Where is your citizenship?

I had the privilege today of attending a citizenship ceremony at the Mansion House, Doncaster. Sue and I were there to support the Noel family who were receiving their certificates of British citizenship. What a long (and, at times, tortuous) journey it has been for them since they first arrived in the UK several years ago to claim asylum.

As a church, we have tried to support them through the process of asylum application: the initial acceptance; the subsequent refusal following a Home Office appeal; the terrible occasion of the front door of their home being broken in early one morning by Home Office officials who whisked them away to Yarl's Wood Detention Centre for deportation; the miracle of them being returned to Doncaster because one of the children had contracted chicken pox!; the many visits to solicitors; the further appeals; and ultimately the joyful news that they had been granted the right to stay in the UK. Now, the icing on the cake is their being giving British citizenship. What a joyful occasion!

It has been a great privilege to get to know the Noel family over the past several years. They felt forced to flee their home country due to persecution, but have had to endure some terrible situations at the hands of the UK asylum system. It has been heartbreaking at times to witness what this family have had to endure. Yet all through the long years of hopes and disappointments, struggles and difficulties, their Christian faith has shone clear. They have been unstinting in their trust that ultimately God would see them through, and their faith has been vindicated - God has worked a miracle!

Precious though their British citizenship is to the Noel family, I know that they have a citizenship which is of even more value to them. They rejoice in the words of St Paul, when he says in one of his letters, that for those whose faith is in Jesus Christ, 'our citizenship is in heaven.' Whatever trials and troubles we may face in our earthly life, we know that ultimately we belong elsewhere, and one day we will go home to Father. Hallelujah!