Sitting in a plane…so sad to go especially knowing I’m leaving behind so many who can’t just leave when they want and go where they want… I have been blessed to meet so many of you on your journey, to serve you tea and coffee, look after your kids, wash your clothes, listen to your stories, play dominoes with you and become friends with you. We have laughed together and we have cried together.

I have sat with you in silence, not knowing the words to say, yet you have said that has helped you. I have turned down marriage proposals (in return for a Visa!) and the opportunity to adopt you so you can come to England with me. I am sorry you don’t just weigh 20kg so I can pack you in my luggage. I’m sorry that I have to leave you now but after almost three years I need to go. I know you may not understand but as much as I have loved helping you, and have been honoured to do so, I need to take some time to recharge, to refresh, and be ready to go again and help others in whatever way God has planned. As I go, I pray that this is not goodbye, but a ‘see you soon’. That we get to meet again in a place where you are safe and secure and you have a future where you can contribute to society and show them you are loving, hard-working people who just want a chance in life to make things work and a place where the demons in your head become less and less as time goes on. A place where families can be together without fear and where going to the market isn’t life threatening. I pray you will find a place to lay your head that is yours, where the mice don’t run over you in the night and you’re not kept awake by the strangers in your room playing music you hate until 4am – or where you can play your music without others complaining! Where you don’t have to ‘play the game’ to get to freedom, losing a little bit more hope every time you get caught and sent back. As I sit on the plane, I wish you were here with me, flying to freedom, not having to think about walking through the ‘jungle’ or finding a truck or train to hopefully get you there. I pray we can have coffee – or tea – one day where you can choose how it’s made…I pray for you all… by Jude Murray, who worked in a refugee camp in Serbia for three years