an Alien or Angel?
In my June newsletter of this year (can see excerpt on
previous blog entry), I
expressed some despair at the direction US immigration policy seemed to be
heading. I asked you all to sign petitions and join me in praying, knowing
that God has a heart for the immigrant and stranger.
I see this
throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, there is the repeated refrain
to care for the widow, orphan, and stranger or ‘alien’. In fact, of the
613 laws in the Torah, it is the most common mandate. A couple of
examples are:
•“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,
and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18)
•“The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the
fatherless and the widow.” (Psalm 146:9)
•“Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien
or the poor.” (Zechariah 7:10)
In the well-known passage in Matthew 25:35 ‘when I was
hungry, you fed me…’, continues on to say ‘when I was a stranger and
you invited me in.’ When we welcome the foreigner, the stranger, the alien,
when we extend hospitality to ‘the other’, we are not only obeying a Biblical
command but we are welcoming Jesus. The author of Hebrews charges the
readers: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some
people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:2).
What if this was the pervasive sentiment in a country
with ‘In God we Trust’ on our dollar bills? Treating and welcoming the
alien as an angel? Changing US policies that affect our southern neighbors so
people aren’t as desperate to migrate?
Welcome to the USA!
Some of you will remember petitions, stories, and
prayer requests for our friends Evaristo and Alicia. A couple of months
ago, we spent 4 hours working on a letter to US Dept of Homeland Security,
explaining why it would cause extreme hardship on Alicia and their 3-year-old
son Alex if Evaristo was deported. Our community rallied and supported
these two in protest that his petition to stay in the country had been denied
and he would be deported to a country he barely knows. A couple weeks ago
Evaristo got a piece of mail from immigration (above picture). 'Welcome to
the United States of America..." They accepted the
waiver! Evaristo is now a legal permanent resident in the United
States. In our lawyer's amazed words on the phone to Chris last week:
"Evaristo was at the bottom of a very deep, dark hole five years ago.
This is a rare, rare story. People need to know about this."
My friend and coworker Chris has been the leading
advocate for Evaristo after he first met Evaristo 5 years ago in jail. He
writes,
"It has been a five-year
adventure through the annals of immigration detention, drug and alcohol
recovery, migrant camps, gang politics, tattoo removal, living
together with Evaristo that has made him one of the most
important people in my life and ministry. He has become a brother I never had,
and one of my dear friends who stood as a groomsman in my wedding. This
adventure has seen the dark streets at night where violence won, the even more
frightening municipal and immigration courts where everything hung in the
electric-anxious courtroom air before the prosecutor's words, then a wedding
for Evaristo and Alicia, welcoming their son Alex into the apartment,
college scholarships, jobs at welding factories and berry picking camps and
ultrasound testing, fly fishing programs, getting old criminal charges vacated,
and hundreds of community service hours.
One of the greatest fruits of this ongoing story has not
just been the transformation of the kind of guy our nation wants to throw away
to a prized young leader in our community, but the transformation of the
community itself: hundreds of people who have loved this longshot Solano
family, helped with homework, helped with childcare, written letter after
letter after updated letter about Evaristo's moral transformation. When
people see the power of a life under transformation, they want to be a part of
it. We want to be close to beauty.
A beautiful thing has happened. And great works of art
take years. We won. Against despair and addiction and
massive societal odds, we have gained a permanent resident in our community to
enjoy. He is no longer alien to us or to himself.
It is truly a miracle!
Pressing in for more...
I exuberantly started this
newsletter last Thursday, eager to tell of the good news! Even in a
week, there have been ups and downs and many delays to even finishing this
letter. Others have been arrested, some face deportation, and numerous
people we know are caught in the chains of drug addiction.
I have
to remember the breakthroughs as I press in for more alongside the people I
accompany. I have to heed Christ's call, to throw the net on the other
side, to offer my bread and fish when it feels like I am trying to feed
multitudes. He is the miracle worker, I get to participate in what He is
doing.
Please join me in interceding for
the families whose legal, financial, and immigration barriers and addictions
threaten to overwhelm and destroy our friends.
