Immigration

Lord, thank you for 2022.  I put my 2023 in your hands.  

As we exit 2022 we intentionally pray with gratitude for good news from this year.    

U.S. Climate Legislation in 2022 Reaches New Heights

There were a myriad of legislative and industry successes in 2022, including:

“Hope is what you get when you suddenly realize that a different worldview is possible, a worldview in which the rich, the powerful, and the unscrupulous do not after all have the last word.”
― N.T. Wright

Updates from Ukraine

A Russian fighter plane has crashed into a residential building in the southern Russian city of Yeysk, near Ukraine killing 4 civilians. Footage on social media, which has been verified by BBC News, showed a large fireball erupting from what appeared to be a multi-storey building.

In August, my husband and I went to see The Kite Runner on Broadway. Promoted as “an uplifting Broadway adaptation” of the bestselling novel 2005 by Khaled Housseini, a sign displayed outside of the theater continues by stating that this story “about the friendship of two boys living parallel lives in Afghanistan is a heartbreaker–but so uplifting it’s worth the pain.” 

Lead, kindly Light, amid the gloom of evening.
Lord, lead me on! Lord, lead me on!
On through the night! On to your radiance!
Lead, kindly Light! 

- John Henry Newman

"So make sure that you, like salt, keep your true flavor by walking with each other in the way of peace." - Mark 9:50 (FNV)   

"The ancient prophecy of Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) had finally found its full meaning.  ...  the ones who sit in darkness, where death casts a great shadow, have seen the light of a new sunrise." Matthew 4:14,16 (FNV) 

This is the second of a 3 part blog series on the experiences of Cuban immigrants in the Christian Reformed Church. And stay tuned for the 3rd and final installment coming up! 

As a denomination started by Dutch Reformed immigrants in 1857, the CRCNA is familiar with the immigrant experience. Like many immigrant stories, the migration journey for the Dutch was long and difficult, and the challenges did not stop upon arrival: loved ones were left behind, lives were lost at sea, many fell ill. Some were taken advantage of or lied to. Promised opportunities sometimes resulted in dashed hopes and dirt floors.

Being salt and light demands two things: we practice purity in the midst of a fallen world and yet we live in proximity to this fallen world. If you don't hold up both truth in tension, you invariably becomes useless and separated from the world God loves. - David Kinnaman

Dena Nicolai, chaplain and refugee support mobilizer with the Christian Reformed Churches of British Columbia, shares the simple starting place for much of her engagement with people who have been refugees: joining them for a cup of coffee and saying “tell me how you’re doing.” Dena and Chris also talk about the ministry of sharing in lament, the importance of advocating ‘with’ and rather than ‘for’, and how the advocacy of faith communities and sponsors alongside newcomers changed government policy to provide a more “full” welcome for refugees in Canada.