Consider the Stone-Curlew
Imagine a set of scales.
On one side sits a rare bird. On the other, a family seeking safety.
Which matters more?
That question has surfaced recently after plans to use the former RAF Barnham site in Suffolk to accommodate people seeking asylum were challenged because of concerns about the protected habitat of the stone-curlew, one of Britain's rarest birds. Environmental assessments are now part of the debate about whether the site can go ahead. (You can read more on the BBC website and the Government's factsheet.)
It is easy to imagine the conversation as a choice: birds or people. But God's Kingdom doesn't work like a set of scales. Our instinct is often to think in terms of scarcity. If we care for one group, someone else must lose out. If we protect creation, perhaps people suffer. If we welcome refugees, perhaps there will be less for birds and for everyone else.
Jesus paints a very different picture.
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care... And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Matthew 10:29-30)
Jesus doesn't ask us to choose between the sparrows and people. God's heart is big enough for both. The same Father who notices the smallest bird also knows every person by name. He delights in His creation and loves those made in His image. His Kingdom is not built on competition. There is room for every creature He has made.
As Christians, we celebrate efforts to care for the natural world. Scripture reminds us that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1), and caring for creation is part of our calling. But we also see how God's heart is always for those who have fled war, persecution and violence. Every refugee bears the image of God. Every person seeking asylum has a story. Every child longing for safety is seen by the Father who numbers the hairs on their head.
The challenge is not deciding whether birds matter more than people, or people more than birds. The challenge is to see as God sees - with a heart large enough to care for both. God repeatedly calls His people away from a mindset of scarcity and towards a life of generous trust. Throughout Scripture, He feeds crowds with a few loaves and fish. He provides manna in the wilderness. He asks His people to welcome the stranger, trusting that His provision is sufficient.
The same invitation stands before the Church today. Welcoming refugees is not about solving every national policy challenge. Governments will continue to make decisions about accommodation, planning and environmental protection. But wherever people are housed, they will need friendship and community. They will need churches willing to open their doors and say, "You are welcome here." They will need a welcoming church located within walking distance of where they live - a place where friendship, belonging and hope will be within their reach.
That is the vision behind our Walk to Welcome campaign. Every step you walk helps us equip more churches across the UK to become places of welcome, so that more people seeking sanctuary can find a Christian community close to where they live.
God has never asked us to choose between caring for creation and caring for people. He simply asks us to trust His generous heart - and to reflect it in the way we welcome others.
Will you consider joining Walk to Welcome to help make sure that, wherever those seeking asylum might be accommodated in the UK, they will always find the welcome that God’s big heart has intended for them?
