Christian Aid Week 2017
A seven-day
devotional
I was a stranger…
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‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the
angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will
separate the people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the
sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right:
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your
inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the
creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave
me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited
me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick
and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me.”’
Matthew 25:31-36
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Take a piece of red string…
Find a length of red string, wool or fabric. Hold it as you read the passage for each
day. As you reflect on the questions, tie a knot in the fabric – one for each person
who comes to mind as you pray. Each knot is a symbol that we are bound together
as sisters and brothers in Christ.
At the end of Christian Aid Week, we’ll collect the threads together as a visible
symbol of the praying, acting and giving that has taken place during the week,
while remembering those who are hungry, sick or need inviting in.
We’ll present the postcards and bundle of wool to our political leaders as a
reminder that we are bound together, and that each of us around the world is
deserving of safety and welcome – particularly those in need of food and shelter.
If you are not able to send your
thread, please tweet a photo:
tag @christian_aid and use #caweek
Or post your photo on Instagram:
mention @christianaiduk and use
#caweek
We’ll collate the images, threads and
messages at the back of this devotional
to hand them in to our political leaders.
You can send your bundles of
thread to:
Christian Aid • Campaigns team
35-41 Lower Marsh,
London
SE1 7RL
If you’re already in touch with your
local Christian Aid office and it’s more
convenient, please feel free to hand in
the thread there.
3
‘When the son of man
comes... all the nations will
be gathered before him’
Matthew 25:31-32
Day 1
Read – Matthew 25:31-36
Respond
Reflect
How do you feel about the idea that
helping another person is actually
helping Jesus?
In this passage, the nations are
gathered before the enthroned Son of
Man, who commends those who have
been compassionate.
The passage says the nations will
stand before Jesus. This raises the
idea that communities have collective
responsibility, and entire countries will
be called to account. What might that
mean for how you respond to Jesus in
this passage?
To their surprise, those who had helped
the outcast and poor discover they had
actually been helping Jesus.
Think about the small actions Jesus
commends. A meal. A drink. Hospitality.
Are any of these things too much to
offer someone in need?
Now take your red string, wool or fabric
and follow the suggestions on page 3.
These acts of kindness should also be
understood to represent the help that
so many in desperate circumstances
around our world need.
Lord, I know what you require of me.
So please strengthen me today that
I may act justly, love mercy and walk
humbly before you, my God.
Is it too much to expect that all people
can have their basic needs met?
Refugees walk through the Hungarian town of
Hegyeshalom on the way to the border, where,
until borders closed, they crossed into Austria.
4
Day 2
Read – Matthew 12:46-50
Reflect
Respond
Who are your sisters and brothers?
Family and friends may come to mind,
or even your church.
The idea that we’re all part of a global
family is easy for some to accept but
not for others. What’s your view?
Theodor Davidovic (pictured below)
received food parcels from Christian
Aid as a refugee after the Second
World War.
Theodor later came to Britain and
supports Christian Aid to this day. How
might God be calling you to respond to
his will for your life?
He said: ‘The people contributing
through Christian Aid Week helped me
to survive. I feel I owe my life to
the cause.’
Now take your red string, wool or fabric
and follow the suggestions on page 3.
Do you think those who helped to feed
Theodor and others in the camps saw
them as their brothers and sisters?
In today’s passage from Matthew 12,
Jesus says his mother and brothers
are those who do the will of God. How
does this idea connect with the actions
Jesus commends in Matthew 25?
Lord Jesus, I want my faith to be
so alive that I can follow you in all
things. Help me see people how you
see them, and, in doing so, fill me
with love and compassion for
the world.
Theodor Davidovic as a young man.
‘I was hungry
and you gave me
something to eat’
Matthew 25:35
Day 3
Read – Revelation 22:17
Reflect
Today, more than 65 million people
are displaced worldwide. How might it
feel to have to flee far from home, not
knowing if you’ll ever return?
Fotini, who works for our partner
International Orthodox Christian
Charities (IOCC), said that during the
winter on the Greek island of Samos,
islanders left bottles of water, clothes
and blankets for arriving refugees.
All living things need water. It’s no
wonder the Bible speaks repeatedly
of water, often in reference to God’s
coming renewed world when there will
be an open invitation to all:
‘Whoever is thirsty, let them come; and
whoever wishes, let them take the free
gift of the water of life.’
Revelation 22:17
In God’s new creation, no one goes
thirsty. What does this mean for our
world today?
‘I was thirsty
and you gave me
something to drink’
Matthew 25:35
Respond
To be very thirsty is one way to grasp a
little of what it is like to be a refugee.
Think of the physical yearning thirst
produces.
What might be your equivalent action
to leaving a bottle of water outside for
those who are ‘thirsty’?
And could you ask others to join you in
your act of compassion?
Remember to knot your red string,
wool or fabric.
Jesus Christ, Saviour, why do so
many go thirsty in our world today?
Lord, may they not be forgotten by
those who have water to give.
Fotini, project coordinator for IOCC, stands
outside the refugee ‘hotspot’ on the Greek island
of Samos.
‘I was a stranger
and you invited
me in’
Matthew 25:35
Day 4
Respond
Read – Leviticus 19:33-34
The often dehumanising portrayal of
refugees in the media and by politicians
can mean they remain strangers.
Reflect
In this passage, the people of Israel are
reminded that they were once strangers
and encouraged to love foreigners as if
they were their own people.
