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The loving work of welcome: A biblical response to immigrants and refugees

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I was working with a refugee ministry in Europe when I moved back to the U.S. to attend a Presbyterian seminary. Then the day after I graduated, I boarded a plane to work in northern Albania, and was there during the time of the war in neighboring Kosovo that led to the Kosovar refugee crisis. In many ways, these felt like vastly different worlds. In northern Albania, I had a large knife pulled on me while walking down the street, had to sprint a few blocks home from a restaurant after gunshots rang nearby and was instructed not to wear seatbelts so I could more easily get out of our truck if someone jumped in front of it with a Kalashnikov. These dangers were, well, never part of walking across Princeton Seminary’s campus or studying in the library (though intramural basketball could get a little rough). In many ways, the realities couldn’t be farther apart. Yet I also know these different worlds were absolutely, intimately related. Our theology guides how we engage in the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: immigration • refugees

God’s love knows no borders

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Whoever welcomes children welcomes Jesus. Love your neighbor as yourself. Who do you think was a neighbor to the man? The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Perfect love casts out fear. They will know we are Christians by our love. In Christ there is neither male nor female, slave nor free, Jew nor Greek. Whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to Jesus. I could keep going. The Bible is chock-full of texts that could be used as a lens through which to view those seeking to cross our borders. None of which justify separating families or arresting people for seeking asylum. If we assume immigrants and refugees are our neighbors, our call is to love them as ourselves. If Jesus’ instruction to welcome children is literal, then we should be welcoming children and not putting them in detention centers. If we want to say that those from other countries are … [Read more...]

Tagged With: immigration • refugees

Immigration in small-town Iowa: One church reaches out to the community

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On the day of the May 9 immigration raid in a small Iowa town, families whose husbands and fathers had been detained came to the Presbyterian church to wait – waiting for the start of a new and precarious future. First Presbyterian Church sits adjacent to the National Guard Armory in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Years ago – after immigration agents rounded up nearly 400 people at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, during one of the largest workplace raids in U.S. history – an arrangement had been struck that if a raid ever happened in Mount Pleasant, families could gather at the church. It was a day that Trey Hegar, First Presbyterian’s pastor for the past four years, hoped would never come, but knew well that it might. And on this ordinary-seeming Wednesday, it did. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 32 men during the raid at Midwest Precast Concrete on the west edge of town – 22 from Guatemala, seven from Mexico, two from El Salvador and one from Honduras. This … [Read more...]

Tagged With: immigration

Granny on a mission: A ruling elder raises awareness of how immigrants are treated

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Guest commentary and photos by Sharon Kutz-Mellem Zero tolerance. Human beings seeking asylum from dangerous situations in their own countries, yet denied due process in ours.  Children as young as 11 months old ripped from their parent’s arms, separated and screaming in terror.  Children in cages covered in shiny Mylar blankets sleeping on cement floors – in the United States of America – in 2018. By now, we have all seen these disturbing images. Thankfully, a federal court judge ordered the U.S. government to halt family separation of immigrants.  But the damage had been done. One official with U.S. Customs and Border Protections said from May 6 to May 19 of this year, 658 children were separated from their parents due to the zero-tolerance policy.”  However, we really don’t know the true tally. The numbers of children seem to change daily.  Even with a court order to reunify the children, the deadlines have come and gone. Families are still separated. Some parents were … [Read more...]

Tagged With: immigration • refugees

Love your neighbor: Presbyterians in Kansas City help immigrants

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Far from the borders, Presbyterians are feeling the impact of changing immigration policy. As the Trump administration steps up the number of arrests and deportations, people of faith are responding – doing what they can to help immigrants in the context of their own communities. Rick Behrens, senior pastor of Grandview Park Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Kansas, has seen the urban neighborhood around his church shift demographically, moving from about 5 percent Latino in the mid-1990s to about 65 percent Latino a decade later. Most of the new residents are first-generation immigrants, many from Mexico but others from Central and South America. The Grandview Park congregation now is made up of about half people for whom Spanish is their first language, and half who grew up speaking English. Worship is conducted in both languages – with one bilingual service for one community. Recent months have brought new challenges, with public advocacy regarding immigration policy … [Read more...]

Tagged With: immigration

Welcoming refugees and immigrants: Loving others because God first loved us

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90-minute Presbyterian Outlook webinar Presented by Kent Annan Recorded Tuesday, August 28  On-demand video replay — $29.95 (1-6 participants from the same church/ministry) Purchase the Webinar In this webinar, we will focus on how to become more welcoming to refugees and immigrants — personally, as a church and as a country. The presentation will look at the theological and scriptural reasons for welcoming, while also specifically addressing real concerns that many people have. We’ll explore practical ways to help locally, nationally and internationally. And, you’ll be introduced to spiritual practices that can help a church and its members go deeper on this issue, wherever they are along the political spectrum. Kent Annan will also share stories that encourage the church to be more welcoming. After participating in this webinar, you will: Be able to address real concerns that people have about refugee and immigration issues. Know spiritual practices that can be … [Read more...]

Tagged With: immigration • refugees

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