Immigration

I first began volunteering as a mentor to refugees because I wanted to be involved in some kind of ministry that reached beyond the boundaries of my everyday life at home and through my church. Being a mentor fit well because I could work it around my schedule and it gave me opportunity to connect with needy people from different places in the world. I enjoyed helping those first families, and still call them my friends, but much of the blessing for me at that time came from the sense of accomplishment I felt about having helped someone. 

The judges have picked the winner of the Immigration Preaching Challenge!

This summer, North American pastors received an invitation to submit sermons relating to the topic of immigration. Many pastors accepted the challenge and submitted their sermons. After reviewing the sermons, our panel of judges picked the winner this week. Congratulations Mike Vanhofwegen on winning the Immigration Preaching Challenge! You can read Mike Vanhofwegen’s sermon at the end of this post.

What this pro-life series has taught me is that the CRCNA is deeply, unapologetically pro-life. 

More than six thousand people have died on the border since 1994. The sanctity of human life is violated on the border every single day.

This summer, North American pastors received an invitation to submit sermons related to the topic of immigration. Many pastors accepted the challenge and submitted their sermons, and we have now chosen nine finalists!

Our panel of judges is currently reviewing the sermons and will announce the winner soon. Stay tuned for our announcement of the winner!

And I thought I with much moved in to bless my neighbors with little. Oh how little I understood God’s ways! He uses the least of these to bless, to teach, and to showcase His glory.

Supporters of the new Immigrants Are a Blessing Not a Burden campaign launching today represent a community of Christians from many backgrounds committed to changing the conversation.

Have you ever talked about immigration from the pulpit? We encourage you to participate in the Immigration Preaching Challenge. Keep reading to learn more about the contest, discover immigration resources, and learn how you can incorporate immigration into your preaching.

Do you have plans for how to stay alert to injustice in 2015? Or are you in danger of becoming apathetic?

A few years ago, a Fulani village in Mali was ignored in a proposal for a region-wide irrigation project. The village submitted the appropriate paperwork but when the official plans were introduced, the village was left off the map completely--it was as if they didn’t exist.

The following prayers and litanies are only a sample of the resources available from the new Refugee Justice toolkit. Want more? You can find sermon examples, children's messages, children's books, Sunday school plans, film discussion questions, and much more in the toolkit. And coming soon, a 90-minute workshop! 

For the Courage to Do Justice