Several months ago, I spoke at Antioch Church in Bend, Oregon on the topic of how I believe we might faithfully follow Christ as we think about the topic of immigration. After my talk, as they do every week at Antioch, we took some time for a Questions & Answers segment they call […]Continue Reading →
Tony and Janina Wasilewski were like many other newlywed couples. After a big wedding surrounded by their friends and extended family, they shifted their focus to building a life together, and eventually they had a son, Brian. They lived in suburban Chicago, where they were active members of their Catholic parish. And, like many […]Continue Reading →
Today, we’re bringing you the second part of an interview between Bill Hybels and Heather Larson of Willow Creek Community Church with Matthew Soerens, co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate and a co-creator of g92.org. (The first part of the interview ran yesterday).
My work with World Relief is primarily focused on helping churches to think through the issue of immigration, putting together a biblical framework with the realities of immigration that the United States is currently facing. One of my favorite churches to work with in this regard has been Willow Creek Community […]Continue Reading →
Though just a small simulation, my “undocumented” day has helped me to be a bit more compassionate. As I went to sleep that night, I prayed for the undocumented young people I know—and the many others like them—whose lives are so challenging.
My challenge to you would be to “become the stranger” for a day, as well, ideally with a small (or large) group from your church, college campus, or youth group. We can provide you with the hand stamps and all that you need to get started. Putting yourselves in the shoes of an undocumented immigrant does not answer the policy questions of how we respond to our nation’s immigrations problems—but it might just expand our hearts.Continue Reading →
Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and author of various books, is a leading evangelical thinker. Known for his sharp intellect, what has always impressed me about Keller is the humility apparent in his writing. He’s admired by evangelical leaders across the spectrum, from Billy Graham and […]Continue Reading →
Tabitha defies a lot of the most common stereotypes about undocumented immigrants: she didn’t enter the country illegally, she’s not from Mexico, she speaks English fluently—and she’s certainly not a menace to be feared. To the contrary: she’s teaching the rest of us how to faithfully extend hospitality, even to strangers. She reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10: Jesus could have made the Samaritan the guy beat up on the side of the road to Jericho and the Israelite the noble neighbor who models love and compassion, but Jesus challenged his listeners’ assumptions. It was the Samaritan, a member of a despised group of outsiders, whom Jesus puts in the role of a neighbor. And he calls us to “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).Continue Reading →
We need to care about immigration because, as National Association of Evangelicals president Leith Anderson has said, “they are us.”
According to research by Todd Johnson of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, immigrant churches are already growing faster than any other segment of American evangelicalism, a reality that most major evangelical denominations have observed as well. Continue Reading →
Like most Americans of my generation, I learned as a small child to be afraid of strangers. “Don’t talk to strangers” was and probably still is a good precaution, given our God-given obligation to protect children, but I wonder if we’ve taken it too far. A lot of us, as adults, carry with us […]Continue Reading →
In the past year, immigration has regularly been at the top of the headlines. Much of the news coverage has focused on various social problems that some folks associate with immigration, and particularly with illegal immigration: crime, unemployment, governmental fiscal crises, disease, etc. Beyond the negative headlines, though, many evangelical leaders have recognized that immigration […]Continue Reading →
