Film OF THE MONTH

REFUGE: Compassion for Those Displaced

I support my local Bucks County Interfaith Coalition for Refugee Resettlement. It’s an all-volunteer organization of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who have come together to provide friendship, practical assistance, and financial support for legal refugee families recently arrived in the U.S. Inspired by the Jewish adage “Whoever saves a single life is considered to have saved the whole world,” the group began in 2016 with the modest ambition of helping one refugee family.

 Our newly revised video, REFUGE: Compassion for Those Displaced, was not created in response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I acknowledge the complexities surrounding immigration, but the majority of those who cross borders unlawfully evidently do it out of desperation.

“No one leaves home,” said poet Warsan Shire, “unless home is the mouth of a shark.” If living conditions are so severe or dangerous that safety is found only in leaving, what would any of us do?

“When [my family] came from England during the war, people said, ‘You are welcome here. What can we do to help?’ I am a beneficiary of the American people’s generosity, and I hope we can have comprehensive immigration legislation that allows this country to continue to be enriched by those who were not born here.” —Secretary Madeleine Albright

Let us lead with love and show compassion for those displaced—while working toward an immigration system that is both just and humane.

Please set aside 6 minutes and 36 seconds to watch our featured short film, REFUGE —Jonathan Sprout