While Europe's politicians bicker, hundreds of thousands of people, pushed by war and poverty, cross the Mediterranean and then trek across a continent to safety and hope. To date, almost 3,000 of them have died trying. But they believe that it is a journey worth the risk.
Besides our other work, Oasis is now one of the UK's largest Academy providers, serving around 25,000 students across 47 schools around the country, as well as working with their families and wider communities. This means that we work in many interfaith and multi-cultural settings, serving as many Muslim communities as any other. We have also also developed churches that serve multi-faith communities and enjoy a great many wonderful relationships not only across the denominations, but also across the old faith divides.
We all know that the founding father to whom Christianity and Islam, as well as Judaism, trace their roots is, of course, Abraham. And that, as both Genesis and the Qur'an record, as part of his calling he was given a great promise and challenge by the one God of everyone:
'I [God] will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.' (Genesis 12: 2-3)
'He [Allah] said, "I am appointing you as the leader of mankind."' (Qur'an 2:124)
So, in our communities, as we looked at the tragic situation of so many refugees in Europe, we realised that perhaps we should look again at this joint commission and ask whether this might be an opportunity to live up to it. Are we a 'blessing' to humanity? Do we offer clear moral and spiritual leadership to the nations of the world? We hear so much talk in the news about racial and religious tensions, that it struck us the present situation provided us with a great opportunity to tell a different story.
More than that, I, like every educationalist, know that educational policy has too often encouraged schools to maximise students' academic attainment at the expense of the broader issues of moral purpose and character development.
Oasis has never believed that education is about filling young people's heads with inapplicable knowledge. So we realised that by listening to our students' concerns and giving them permission and encouragement to play their part in leading the fight to ease the plight of thousands of people facing a freezing European winter with no security, not only would this be a wonderful act of compassion in and of itself, but it would draw on a wide range of skills and capabilities including compassion, creativity, collaboration, empathy and generosity which are important to any rounded educational approach.
We knew, however, that we had to be responsible. We had heard the reports of refugee camps inundated with biros, when the people needed books. We knew that huge amounts of food had been given, but not enough with a decent shelf life. A tremendous amount of female clothing had been generously donated, but what about the needs of male refugees?
So, Oasis has partnered with Islamic Relief and Christian Aid, who have the expertise and expertise needed, to help launch a student led national campaign, which gives them, and many other schools, churches, mosques, colleges, businesses and communities, the opportunity to fundraise and volunteer to ensure that vital support reaches the places where it will have the most positive impact on the ground across Europe as well as in the Middle East this winter.
From now until the end of October, activists will work to collect money, goods and promises of time, ultimately delivering aid to wherever it is best needed in November. There are three main ways that your church or youth group can get involved and make a difference:
- Sign up to become a collection centre or donate to the nearest one – Schools, churches, business, mosques and youth groups across the country are signing up to become a local collection centre for Harvest for Hope – could you be one of them? Or perhaps there is already one in your local area; could you make a donation from the approved shopping list on the Harvest for Hope website?
- Volunteer to drive a van – During November we need to ensure the donations get to where they are needed. As such we need volunteers who can navigate, drive or coordinate vans and deliveries to refugee camps around Europe.
- Make a Donation – Give money or raise cash through a fundraising event, Harvest service etc – and give it through our website HarvestForHope.org to support our partner organisations around Europe and the Middle East, allowing them to purchase essential items for refugee camps that would otherwise prove impossible to provide, such as clinics, kitchens etc.
