Immigration

In late 2015 I had a chance to learn firsthand about this mass migration. I saw up close the forces pushing people to risk everything, the pull of Europe and the wealthy North, and the greed of those who profit from the migrant’s dangerous journey, taking desperate people’s money, their bodies, and sometimes, it seems, their souls in payment.

Have you seen the line-up for this year’s January Series from Calvin College yet? Every year, the college puts on a free series of talks on various issues of the day, presented at their campus in Grand Rapids and streamed online, as well as at remote sites across the continent. (Each address begins at 12:30 PM EST.) We commend Calvin for a diverse, high-quality line-up of speakers with important things to say, especially about justice and diversity. Here are our staff picks for this year.  

It’s been a great year for Do Justice. Thanks for reading and learning along with us, as we wrestled with faith with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other (Karl Barth)!

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.