Seventh-day Adventist Church in Grantham holds special service to mark World Refugee Day

A church held a service to mark World Refugee Day, believed to be the first held in the town.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Dudley Road, held the service on Saturday (June 17) focussing on compassion and hope away from home.

Councillor Mark Whittington, Mayor of Grantham, read a bible reading and Councillor Charmaine Morgan, Deputy Mayor of Grantham, gave a warm welcome to people who have come to Grantham for safety.

A spokesperson for the church said: “A group of children from the SDA Church, all pupils of Dudley House School, read out some myth-busting statistics from the Refugee Council and were told the story, 'My Name is not Refugee'.

“Pastor John Duncan of New Vision Pentecostal Church and Caroline Milligan spoke about compassion shown to the people living in Grantham from Afghanistan, by Churches Together in Grantham on arrival and Alive Church's continuing 'Blossom' activities project.”

Karen Marlor, from the Jubilee Church Life Centre, and Elisabeth Carnell, from SDA church, spoke of the help being given to Ukrainian refugees within the town.

Parts of the service were in Ukrainian with the help of Sergiy Nykyforov, from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.

Sergiy was on a visit to Grantham before he returned to Ukraine with aid donations received from the Grantham community.