What is the most important thing you have to offer as a peacemaker?
For some it’s a skill, experience, or story. For Jamie and her family, it’s their home.
“As a little kid, I remember the Iraq War being broadcast on CNN…and I remember my mom watching the bombs on TV and crying. It stuck with me—it’s those little seeds, ya know?”
Over time, those little seeds grew deep. When Jamie, now a mom herself, heard she could welcome newly-arrived refugees into their home, she signed up to help! Along with her family, she drove out to the airport to greet the just-resettled family and brought them home.
“It’s a soft landing to show people that they aren’t alone and to give them time to settle and find their own housing, which can be really hard,” Jamie explained.
“For me, hosting newly-arrived refugees is one of the most life-giving things I can do.”
As she jumped in to help, though, Jamie quickly realized how one-sided the work can become. The refugees in her home need help scheduling appointments or navigating paperwork and a whole new culture. In the midst of all that, it would be easy to forget the most important work of simply connecting with each other as people.
“I started realizing that it’s easier to show up and help. But will I stay for tea? Will I allow myself to just be present with them? That’s where mutuality and friendship are born.
I often remind myself of that amazing statement by aboriginal leader, Lilla Watson: ‘If you’ve come here to help me, you’re wasting your time, but if you’ve come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
And this is why we love Jamie’s story: it’s not about a person who helps refugees in need.
It’s about a person who discovers their own need and finds healing and life and joy through mutual friendship and sharing her home with others. It’s about a commitment to those things we all have in common, even when we can’t see them. It’s about offering the hospitality we would hope to find, were the situation reversed. It’s about empathy and friendship and how these lead to our collective restoration.
It’s about the simple truth that—no matter the differences or difficulties—we belong to one another.
Author: Matt Willingham
Matt Willingham is a writer, photographer, and content creator with over ten years experience living and working in some of the hardest-hit conflict zones in the world. He and his wife, Cayla, are now based in San Diego where they’re raising three little peacemakers and working to promote empathy and understanding in their community.
@matt.willingham