The Friday Football club has really picked up. We’ve moved up from five-a-side to a much more crowded six-a-side with subs. When I first started organising football, the guys were almost a bit too polite. They were quite clearly holding back, not really challenging opponents for the ball.

Well, that has changed. Everyone has become quite comfortable and now the guys playing at full pelt. Two weeks ago fights nearly broke out. It wasn’t helped by the rain, which makes the astroturf unbelievably slippy. A couple of the older guys with families (who feel the pain of failing a bit more than the guys in their late teens) don’t really want to risk getting injured, so they said that they would stop coming if football became anymore physical. I suppose this was inevitable when you mix about eight different nationalities and age differences of up to 20 years in a fast paced and physical sport.

So, I decided to appoint a referee. An Iranian friend (actually, he refereed for a club in Iran -- good to have experience on our side) and I decided to split the duties. I admit that I did this with some trepidation, as I wasn’t sure how the guys would react. Thankfully, it all went very well. Though there was some hargy-bargy over the validity of some of my calls, the addition of a ref went down very well. It clamed down the atmosphere a bit and everybody enjoyed themselves. It’s also good news for my volunteers, who quite often take a few knocks!

Another great thing about our weekly meeting for football is that we’re starting to become known by the staff and others who regularly use Petershill Park. I suppose that we’re a bit of an oddity; a guy in the locker room told me the other day, "Scots, Americans, Palestinians, and Afghans playing football together? Can’t say that’s normal in Springburn." The fact that we have a mix of Celtic and Rangers tops in the mix also confuses the issue for some. It becomes a great opportunity to share and a practical expression that integration, though not always easy, is definitely possible and that the church is at the forefront.

Last week I again visited the Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre (IRC). I visit with an established charity; it’s a fascinating group of volunteers that visit... I suppose that the prospect of visiting people you don’t know who are in a prison (who may have made bad decisions that have landed them there) that’s an hour outside the city does not have universal appeal. So I’ve met some fascinating people – detainees as well as fellow visitors – in the past 5 months of visiting.

The more I have an opportunity to visit detainees at Dungavel, the more important I think it is. Most of the detainees have little hope, they have reached the end of the road, and are usually wrestling with regret over poor choices. Many of the detainees have only seen Scotland over the barbed wired wall that surrounds Dungavel – generally speaking, most of the detainees have been moved up from England, while those detained for immigration related issues in Scoland are moved down to IRCs in England. So isolation is a major problem. Having somebody from the “outside” helps the detainees to feel more connected to the world and it allows them to share their feelings with those who are not experiencing the same stresses. I have been told many times that the visits to Dungavel are the highlight of the week, a lifeline. Quite often we can only visit 12 detainees, and 24 have requested visits!

While I believe that there are cases of unjust detention, I do not want to come across as suggesting that detention is unnecessary or that everybody in Dungavel does not deserve to be there in some capacity (however, I do believe that the current trend of indefinite detention is harmful and a waste of resources; read the compelling reports on http://www.detainedlives.org/).

Jesus’ famous words about the marginalised, “...I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. (Mat 25:35-36)” is not qualified by “but, really, only do this the poor who haven’t made any mistakes.” Unsurprisingly, there is an implied element of risky grace in Christ’s words, which disconcert and challenge me to address the plank in our eye before I judge, to leave my stones on the ground as one who has also sinned.

Sometimes at Dungavel, I am tempted to be overly judgemental about some of the detainees, or choose to visit those who have much more clear-cut cases. Yet, it is perhaps the most difficult who most need a visit. It is easy to have an idealised opinion of the marginalised; yes, we must be wise in our dealings, but grace by definition is something that is undeserved. During my last visit I met with a man who wanted to visit family, so he used forged documents… yes, a unwise decision, but the pain he is experiencing being estranged from his wife and son is real and must be addressed with compassion. Jesus never advocated an attitude of “just deserts”. Many times, the visitors cannot offer anything more than a listening ear and acting as a tangible connection the world beyond the 25ft walls of the IRC, but as Gustavo Gutiérrez commented about ministry to the marginalised, that there is “importance of gestures and ways of ‘being with’ that some may regard as having little political effectiveness.”

Hi there,

As you can see, there have been some serious changes to the blog. It had been the same format for a year, so I thought that I’d try something different for a while. The new banner is of a photo I took of the Balgray Towers this past winter, looking over the shell of the old botanic gardens in Springburn park.

We’ve been on- and off-line today a number of times, but I’m pretty pleased with the results. There are a few things that should be tidied up, but now I need to head off to bed. All in good time!

Let me know your thoughts on the new layout.

