While written specifically for URC Commitment for Life churches, this monologue may be adapted easily for any congregation connected to Christian Aid UK. (adapted from a Christian Aid news story)
Worship Leader:
Commitment for Life is our church’s way to make a difference in the world. This global outreach programme enables us together to live out Jesus’s commandment of loving our neighbour, to stand beside the poor and marginalised, to see justice done. Through our generosity and stewardship, Commitment for Life links us to Christian Aid partners and projects in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Israel and the Occupied Palestine Territory.
Today, I would like to introduce to you Rabiya, a woman who has found hope through one of our partner projects in Bangladesh.
Dramatic Reader:
Greetings. I am Rabiya. I am of the Rohingya people of Myanmar.
Six years ago, my husband went missing during the violence against my people.
Unprotected, my son and I sought safety as refugees in Bangladesh. We moved into Cox’s Bazaar, a refugee camp. Cox’s Bazaar is actually the largest refugee camp in the entire world, home now to one million people, truly overwhelming at first for a person from the countryside. I did not know what I would do. How would I feed my son?
Then I heard good news. I was invited to the Kendra Centre, one of your partners through Commitment for Life and Christian Aid. The Kendra Centre offers a programme where I could learn to sew. I started training right away, and have learned to make pillow covers, bed sheets, caps and many other useful items. Now I am part of a group of women who have learned sewing skills and earn money. Together, we reinvest the money we earn. We buy material for sewing and make more products to sell. We no longer worry like before.
Yes, I miss Myanmar. I miss my vegetable garden. When I remember those days I feel very sad. Even here the future is uncertain. When the cyclone hit, our tarpaulin roofs and walls were blown away, and there was water in our homes. But I feel happy when I come to the Kendra Centre. When I come to the centre, I talk with everyone and I laugh with them.
Thank you to Commitment for Life and the churches in the United Kingdom for believing in us, supporting our endeavours here in Cox’s Bazaar Refugee Camp, and enabling us to help ourselves and live in hope.
Leader: Pray with me. God, thank you for nurturing the seeds we have planted in Bangladesh through Commitment for Life and Christian Aid. Amen.
Photo: Rabiya at her sewing machine. Bangladesh – Please credit Christian Aid.
