briefly in one of the sessions. They squeeze into the back seat and smile nervously as my husband starts the engine.
Hammin’s brown eyes sparkled as he tucked into a second slice of Victoria Sponge cake. Hammin* tells us his story. He was a Muslim soldier in the Iranian army. He made friends with a Christian who introduced him to Jesus
Back in our home we show them the garden, the apple trees and they sniff the roses and say, “good.” But later, after the black tea and cake we listen. Hammin’s brown eyes sparkled as he tucked into a second slice of Victoria Sponge cake. Hammin* tells us his story. He was a Muslim soldier in the Iranian army. He made friends with a Christian who introduced him to Jesus. Hammin attended a secret house church but the police found out and he had to flee. I asked him about his family. The smile faded; “I have no family,” They no longer want me.”
READ MORE: Why I am opening my home to Ukrainian refugees
Hammin made his way to Turkey, then to Greece, Italy, France and reached the UK about six weeks ago. He says he feels safe here. He is waiting to be ‘processed’ by the Home Office. Terahj *also from Iran was a practising Muslim. He found the daily five times prayer ritual did nothing for him. “It felt empty and meaningless.” He began to look into Christianity and located a secret church. Before long he decided to follow Jesus. Again the police found out and went to his parent’s home. They demanded to know about their son’s rejection of Islam. The parents were surprised and angry. The police searched his room and confiscated his laptop. Terahj was thrown out.
He stayed several years in Sweden, before he was told to move on. He couldn’t find a country offering asylum so he ended up in France. When he eventually boarded an over-crowded boat, to cross to England, it began to sink. “The French police rescued us and took us back to France,” he said.
Now at Wethersfield Camp he too awaits a decision. He wants to stay. I don’t know the answer. It’s a huge, world -wide issue. We can pray for our government to seek God’s wisdom, but I know that my heart must carry compassion. Jesus didn’t sort the problem between the Jews and Samaritans. He just loved the woman at the well.
I am humbled to be in the presence of such gracious people who have lost everything for their Lord. And I remember Jesus. Isaiah 53.3. ‘He was despised and rejected by men.’
No comments yet