Date: April 6-18, 2026
Cost: $2,750, plus cost of airfare to and from Paris, France
Registration deadline: February 15, 2026
Calais, France, is a migration hotspot that is relatively unknown to people in the United States. The situation in Calais bears striking resemblance to the dynamics at play at the United States-Mexico border. Fleeing for their lives, thousands of people converge in Calais, France in hopes of crossing the English Channel to the United Kingdom.
Matthew Yoder shares a profound moment from the Christ at the Borders Just Peace Pilgrimage in Calais, France. While playing dominoes with a group from Sudan, it struck him that they were all there to risk a perilous crossing of the English Channel in a small rubber raft, chasing hope.
During this pilgrimage, you will interact with various organizations that are doing justice and relief work among the migrant population in Calais:
- Project Play – therapeutic play for children in refugee camps.
- Refugee Women’s Center – cares for women and children in refugee camps.
- Maria Skobtsova House – meals, prayers and safe shelter for women and children.
You will experience crossing the English Channel, via ferry, and travel to London, England. There, you will meet with Peaceful Borders and learn about their advocacy work — from their beginnings in Calais to their present-day work in the United Kingdom.
You will also have an opportunity to meet with women who have completed their journeys to England and hear about their journeys and new lives in a new country. You will share laughter and tears with women who have experienced unimaginable trauma but who have not lost their humanity and joy.
More than anything else, you can expect to be changed. You cannot come and hear these stories of people’s trauma without being deeply affected. Bring an open heart, ready to be touched, and possibly even broken, by the strength and resilience of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
This pilgrimage can accommodate up to 14 people.
The cost includes all transportation upon arrival in Paris, France, and throughout the pilgrimage, as well as lodging and meals. Participants will be responsible for their own travel arrangements and costs incurred during travel to and from Paris, and two or three lunches during sightseeing days.
Sample itinerary—Christ at the Borders Pilgrimage, Chapter 2
Each day will include devotions and regular check-ins.
Day 1
Arrive in Paris
Rest
Beginning the journey reflection
Dinner in Paris
Day 2
Rest morning
Lunch together
Drive to Calais
Day 3
Morning devotional
Lunch and learning at Maria Skobtsova House
Tour Calais
View border rocks and fences paid for by the British government
Day 4
Morning devotional with Calais Anglican Chaplaincy Priest Teena Twelves
Discussion led by Rev. Twelves about serving migrants and asylum seekers from a Christian perspective
Calais prayer walk
Day 5
Visit and tour The Warehouse where many groups who support the migrant community are headquartered.
Meet with directors of Secours Catholique
Volunteer/lead activity at Secour Catholique
Day 6
Travel to London via car ferry
Meet with the directors of Peaceful Borders, Rev. Simon Jones and Juliet Kilpin to discuss supporting asylum seekers once they’ve reached the UK.
Day 7
Attend church service at Amott Road Baptist Church
Panel discussion with former guests of the Maria Skobtsova House who are now in the UK
Day 8
Travel to Canterbury
Tour Canterbury Cathedral with Rev. Jonathan Arnold
Learn about Anglican outreach to the migrant community in the diocese of Canterbury
Return to London
Day 9
Morning sightseeing in London
Lunch in London (everyone is responsible for their own lunch today)
Return to Calais, France
Day 10
Calais Prayer Walk
Clean trash in one of the migrant camps in Calais with the Calais Poubelle association
Day 11
Return to Paris
Meet French Mennonite director Claude Hege
Visit Joelle Staquet, leader of the Catholic community Little Sisters of the Poor
Day 12
Sightseeing in Paris (everyone is responsible for their own lunch)
Rest and pack
Day 13
Travel home
Related
An architecture of care in Calais
Immigraton and the Bible, Missio Dei
Journeys of hope “all through the night”
Say, “Bonjour!” to Joseph and Rachel
For more information regarding Just Peace Pilgrimages, complete this form, including comments
“Pilgrims set out not so much to assist strangers but to eat with them. They journey in the wisdom about transformation held in the Rwandan proverb ‘if you cannot hear the mouth eating, you cannot hear the mouth crying.’”
Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice in “Practice of Pilgrimage” from Reconciling All Things