wfn.org | NCC Forum Looks at Welcoming Strangers, Refugee Concerns

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National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Office of News Services
Email: news@ncccusa.org
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Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
	50th Anniversary Newsroom - Nov. 8-12, 1999 call 216-696-8490

NCC FORUM LOOKS AT WELCOMING STRANGERS, REFUGEE CONCERNS

Nov. 11, 1999, CLEVELAND, Ohio - In 1995, Melrose Kargbo-Davies, 31, fled 
Sierra Leone with her husband and children, escaping the war that claimed 
her father and brother. With the help of the Church World Service (CWS), 
the family came to Cleveland.

Ms. Kargbo-Davies, a nursing student, and her husband Edward, a student at 
Baldwin-Wallace College, insist that CWS (the National Council of Churches' 
humanitarian response ministry) and Cleveland congregations gave them a 
whole new life. "We were lost and then we were found, we were blind and now 
we see," said Mr. Kargbo.
About 50 participants in the NCC's 50th anniversary assembly heard the 
couple's story in a forum called, "Welcoming Strangers: The Ministry of 
Entertaining Angels Unawares."

Dr. Richard Parkins, executive director of the Episcopal Migration 
Ministries, explained the often tragic path of a refugee entering the 
United States and emphasized the church's overwhelming obligation to help them.
"We do resettlement to rescue people. That is a very powerful and visible 
reminder of the pain and suffering of the people who couldn't make it 
here," he said. "There's no such thing as a nice refugee camp."

Dr. Parkins said refugee awareness needs to become a priority for 
Americans. And that citizens who want to increase opportunities of 
resettlement for refugees must speak out to the government.  "If we want to 
increase it we have to say
it," Dr. Parkins said.

Three other refugees told stories of the way Christian organizations played 
a role in the struggle for freedom.  Ms. Kargbo-Davies said, "We are going 
to continue to tell our stories and educate others so we can help people 
who are still in our country."

          - 30  -

  [Reported by Adeyemi Oshodi and Jon Sergent, students at Miami University 
of Ohio]