location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
contact: jzoradi@gmail.com
It’s a smart idea to beg for money outside of a Christian bookshop. And my conscience got the best of me when I knew I couldn’t walk into a store centered on Jesus and ignore the poor mother and daughter on the street outside. It was there that I met Mariella, a 38 year old Yugoslavian mother of seven and her 2nd oldest daughter Andrea; a wide eyed 13 year old taking on much more than she should at her age. After meeting that first day, I’ve been unable to stay away from this family. We meet every weekend at the same coffee shop to swap stories and tell jokes. We laugh and dream together. They tell me what Yugoslavia was like and I dispel all the Hollywood myths about California that Andrea learned from television.
It turns out Mariella, Andrea, and the rest of the children escaped from Yugoslavia after their home was burned down in the Yugoslavian civil war. Mariella's husband joined a Serbian rebel group determined to defend their homeland but hasn’t been seen for six years. After being burnt out of their home, they met a man who promised to give them a better life far away from Yugoslavia. After giving him all the gold items they had, they sat cramped in the back of a dark van for a week, until the doors finally swung open in the middle of Belfast. The family of eight slept in the park that first night.
Andrea and Mariella beg for money on the street by day and sell roses at night to students coming out of the bars. Our relationship started out just drinking coffee and buying groceries each week, but it's started to develop into something really special. I’ve recently gotten them in touch with an organization called Embrace that helps out refugees and asylum seekers; I’m hoping this group can provide more legal and professional help than I can. It’s also been fun bringing some of my friends down to meet them as well. Rhoda and Christine donated bags of clothes to the older girls. Andrea smiled when she met Rhoda for the first time saying, “I love the clothes you gave me. They keep me warm and are very fashionable!”
What’s been most amazing is the way this family has transitioned from a charity case into actual friends of mine. They just moved into a new house out in East Belfast and I was invited to dinner for a house warming party. A few friends and I showed up unsure what to expect. But we had a wonderful time eating Yugoslavian food, drinking wine, laughing, and playing soccer in the street. I’ve never witnessed such generosity from a family that literally has nothing. The children may have starved if it wasn’t for the weekly grocery donations, and here they are throwing me a party and stuffing our bellies with food.
My friends and I are creating something special with this family that extends well beyond the systems of the social hierarchy. I’m learning about a new culture, experiencing generosity and hope like I’ve never seen it, and have witnessed the line between rich and poor, privileged and unprivileged, ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’…slowly fade away.
“It’s a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just missions projects but become genuine friends and family with who we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle. One of the verses I have grown to love is the one where Jesus is preparing to leave the disciples and says, ‘I no longer call you servants……Instead I have called you my friends.’ (John 15:15) Servanthood is a fine place to begin, but gradually we move toward mutual love and genuine relationships”
–Shane Claiborne
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EMBRACE is a group of Christians working together to promote a positive response to people seeking asylum, refugees, migrant workers and minority ethnic people in Northern Ireland.
Amnesty International Northern Ireland Asylum Guide
Imago Dei Refugee Ministry video:
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