I read this week: “Since last October, U.S. Border Patrol agents have apprehended 268,044 people who illegally crossed the southwest border…and about half of them were families…That’s a 300 percent jump in the number of family apprehensions compared with the same time period during the entire 2018 fiscal year.”
I’m not going to give my opinion on what the US government should do about this crisis; I’m not that stupid. Or rather, I am quite stupid, because I don’t know the answer. All I know is that those numbers take my breath away.
These are families. Moms and Dads and children and babies who are willing to walk for 2,800 miles in hopes of finding safety and a new life. Walk. For 2,800 miles. Or how about this from the same article? “Munoz and his family hauled themselves up on top of running freight trains and clung onto the top, the women taking turns to hold onto the baby.”
It’s beyond my comprehension. Walking with my children for thousands of miles, seeing dead bodies along the way, hoping for the goodwill of others to give us something to eat–all in the hope, the desperate, tiny hope–that a judge will pick my family out of a crowd of thousands and let me into a land where my children will be safe.
My family and I are traveling to the United States in just a couple of weeks. And I read this story and thought, Sheesh, all I had to do was contact our travel agent and it’s done. Tickets in hand. We’ll get to the airport in Los Angeles with our bleary eyes and disheveled clothes because 20 hours of travel feels like eternity. But we’ll show our blue passports and no one will blink an eye. No one will ask me questions. No walls will block my way. My children won’t be separated from me. I can hear the immigration officer’s nonchalant stamp in our passports. And we’re in.
All because God put my soul into the body of a person who happened to be born on US soil. That’s it. There is nothing else differentiating me from the soul of the Honduran woman holding desperately onto her baby with one hand and the top of a moving train with the other. I am not better than her. I am not more valuable than her. I have not worked harder than her. There’s nothing I have done that makes me deserve that blue passport more than her.
I don’t know the answer for the hundreds of thousands waiting for help outside America’s borders, or the hundreds of thousands more waiting for US embassy interviews in scores of other refugee camps around the world. But I do know one thing: At the very least, each of these people is worthy of our compassion. And each of these people should cause every American to pause and thank our lucky stars that somehow, some way, we ended up in America. Because for all its faults and divisions and weaknesses, it’s the country that millions of people around the world would give their right arm to get into.
Let’s not waste it.
Andy K., Indianapolis
Thank you for your posts. You challenge my complacency, having been born and raised in the US Midwest, far from any border and with no exposure to refuge camps. Praying about the plight of these unfortunate people is important, but what truly can I and what can we the Church do that really will make a difference in their lives?
Amy Medina
Hi Andy, Thanks for reading and asking!
Local churches everywhere can make intentional efforts to reach out to the immigrants and refugees in their communities (though there's not many new ones these days, since the number of new refugees admitted into the U.S. has decreased by 90% in the last two years). We can pray for and financially support Christian organizations worldwide (or at the border) who are working among displaced populations. (Just don't send shoeboxes. 🙂
But honestly I think that helping starts with a transformed perspective. Once we Americans really come to grips with the massive amount of resources, education, health, and opportunity we have been entrusted with (compared to the rest of the world), it changes our perspective and gives us eyes to start to see how we should be stewarding it. We are "Ten Talent Servants" and God expects us not to waste it. But that's going to look different for each of us.
busdriver4jesus
It's truly a measure of God's grace that He has blessed roughly 330 million with the privilege of living in the richest, most liberated country on Earth; however, there is one important thing we can do that most are afraid to mention (or following your reasoning, that I am stupid enough to bring up)… American citizens can insist that their leaders enforce the immigration laws of our country. If people knew they didn't have a good chance of evading our immigration authorities… they wouldn't risk it! They would stay in their country and use that incredible amount of energy, ambition and desire that their children have it better than they do to improve the conditions, economy, and government they live under. We as Americans enable this debilitating escapism when we permit our leaders to enforce/not enforce the laws of our country at their whim.
Amy Medina
Thanks for engaging in this discussion!
