Don't be a stranger

Church and Community

"The church was influential in us settling in. They were a God-send, they came and gave us clothes and whatever we needed.

"We didn't have anything, it was an empty house. It was amazing. We went to church and there was a lot of support and help from them. Our only family holiday was the Lake District and they provided it for us."

Phuoc Tan Diep was just three years old when his family fled war-torn Vietnam, arriving in Wolverhampton in 1978, but the church's kindness to his family made a lasting impression.

Now a doctor, he says the church's support transformed his parents' lives.

"There was an openness and a willingness to give time and not even money - just time to be with people and share and help someone who has been through a very difficult journey."

And it's not just migrants who benefit as they are assimilated into the church community.

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales published a statement this year which says: "We recognise and celebrate their rich cultural and spiritual patrimony and the ways in which they are enriching us as they join us in our parishes and dioceses."

The statement calls for "a more visible culture of welcome, hospitality and solidarity with our migrant sisters and brothers in God's family."

The Methodist church has been responding to the needs of diaspora groups from all over the world for many years, while at the same time enabling churches to understand the needs of these groups. The denomination invites pastors from countries including Zimbabwe, Ghana, Korea and more to serve in the UK, pastoring in a local British church and looking after the needs of the particular diaspora group.

The Reverend Arlington Trotman, a Methodist minister, has been working on issues around migration, asylum and racial justice for more than 10 years, and runs the Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe.

Arlington, who arrived in Britain from Barbados in 1970, says: "One of the things individual Christians can do is just say hello, just get to meet the person who might appear to be a stranger.

"When people come in to your churches, there is a fundamentally theological responsibility we have - not just to welcome by saying that word but actually making people feel part and parcel of the community."

The Evangelical Alliane UK, European Christian Mission, Fellowship of Churches of Christ in the UK and Global Connections are currently consulting with the Polish Evangelical Alliance and English churches and agencies involved with Polish migrants.

Dr Krish Kandiah, Director: Churches in Mission for the Evangelical Alliance, says: "We want to resource UK churches so that they can support Polish workers here in the UK, and to start a conversation between British and Polish churches to examine how we can forge better links with each other."

Nelu Balaj arrived in the UK from Romania as a student in 1992 and is now the Scottish Churches Racial Justice Officer for Action of Churches Together in Scotland.

"We have been working to try to make people feel at home in their churches, because a lot of people want to work and be a part of the scene in the church in the UK, but they don't know how to.

"We feel empowered to welcome them to feel equal partners with us."

And it's not just the church that can help people feel part of a community.

Fe'ao and the Reverend Iesinga Vunipola, moved to Wales in 1998 so that Fe'ao could play rugby for Pontypool Rugby Football Club.

Iesinga, now a Methodist minister, says: "We felt part of the community immediately. Rugby is the game of the two nations. So when you are linked with rugby, it is like a door to you and your family and the people warm towards us because of rugby.

"I think that is the biggest reason that people in Wales take us into their hearts, it is because they love rugby."