To respond most sensitively and effectively it is important to be well informed and well equipped. In addition to the material on the information pages of this site you will find contact details for groups and organisations which support specific groups of ethnic minority people or have an interest in a particular aspect of their welfare along with events which raise awareness and build relationships. You will also find links to other sites, including some which provide resource materials.
If you are aware of any organisation which should be included here or if changes have been made to any of the contact details given, please let us know.
Last Updated 16/02/2011
In the last decade there has been an increase in the number of people from other countries coming to Northern Ireland to visit, study and work. This has caused curiosity and the potential for misinformation and misunderstanding. This page sets out to provide some basic information about migration.
People have moved from their home countries for centuries, for all sorts of reasons. Some are drawn to new places by ‘pull ‘ factors, others find it difficult to remain where they are and migrate because of ‘push’ factors. These have contributed to the recent movement of people here but are also the reason why people from here have emigrated to other countries. Continue reading ‘Why do people migrate?’
Please let us know if you are organising an event which may be of interest to visitors to this site.
Note that whilst EMBRACE welcomes the opportunity to promote other groups’ events on this page, reference in this section to any specific organisation or event does not consitute its endorsement by EMBRACE.
Event details are subject to change without notice on this site. Please contact those hosting the event for full details.
Last updated 09/09/10
Celtic Blessing for Hospitality
I saw a stranger yestereen,
I put food in the eating place
Drink in the drinking place
Music in the listening place
And in the sacred name of the Triune
He blessed myself and my house
My cattle and my dear ones
As the lark said in her song ‘Often, often, often
Goes Christ in the stranger’s guise.’
Quoted in What the Bible says about the stranger by Kieran J O’Mahony OSA. The Churches’ Peace Education Programme, Irish Commission of Justice and Peace & Irish Council of Churches, Maynooth and Belfast, 1999.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me [Matt 25:35]
![welcome[1]1.jpg](http://embraceni.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/welcome[1]1.jpg)
Christian love should be at the heart of all our relationships. However, we are sometimes diffident when facing people from another culture or unsure of how to communicate welcome appropriately and sensitively across cultures.
Our response should be motivated and guided by what the Bible says about relationships with incomers and people who are different from us. The Christian welcome we give will be appropriate to the needs and resources in our own locality. Christian voices tell us the experience and heart cries of others who actively seek to welcome the stranger.