We believe sharing more hopeful stories
can remind us that in meeting the
stranger, we might come to know
more of God.
Nejebar and her family (pictured above)
fled their home in Afghanistan because
of the threat from the Taliban.
Join us in asking our politicians to
change the story that they tell about
refugees at caid.org.uk/cawaction
They now live in a camp in Greece,
where they have welcomed brothers
and fellow Afghan refugees Faraidoon,
22, and Farzad, 13, into their family.
Knot your red string, wool or fabric.
Lord Jesus Christ, help me to make
room for strangers in need. In your
mercy, bring them the comfort of
your spirit and love.
Why do you think Nejebar did this?
If you were living in a camp, what would
your priorities be?
Nejebar with her sons Hinayat and Sudai outside
their home in Greece.
7
‘I was naked and you clothed me’
Matthew 25:36
Day 5
Read – Isaiah 58:6-7
Respond
Reflect
This passage is one of many in the
Bible to connect hunger and poverty
with injustice and oppression.
Who are ‘the naked’ in the passage
from Isaiah? The context suggests they
are those who have lost everything.
Watch the Christian Aid Week film
(caweek.org/films) and consider
how Isaiah’s words apply to what
you have seen.
This description fits with the traumatic
experiences refugees suffer. It is also
one with which Jesus identifies.
In the days before his crucifixion, Jesus
had everything taken from him. He
died naked on a cross. But the Gospel
tells us that Jesus rose from the dead,
clothed with new life.
Remember to knot your length of
red string, wool or fabric.
Lord Jesus, how can I be one who
reaches out to those who have lost
everything? How can I clothe the
naked? How can I bring hope?
What connections can be made
between the hope we can offer
refugees and the hope Jesus gives us
through his resurrection?
In one camp, washing is hung up to dry.
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‘I was sick and you looked after me’
Matthew 25:36
Day 6
Read – Mark 5:24-34
Respond
Reflect
Samira and her sister Halima (pictured
above, with Samira on the right) are
staying in a Greek camp.
In the ancient world, if you fell ill and
were unable to support yourself and
your family by working, you could lose
all you owned.
Halima has a mental health condition.
When in Syria, Samira explains, she had
all the care she needed. In the camp,
Samira is the only one to care for her.
And you could also be considered
unclean, demon possessed or even
under God’s condemnation, and be
rejected by your community.
There is little healthcare available to
people in camps. Your gift this Christian
Aid Week could help our partners care
for vulnerable refugees.
As we find in today’s reading from
Mark, the Gospels show that Jesus
healed the poor and outcast.
Knot your red string, wool or fabric.
Indeed, it was with such people that
Jesus spent much of his time, so
perhaps it’s not surprising that Jesus
looks for all who seek to follow him to
show concern for the sick.
Lord Jesus, you know what it is to
suffer pain. As you call us to care
for the sick, come with us with your
presence, compassion and love.
Sisters Samira and Halima (left) sit outside their
home in Greece.
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‘I was in prison
and you came to visit me’
Matthew 25:36
Day 7
Respond
We’ve spent each day of Christian Aid
Week reflecting on part of Matthew 25.
Read – Luke 4:18-20
The message of the passage is at the
heart of this week of giving, acting and
praying to end poverty and injustice.
Reflect
It is significant that at the start of his
ministry, Jesus’ declaration of good
news to the poor is a description of the
biblical year of Jubilee.
This year, we’re marking 60 years of
Christian Aid Week.
Will you celebrate with us through your
generosity, campaigning and prayers?
This year involved erasing debts, freeing
slaves, returning property to owners
and granting freedom to prisoners.
Will you join with us as we work for an
end to the scandal of poverty in a world
of plenty?
What connections can you see
between Jesus’ announcement of good
news to the poor and the vision of the
judgement of the nations in our main
reading in Matthew 25?
Will you pray with us for God’s kingdom
to come and for God’s will to be done
on earth as it is in heaven?
Which wrongs in our world today do
you pray would be made right?
Make a final knot in your red string,
wool or fabric.
Which freedoms for our world do you
yearn for?
Lord, you are still to be found
among the hungry, the thirsty and
the stranger. Help us to know how
we can stand with them and, in so
doing, stand with you.
A young boy at a refugee camp on the island
of Samos.
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Bound together as sisters and brothers
As you’ve prayed this Christian
Aid Week, you’ve joined thousands
of others all over the country.
Thousands of others who are not
prepared to ignore the hungry, the
thirsty and the sick. Thousands
of others who, together, are part
of a different story where no one
is left out.
Turn these prayers into a powerful
symbol that binds us together. If you
belong to a church, why not gather all
your threads on Sunday, at the end
of this week, and knot them together
during your prayers?
We’ll collect threads from around
the country, bind them together and
present them to our political leaders
to demonstrate our connectedness.
e’ll demonstrate our
W
commitment to a Britain that refuses
to turn a blind eye to suffering.
e’ll demonstrate the need for a
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new story, a story where the hungry
are fed, the thirsty are offered a
drink, the stranger is invited in and
all are liberated.
Dear Prime Minister
This Christian Aid Week, I’ve been listening to the stories of people forced from their
homes. These stories remind us of our common humanity, which is everywhere
being denied by violence, inhumane policies and the words we use.
This thread reminds us that we are bound together: you and me, and all those
currently seeking sanctuary. Please join us in overcoming division and uphold our
proud tradition as a nation that stands up for those in desperate need wherever
they are in the world.
Yours sincerely,
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