Immigration

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

I have a confession: I talk about my congressperson more than I talk to my congressperson. I talk about politics more than I participate in politics.

I often rant about how disappointed, upset, or annoyed I am for how my representative voted on this or that, how he does not care, listen or have any sense. Is that gossip? Maybe. But, more importantly it is unproductive. What if I instead went to the actual person and let him know how he has disappointed me and then addressed how we can move forward?

My colleague Shannon Jammal-Hollemans recently made a powerful statement, saying Christians tend to focus on the Fall at the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, rather than focusing on the Tree of Life. I believe this cuts to the core of the “burden” of injustice, shedding light on the frustrating, paradoxical occurrence of disempowered Jesus followers.

Shortly after the birth of my second son, Sam, I went back to work. After months of being home all the time, I was once again immersed in one of the unspoken trials of modern parenthood: daycare drop-off. Crying, whining, begging, clutching, bribing, peeling-toddler-legs-from-mom’s-waist…there must be mommy support groups for this kind of daily trauma.

We haven’t been able to think about anything else recently. The images of unarmed protesters in Ferguson facing down cops in riot gear through a haze of tear gas are on loop in our brains. If you’ve been watching the news at all, you know some version of the story: an unarmed 18-year-old African American named Michael Brown was shot by a police officer while he was walking home. The circumstances of the shooting are disputed. Riots and looting ensued and heavily militarized cops rolled in.

This is why I am frustrated about the U.S. immigration debates. When I work in agriculture it’s noble–farmers feeding the world–but immigrants doing the exact same work are told to “get in line,” and as real farmers know, there is no line.