Unfortunately, in many countries of the world, it doesn't matter how much energy, ambition, and desire that ordinary citizens have. If they are trapped under a corrupt, incompetent, or evil government, there's not much they can do other than flee and hope for a better life. Seeing the fruit of hard work and ambition is one of the most amazing privileges we have in the United States. For many in the world, it doesn't matter how hard they work; a corrupt system will always win out.
Again, I don't know what the answer is for all of these desperate people. But I highly doubt they would leave with their children and travel for 2,800 miles if they felt they had any hope at all of finding a better life in their own country.
busdriver4jesus
What an incredibly un-American sentiment, Amy… is that what George Washington, or John Adams, or Ben Franklin would say about their corrupt government, that they were trapped under the British and had to run away? I agree: it would be incredibly dangerous and difficult to confront such a regime, but the right thing to do is often the hardest thing. I'm sure our founding fathers would agree.
Amy Medina
I guess it depends on which Americans you are talking about. Yes, the Revolutionary War ended well for white Americans. They also were exceptionally blessed with a first leader who was not a tyrant, and they had enough of a biblical worldview to establish a government that limited power that kept tyranny at bay. Many other world revolutions have not ended so well.
But what about all the American settlers who "escaped" religious persecution, government oppression, or famine to start a new life in America? Should they have just stayed put in Europe and tried to reform their governments? What about the Native Americans, who tried to protect their nation by fighting back against those settlers, but then were massacred? We could say that they were forced to "escape." What about the American slaves who tried to rebel against their oppressors, but were also massacred? Would we tell them that they shouldn't have tried to escape?
Yes, many of us have benefited from the sacrifices of our founding fathers. But that doesn't mean that it works out that way for vast numbers of other people.
busdriver4jesus
Amy, your post (and my comment only indirectly… for that, my apologies) specifically discusses ILLEGAL immigrants; yes, people have the right to flee persecution: the spread of the church in Acts is predicated upon the intolerance of those in Judea. Paul (and others) then shook their sandals' dust off against them and went their merry way. What Paul did not do, and what I think is clear from the definition of the word "illegal", is break the immigration laws of the country he fled to. You do believe God has delegated His authority to national governments He providentially sets up, right (Acts 17:26)? And that "whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment…" (Rom 13:2), right? I certainly hope you have not fallen prey to the simplistic category-confusion of so many, that all immigration is justified, or that nations do not have the God-given authority to control their borders. 1 Pet 4:8 does not read "Victim status covers a multitude of sins."
Amy Medina
Point taken. And it's a fair point. No, I'm not for opening our borders to whomever wishes to come in–that would be very unwise. I agree with you that illegal immigration should be just that–illegal.
My understanding of this incredibly complex situation with the immigrant caravans is that these are not people who are trying to sneak into the country and live there illegally. Yes, they are crossing the border illegally, but then they are immediately putting themselves up for asylum consideration (which, as far as I understand, is within their legal rights). And this is certainly true for the thousands in refugee camps around the world who are applying for refugee status. They aren't trying to enter illegally.
I am not ashamed to admit that as an American (with four African children), I am very pro-immigrant–especially for refugees–but I absolutely agree that it should be done legally. But our current immigration system–and in general, the cultural environment in the U.S.–feels very anti-immigration these days (even the legal type) and I would love to see that change.
busdriver4jesus
I am overjoyed to find several points of agreement! Close to 40% of my coworkers are from different countries; I have benefited immensely from their life experiences and different points of view… but I know that every single one of them jumped through the hoops and waited their turn to enter the U.S.A. legally. That's another injustice committed by the fence-jumpers: by their actions and selfishness, they bring disrepute on all the hard-working folks who did things the right (legal) way. All that to say, I as well am very pro-legal-immigration. I think the root of the cultural environment you lament is a necessary correction from the laissez-faire approach that has been adopted by both parties (tragically, it was Reagan that passed that amnesty!)… when compassion and a biblical view of ethnicity get trampled on, this correction obviously becomes an over-correction. God bless you and your gorgeous children!
