God In Exile: Towards a shared spirituality with refugees

Abstract

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To join JRS is to embark on a journey of faith accompanied by refugees (JRS seminar, Kigali, 1995). Over the years, JRS workers have reflected on the spiritual values represented by refugees, what message they have to share with JRS and the rest of the world. This spontaneous search for meaning echoes a need voiced several times over, for greater emphasis on and definition of aspects of the faith, the cornerstone on which JRS is built. God in Exile: Towards a Shared Spirituality with Refugees evolved precisely as a response to this need. It is a compilation of reflections from a spiritual perspective shared by people – religious, lay people and refugees – who are part of the JRS mission. It does not pretend to be the final answer in what is essentially a process; rather it is a step in the journey towards discovering, together with refugees, a spirituality arising out of the experience of forced exile and the specific faith-based response of JRS. This book does not attempt to idealize the experience of displacement. Ultimately, however, a resolve reveals itself, rising above the hardships described to meet the challenge of finding out how God is present in the suffering of exile.