Paul

"Andrew" was released from hospital on Thursday. The medical team had used Wednesday to run some pretty intensive tests to make sure there wasn't a more serious underlying condition. He said he looked like something from a science fiction film as they wired up his head to monitor his brain patterns.
He was grateful to be "free", as he put it on Thursday, though tired from the tests and a little nervous in case he might have another episode of unconsciousness. He lives alone, but there were friends calling in with him to ensure he was ok and had company. We also restocked his kitchen so that he would not need to worry about getting some food in.
The Home Office requires Andrew to sign on at their Glasgow branch every Tuesday. Realising that he would miss his appointment last week, he arranged for the hospital to fax them and confirm that he was an in-patient and was not well enough to be discharged. His solicitor was also informed. Despite this, the Home Office saw fit to send him a threatening letter informing him that his non-attendance renders him liable to detention and a fine of £4000 (Andrew is entirely dependent on just over £40 per week provided by Asylum Support). Quite a welcome home. The doctors had just given him thirty minutes of advice about managing stress and immediately his thoughts were turned to what he might face next Tuesday when he returns to the Home Office.
Thanks for your prayers for Andrew. He is very grateful for all the concern that Christian brothers and sisters have shown for him. Please continue to pray that he would soon receive permission to stay in the UK and be able to build a life here and that the Home Office staff would treat him sympathethically next week.

Please pray for our friend "Andrew", a believer from Cameroon. He’s a committed volunteer at the St. Rollox Asylum Seeker Support Project, he acted as one of the disciples in the Glasgow Passion Play, and is a well loved member of the weekly football club (his skills would put you in mind of Thierry Henry).

Last week, while walking home, he blacked out and collapsed in the street. When he regained consciousness in the Royal Infirmary, he could not speak or move the right side of his body. He was understandably terrified by the ordeal. Andrew was able to contact me on my mobile and I visited him in the hospital. He had taken a CAT scan which yielded no results as to the severity of his condition. Though he was now able to speak clearly, he was still having difficult moving his right leg.

Emma and I visited him yesterday and his condition had improved. His right leg was fine and the MRI scan was clear. The doctors are going to discharge him from the hospital tomorrow, believing that he has fully recovered. Though the reason behind Andrew’s ordeal remains a mystery, the doctors believe that it was a combination of a sinus problem and high stress.

Praise God that he has recovered, but continue to pray for his health and emotional state (his GP has been contacted about the issue and Andrew’s health will be monitored). This is the second time that something has happened to him unexpectedly: not long after he first arrived in Glasgow, he was stabbed in the back in a random attack by a mentally ill person. This clearly knocked his confidence and recent events will add to his stress. Please remember him in your prayers.

- Paul

One of the major concerns of indigenous residents of our area is that immigrants (and asylum seekers in particular) are unfairly biased when housing is allocated. When I mention to some local people about my job, one of the common complaints I usually hear something about "all of them coming over here and taking up our housing". It’s a serious concern for many people and serves as a source of tension in between the communities.

I rode my bike down to the supermarket last night for some milk. Eight months ago, this would’ve been a quick 5-minute errand. Not so anymore, I was there for half an hour. It seems almost impossible to go into the local Tesco supermarket without bumping into somebody that we know (especially in the evening when perishables are reduced). Many of the people we bump into regularly are from Middle Eastern cultures, so there is a round of niceties that must precede the conversation (e.g. how is your family? Are your mother and father ok? How is your cousin? Is your second cousin’s child doing well?). It takes time.

This is not a complaint, it’s great to feel that we are now part of the community and recognised here. It’s one of the main reasons we decided to live where the refugees are housed. Shared experience fosters relationship.

There is a cost in living in community. It means the loss of the urban anonymity to which many of us have become accustomed. Theoretically, I believe this is a good thing, but it’s not always easy. There is minor inconvenience of just trying to “nip to the shop” for a pint of milk when you’re in a hurry and getting stuck there for 30 minutes. But more critically, it’s harder to maintain a façade in community.

I have learned that one of the guys who regularly attends the project has a gambling addiction. If I meet him in Tesco, he is initially embarrassed then encourages me to dissuade him from playing the lotto. He knows it is wrong, but needs the accountability of others to actually keep him from buying the tickets. This is one of the easier issues. Sometimes I’ll catch somebody doing something they shouldn’t, but then follows an implied request: “don’t tell my family”. Personally, it means that I must be more careful about how I react to things: what do I do when somebody jumps the queue at the shop? How do I treat the bus driver when he refuses to give me change for my ticket? What do I mutter when the train is cancelled?

A wonderful aspect of living in the local community is we have the opportunity to show how our words are backed up by how we live. On the other hand, it’s a great responsibility as you open yourself and others to accountability.

The first rays of sunlight start to appear at 5:30 in the morning and it begins to get dark an hour from midnight – a sure sign summer has arrived in Scotland.

Today is the last day of school, so the projects at St. Rollox and Tron St. Mary’s have closed for the summer. Because the children are off on holiday and the crèche (linked to the school system) is closed, the volunteers would have trouble giving time to the project in the absence of childcare.

