Christian Compassion in Action: Connecting Refugees with Opportunities in Australia
In many Christian traditions, the most pressing moral imperative is expressed in words attributed to Christ: ‘If I have not served you, I have served no-one’. And the sort of service that brings one closer to Christ is the kindleness to the vulnerable, the stranger, the outsider, the one who finds their life and our own imperilled by circumstances not of their making.
Consider a family of refugees, having finally escaped disaster and suffering, arriving in Australia through a UNHCR resettlement program. They are dispossessed, bereft, dependent and afraid. They want stability, dignity and the chance to make a positive contribution to their new home and new life. For the Australian people and society, the best kind of welcoming is the sort that assists the refugees to find meaningful employment – and that’s the sort of work suited to a ChristiRefugeean-based organisation, who see the work as an expression of the virtues of faith-inspired compassion and service.
The Biblical Call to Care for Strangers
In fact, if we turned to the Bible following its usual ethical sequence, we would find that the commandments to welcome the stranger, show mercy to the vulnerable, and feed the hungry, widows, and orphans are quite clear and unambiguous. ‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you,’ says Leviticus 19:34 in its first declaration of obligation. ‘You shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ This exhortation to the Israelites to love the stranger forms the backbone of Christian mercy toward refugees.
‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink,’ Jesus continues in Matthew 25:35: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’ By providing a home and a livelihood for strangers – people fleeing war and persecution, forced by need to leave their homeland – we can bring meaning to Christian faith. Refugees are some of the most precarious people among us, and when we offer them the means to rebuild their lives we heed God’s call to serve.
The Role of Christian-Based Organisations in Refugee Employment
There are various Christian organisations in Australia that responded to the challenge of supporting refugees through direct action: housing, language, job placement and other services. Our organisation in particular works with refugee job seekers to secure employment. We match refugees’ skill sets and qualifications with Australian employers to help them achieve financial independence and self-esteem.
All of our work is undergirded by a humanitarian vision. It’s our conviction that each person has worth and potential through their God-given make-up. To give work opportunities to refugees is a way of helping them realise their potential and use it to contribute to society. It’s to honour their dignity. It’s to say: ‘You have gifts, you have experiences, you have lived through things. Let’s see you unleashing your potential and using your gifts.’
Christian Compassion in the Workplace
But where Christian charity often stops is with a charitable donation towards a cause. One of the places where Christian compassion loses its distinctive character is in this narrow conception of charity. For Christian compassion as reflected in Christian scripture and expressed in the language of social actors is not only about charitable giving. Charitable giving should be done only when it seeks to create contexts in which people can flourish. For those who give money to refugees, this requires more effort in finding out the most effective and long-lasting ways to do so. For employers who give refugees jobs, this is easy, because, in addition to the much-needed source of income, the job also provides a refugee with a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose and a community. Their employment helps to embed Christian compassion into workspaces that can ultimately contribute toward fostering cultures that reflect the love and mercy of Christ.
Companies that create diverse and inclusive spaces for refugees to grow and thrive are modelling the principles behind the biblical injunction to love the stranger as yourself. Refugees’ divergent experiences, resilience and grit can bring new ways of thinking and doing to the workplace and inspire others. By hiring refugees, Christian businesses could meaningfully carry out that injunction by making the workplace a little more just.
Fostering Long-Term Independence
The biggest contribution of refugee employment to our societies is anchoring refugees permanently, putting them on a trajectory toward independence. The traumatic experience of displacement can be the nudge that propels refugees to realise their self-worth by getting a job – a first step toward remaking their lives. Employment gives them the means to take care of their own households, and to start getting on with a new life through social participation within their new local community.
Christian-oriented organisations are well-placed to assist in this process, providing not only a job-search function but also a mentorship function and an ongoing support network to enable refugees. This is more than just a points-matching exercise of placing refugees with employers; it provides a source of support and care to help refugees in the longer term.
Conclusion
Christian compassion in practice means much more than generously addressing pressing needs; it means walking beside those in need as they find their feet and move towards new ways of life. For refugees, meaningful employment opportunities are a key component to this. Matching refugees with employment prospects in Australia helps us live into the model of Christian service and love.
What we do there proves the impact of faith-filled compassion through employment; through work opportunities, we empower refugees to have the dignity, hope and livelihood needed to help them flourish in their new country. We Christians should care for the stranger. Helping refugees find employment is one way of doing that. It is one way of changing their lives.
