Later this month Christian World Service will launch its annual campaign for refugees, Operation Refugee. Churches and groups are invited to mark Refugee Sunday and raise funds for displaced people overseas.

Operation Refugee is an opportunity to draw attention to the tremendous contribution people make to the country where they are resettled, including in Aotearoa New Zealand, and raise funds for our local partners helping refugees and other displaced people from places like Palestine, Syria and Ukraine.

Welcoming the stranger and providing hospitality – manaakitanga - are central to the teaching of Jesus. Providing relief supplies, psychosocial care, education medical treatment and more recently cash transfers is one of the core aspects of CWS’s work. New Zealand churches first raised funds to assist Palestinian refugee families in 1949.

Worship resource for Refugee Sunday on June 23 - or July 7 in the Anglican tradition - will be available shortly. CWS is grateful to Rev Mel McKenzie from Wellington for her thoughtful contributions to the material.

Parishes may like to invite former refugees or those supporting resettlement to share their stories and organise a fundraiser for refugees.

“Organising a special morning tea after church, a film evening or a simple banquet are enjoyable ways to raise funds for people who have lost everything,” says Dori Lloyd, Operation Refugee organiser.

Dori is keen to speak with schools, youth groups or others interested in raising funds to help refugees. For the third year in a row, year 9 students from the Diocesan School for Girls in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland. will take part in the Walk the Talk challenge.

The United Nations has designated June 20 as World Refugee Day. This year’s theme focuses on solidarity and finding ways to offer a warm welcome to refugees.

Refugees are people who have fled their countries because of war, conflict, human rights violations and persecution. At the end of 2022, the United Nations Refugee Agency reported 108.4 million people were forcibly displaced, of whom 35.3 million were refugees.

Sign up or find more information on: operationrefugee.nz or call 0800 74 73 72.