So on the surface, it looks like our schedule will be much more flexible for the next two months, but this doesn’t mean that we will be any less busy! Now that we have two more days free in the week, it means that we will be able to make time for some projects that we did not have time for otherwise. I will begin work on getting a “Life in the UK Test” study course written up and approved. I will also have time to look at ways to expand and deepen the Men’s Ministry by making more volunteer contacts and looking at potential funding opportunities. We will be making time for networking with local, as well as national, organisations (in other words, chasing up some of the contacts we made at the Churches Refugee Network conference – see the post from 8 June). So I will finally be making proper use of my office space at Bishopbriggs. The new flexibility in our schedule also means that we will be able to fit in more family visits: in other words, engaging in the hospitality that is at the core of our ministry. The time away also gives us time to pray and assess our current commitments.

In Pain

In the pain, misfortune, oppression,and death of the people,

God is silent.
God is silent on the cross,
in the crucified.
And this silence is God's word,
God's cry.
In solidarity,
God speaks the language of love.


Jon Sobrino — from “Pain-Bearers” published by Methodist Division of Ministries 1996

Emma and I just returned from London after attending the conference of the Churches’ Refugee Network. It was both encouraging and useful. We also enjoyed worship from the Ugandan Acholi Choir.

The conference was a mix of theological refection on sanctuary and practical advice, all specifically addressing the British context for sanctuary. The speakers were experts in their fields, some of them from outside a church context, which proved to be a useful perspective.

The whole conference was given an update on the legal situation and a briefing on how to best lobby politicians and get them to actually act. I attended a workshop led by Citizens for Sanctuary on engaging with the press in relation to issues of sanctuary and Emma attended a workshop about Asylum support services. All of these topics were extremely relevant; particularly our after our interface with MPs and the media with Felicite and Arouna’s case.

Another important aspect of conferences like this is the ability to meet people who are doing similar things in different parts of the country. The sharing of information and contacts is invaluable. It is also very encouraging to learn about what is happening across the UK. Many of the people we came into contact with are working on a local, contextual, and church-based level, so it often goes under the radar. This is not to say that the situation in the UK is perfect, or that there is room for complacency. Still, I am heartened by how many exciting and creative initiatives are taking place.

I’ll close this post by leaving you with some interesting links and publications:

• Canon Anthony Harvey was at the conference promoting his new book Asylum in Britain, a question of conscience which seems very good from the bits I have read. He has also written a Bible study about Asylum in Britain that engages with the issue from a Biblical perspective. You can find both on this website: http://www.ctbi.org.uk/337
  
• A representative from Citizens for Sanctuary came along to the conference and gave some great advice on engaging with the media. Their website (http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/) is a weighty resource hoping to progress in changing public attitudes toward asylum/sanctuary.
  
• The Medical Justice Network had a number of resources available about the rights of detainees. Their website has pdfs of their reports, though be warned that much of what they report is harrowing: http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/index.php
  
• Also, Refugee Week is coming up! The "Simple Acts" campaign is a brilliant way for everybody to get involved: http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk/

Unbelievable development following Felicite & Arouna's forced deportation on Thursday:

News Story click here

The Christianity Explored course has now been running for two weeks at St. Rollox. It has already proven to be a great challenge and blessing. We are not trying to be exclusive in our programmes: in other words, we don’t want to mirror the existing divisions in Sighthill between refugees and Scots in our ministry. Practically, this means that anything we do for the refugees we want to make available to the indigenous community. We decided that the Christianity Explored course should be no different. It would probably be easier if we did the course only with homogenous groups. Yet doing what is easy is not necessarily the best preparation for the long-term.

Currently, two Afghans, two Iranians, a Ghanaian believer, and two Glaswegians have attended.

As it stands, I’m not sure if Rico Tice would recognise this as the course he wrote. The structure is helpful, but we’re letting the guys’ questions give direction to the course (the course was created for man, not man for the course?). Ultimately, this stems from pastoral concern: the guys have genuine questions and hurts and it would be insensitive to ignore these issues.

I would like to hone in on two stories from recent Christianity Explored sessions:

‘N’ is an Iranian seeker with an incredibly sharp intellect. When he asked to come on the course he told me a goose-bump causing story about how he has seen Jesus in his dreams. In one particular dream, N is in the church he currently attends and singing along to the worship songs. Jesus is sitting in the back of the church and walks up to N and asks, "tell me, what are you doing here?" N says that he is still unsure, but looking for answers, to which Jesus replies "when you are ready, remember that I am waiting for you."
It is clear that N is open to the Holy Sprit to move in his dreams. He already knows a lot about Christianity, but has particular difficultly accepting the Jesus’ cry of "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" The God-forsakenness of God incarnate is a difficult concept for Christians and there is no simple, nor logical, conclusion to this mystery. I believe it will take some sort of revelation before N will take the step to believe. We know he is open to dreams, so pray that he remains open to how God might reveal himself.

