Immigration

A year and a half ago, a small faith community in central New Jersey found themselves in the midst of despair, with little hope of relief. The Reformed Church of Highland Park is a modest worshipping community comprised of young families, students, and a burgeoning group of undocumented Indonesian refugees. For years, the church had walked alongside its undocumented brothers and sisters--offering legal assistance, advocating with Congress, and even offering sanctuary when deportation orders were issued. And what did they have to show for their efforts?

It doesn’t matter how much we talk, what kind of words we may use, or even in how many languages I can say something. If my talk does not go together with my walk, the words are just noise.

Nehemiah could not ignore the dangerous state of the city he loved. The gates had been burned and it all needed rebuilding. Nehemiah knew that a city in such a broken state, facing constant threat, would never be able to thrive. He knew the people would struggle and it broke his heart.

So, Nehemiah spoke to his king and asked for permission to go and rebuild the city.

We had a hard week, justice seekers. John Boehner announced that immigration reform isn't going to happen this year.

There are many reasons Central Americans choose to migrate North. However, the violence and risk many Central Americans face while migrating is often just as terrible.

This is the third year in a row that Lulu has celebrated her birthday in sanctuary.  Almost two and a half years ago, Lulu and her parents saw no other option but to move into a Toronto church when they were threatened with deportation to Hungary.

My heart was racing. The chairs, which had been placed in a large circle, were moved to the side of the town hall we were meeting in. Once they were cleared away, we took our places in two lines facing each other. I found myself across from my opponent – a sweet-faced woman with shoulder length grey hair who smiled at me kindly. We introduced ourselves, shook hands. Still shaky with nervous energy, I turned my attention to the Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation leader who was facilitating the activity.

This is Chinatown in Washington DC. Settlements like these sprung up around the US in the late 1800’s. Pioneering men from China left everything behind—property, employment, etc—for attractive offers to work in America. The idea was: get established, send for their families, and live the American dream like so many other immigrants.

Social media: the ever-developing medium that we love and hate simultaneously. Where else can you reconnect with friends from long ago, take a quiz about how long you could survive a zombie apocalypse, tweet your opinion about current events, or pin hundreds of images in one day. This medium has become an inherent part of our lives. For all its good, we know there are challenges in equal part.

Not every pastor would say to his congregation, “And then I felt stupid, and I had to ask his forgiveness,” but Pastor Dave Beelen did. On August 25, 2013, Pastor Beelen of Madison Square CRC began his sermon with a confession: a confession of his misjudgement, which resulted in a mistake.