My congregation just did a furniture drive for immigrants in our area. We gathered much more stuff than we expected, and then the shelter had a flood and things couldn't be delivered!
There is always something that makes a project a little harder than you expect. And yet it feels good to have begun.
Immigrants #1
"When I was a stranger you welcomed me." This simple line in Matthew 25:35 sums up our Christian responsibility for immigrants in our community. Hundreds of texts throughout the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament make clear that God wants us to treat those who are not one of us as if they are, indeed, one of us. Whatever your theology on how best to care for the oppressed, the biblical witness is direct--welcome the stranger.
And yet, at Massachusetts family homeless shelters, migrants and citizens alike are waking to protestors outside their windows screaming for them to go home. To Act! and Be Church Now, we are called to care for these immigrants.
What to do?
The most simple forms of help are needed. And the most complicated help is needed. Today we are considering the things that might be easy for your congregation to do.
If your congregation is already working with immigrants, now is the time to get to know the organizations you work with, and the individuals needing help, at a deeper level. Meet with collaborating leadership to find out what more they are trying to do. Meet with your congregation to find out who else can be called on as volunteers. Get to know the individuals and families you are helping personally. Consider meals with congregants, driving to appointments, helping with homework, ESL classes, and other ways to build a relationship. When difficulties happen, it will be easier to react if you know the people involved.
If you do not have an immigration related ministry, you can start most easily by finding an organization that is supporting people locally. Send some congregants to the planning meetings, and spend time just listening to what is needed. One thing that is being prioritized is to get immigrants out of shelters and into their own housing—it is both more humane living, and moves them away from protestors and perhaps ICE. You will hear about many needs—apartment furnishing, job searches, transportation needs, legal aid, and more. Identify something that matches the skills of your church. You might start simply by raising money for organizations that support immigrants.
Engage in study. Turn to the bible, and the UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency, and your denominational resources to learn more. Global Refuge (which was Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services) is one of the largest service providers for immigrants. Learn the differences between Asylum/Refugees, Green Cards, and Immigrants with and without proper documentation. I just recently learned that illegal immigration is a misdemeanor, not a felony! Depending on who you hope to help, you may want to learn the difference between various visas: student, tourism, and for work. If you hope to engage in political action you will want to learn the history of some of the countries that now have refugees fleeing violence. Find out the steps, and barriers, to legal immigration. This sounds like a lot, and it is. Be sure to start with one issue that is most relevant to your congregation.
If you are near a university or college, consider learning about student visas. In farm country look into how work visas work for migrant labor. Perhaps congregations of older people will be interested in how people who have been in the United States for a long time, and have citizen children, got here, and what are the risks they are facing now. If your congregation has a law-and-order bent, spend some time learning how immigrants can become citizens, and what is blocking that process.
"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; him you shall serve; to him you shall hold fast; and by his name you shall swear." Deuteronomy 10:17-20
What is your church wondering about immigration and refugees? What is happening in your congregation? What do need to know more about? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening.
Here is a short video from UNHCR about the difference between migrant and refugee.
The Episcopal Church has a broad collection of resources on Immigration.
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