Tim
Much of what he here is filtered through the minds of those in media who have an agenda to accomplish. We don't get the truth. Some sources tell us many families are only postured as families to gain an advantage. They really are not families. There are children who are used to appear as families, then are flown back and used again to poster another group as a family. The men and women are frequently not married. There is a lot of deception going on. There may be more violent crime of every sort in our cities than in their home towns.
Our country is based on controlled immigration.
We are a country of laws because the God of the Bible is a God of laws.
Romans 13 tells us God has given government the authority to make laws and enforce them with force in order to preserve peace.
There is no doubt the church could do much more to help those who don't know the Savior and suffer in poverty. But our current form of church demands that we CONSUME 84% of our "giving" to fund mostly 2 things – hired Pastors and a pulpit facility. Only 16% of our "giving" will actually go beyond the "needs" of the "givers". This is "normal church budgeting" from an article by Leadership Journal. I have the graphic for this. When I realized I was a consumer believer, and my generosity was mostly self-directed, I asked God if there was a way for me to practice ALL of His instructions for church life and 100% of my giving goes beyond my needs. He showed me with many scriptures that have been there for 2000 years. The 3 scriptures that are used to justify a clergy driven form of church are all twisted and falsely translated – and then are used to nullify the significance of 10+ scriptures that teach church life where 100% of giving goes beyond the givers.
As you can imagine, these scriptures are not received well, even by those who "devote full time" to the Bible. Lay people are very comfortable in their consumerism considered godly. Americans also export this form of church to very poor countries and expect very poor people to consume their giving to pay a pastor and maintain a pulpit building. I was born and raised in the Philippines as an MK, so I have seen this. American Pastors go there often and see nothing that concerns them. I've written a free PDF book that goes into great detail to untwist and a practice of church that 100% generous and 0% consuming. It is a very simple practice but requires a greater dependence on the Holy Spirit and greater obedience. We could have a much greater impact on the peoples of the world if we were open to recognizing our churches are practicing sin and calling it godliness. If you want to interact about this, we can do it.
Amy Medina
Hi Tim–My source for this piece was a WORLD magazine article (linked in my post) which was written by a reporter on the ground at the border. WORLD is a Christian news source that I trust completely.
Regarding the generosity of the church, I have no problem with the American church taking a good hard look at what you say here. Though I also believe that the struggles of those in poverty are far more complex than just a lack of money–and being generous with an investment of time is just as important as being generous with our money.
Tim
“At the very least, each of these people is worthy of our compassion.”
There is a progressive version of compassion. Give them a hand out and hope they vote for you to give them more handouts to keep you in power so you can remove capitalism which is the freedom to excel and the responsibility to excel in providing a service to others which earns a living.
Then there is God’s version of compassion which helps others to rid themselves of laziness, corruption, jealousy, and many other vices to be a provider for yourself and others.
There may be more happy and fulfilled people in their poverty than in their riches. James tells us “God has chosen” these people to “be rich in faith.”
There is corruption mixed into God’s version of compassion through His church. I gave the stats on that which come from Leadership Journal” in their article on “normal church budgeting”. Every church budget I have seen reflects these percentages. This is why it is very hard for missionaries to raise money for missions in the local church. They do better to connect with individual believers. There are few of them who have a heart for missions because their system of “local church” leads them to think they must have a weekly sermon from a hired man and other paid accessories rather than ministry “free of charge” as Paul taught and set the example for us to “imitate”. If believers practice faith where 100% of giving went beyond our “needs”, there would be even more giving and more hearts thinking about the work of God. “…for where your treasure is, there will you heart be also” is God’s law of the heart. If the bulk of your giving buy’s goodies for you, most of your heart will be stuck on yourself. We have been led to be enamored with very little generosity. Check some church budgets for the percentage that goes out the door. One hired man + one pulpit building = 84% of giving consumed to bless the givers. I have the chart from the article that shows this graphically loud and clear. This is called godly. It’s not.