‘G’ is a local who came along to St. Rollox for the first time last Thursday at the drop-in café. Life has been difficult for him. His father died and then his mother committed suicide shortly thereafter. He had an emotional breakdown and gave up on God in the wake of this tragedy. For him the question of the existence of pain and suffering is not merely an abstract question. G seems to be enjoying that the course is a safe place he can talk about his questions, as well as engage with others, as he admits that after such hurt he attempted to cut himself off from other people.

Keep these guys in your prayers, as well as James (the minister at St. Rollox) and I, as the course continues.

Felicite and Arouna are still down in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. The deportation was halted temporarily to allow her solicitor time to compile new evidence. We have not heard much in the last couple of days except that they seem to be doing as well as can be expected. Pray on. The issue is still receiving significant press and political attention, and we will not give up.
A team of us from the St Rollox drop-in, helped by one of Felicite's closest friends, had to clear their apartment out two days ago as the Border Agency had given directions for it to be cleared. It was quite distressing to be in the apartment. The breakfast that Arouna had been unable to stomach as 7 enforcement officers and police watched his every move was still in the sink. There were opened drawers and cupboards as Felicite had hurriedly grabbed a few essentials, the Sheriff Officer's warrant papers were on the table and there were marks where they had begun to use force on the door as Felicite gave Arouna his inhaler.

The rest of the week has been busy and we're both looking forward to a long weekend. Paul and a local minister hosted the first in a series of Bible Studies for seekers / new believers yesterday and we were really encouraged by the turn out and interest. There were some very interesting comments and questions being raised. Pray for this group.

A new group of Iraqis has arrived in the city and we have made contact with a couple of them. One man has already invited us to his home, saying that his wife is feeling very shy and nervous and he would particularly like for her to meet us. We hope to find a time next week to go and visit. Paul had a very interesting first meeting with this man and we definitely feel we should follow up.

It has been a draining couple of weeks. Many of our friends seem to be particularly struggling at the moment. Pray that they will be open to the one who can carry their burdens.

- Emma

I’m sure most of our readers have received the e-mail from us about the detention of our friend Felicite and her son Arouna. We’ve been pleased that the press have picked up the story and are coming at if from a compassionate angle. There has been a huge response and people all over the city are contacting their local politicians and interceding through prayer. We're pleased some politicians have responded with concern.

Numerous Scottish papers have run the story today, and on Friday BBC Radio Scotland and Real Radio gave airtime to the story in their news slot. Tomorrow, some workers at St. Rollox and I will probably appear on a special GMTV story about Felicite and Arouna.

Below is a link to a story that appeared in today’s Sunday Herald:

Four-year-old refugee latest victim of broken vows by Westminster

This is the news report that appeared on STV which does a good job of explaining the context of Felicite’s situation (also, if you look closely, you can see me in the midst of the protesters): Anybody in the UK should be able to view the video clip, but you may not be able to get it if you’re in the States.

Campaigners protest at detention of Ivorian pair

Again, thanks for your prayer and messages of support as we try to cope with this issue.

... it’s something you might hear on a Glasgow bus. It translates as “I’ll have an all-day ticket to the town.” Clearly, the Glaswegian dialect causes problems for people not accustomed to this particular brogue (myself included).

Luckily some people are willing to help.

Click here for an amusing and encouraging article from the Scotsman.

The last month or so has thrown up a number of difficult situations for some of the refugees we know. People reaching the end of the line in terms of appeals and facing deportation, lack of progress for others, disappointing news on visas....but finally today some good news.

M is from North Africa. She came to the UK four years ago with her husband and one child. A second child was born here. Through a sad set of circumstances, they had come to a situation where M and the children had residency but her husband was undocumented. She lives at the other end of the city, but she travelled to one of the drop-ins after a recommendation from another lady from her home country. We helped her with a couple of things, particularly drafting a letter setting out her plea to the Home Office to regularise her husband's status. She has just telephoned me to tell me that her husband received residence papers this morning! Alhamdulilah! (Praise God!) Finally, this young family can live together without the fear of being separated or deported. Right now, she is so relieved that she cannot find the words. She thanked us for all the help and promised to come and see us again soon. Finally, she told me that she will always remember us and will pray for God's blessing in our lives.

We're delighted to have been able to help in a small way and for it to have been such a good outcome. But I'm also struck by how this lady came to the church for help. She was nervous to share the details with too many people, particularly others from within the Muslim and North African communities, but she recognised the church as a place where the workers could be trusted. She came on the recommendation of another lady who has found the church to be a place of friendship, love and concern. It feels like she tasted a little of the Kingdom of Heaven and hopefully she'll be hungry for more.