Kingdom Harbor

A group from our church recently attended a Meal of Appreciation at Brookdale Covenant Church lovingly prepared by our immigrant brothers and sisters and their pastors we helped out during ICE’s Operation Metro Surge. The authentic ethnic dishes were fantastic, but even more nourishing were the powerful testimonies of the individuals whose lives were turned upside down.

A young mom in detention for 12 days, on her knees praying for her release and her family’s safety.

A young, hardworking man who was unable to leave the house for months, describing how hard it was to not be able to support his family, but thanking those who helped pay their rent and groceries. He proudly said to all of us upwardly mobile white attendees, “We don’t have much money, but we want you to come to us whenever you are in need in the future, so we can help out in other ways.”

Two women whose sole income is cleaning the church that hosts their congregation, described needing a driver to pick them up and hide them under blankets in the back of the car on the way to the church. Members of the white, suburban host church were brought to tears hearing this story, unaware of the risks of these humble servants were taking so they could worship freely in a clean building each Sunday.

On and on the stories went. The recurring theme of the night was, “We are one family in Christ, a family that transcends language and culture. We have one God, and one Savior and one hope.”

These big generous hearts filled the table with delicious foods, far more than we could ever eat. And the same people who lived with bare cupboards and empty fridges for weeks, insisted on sending us gringos home with all the leftovers, too.

During the crisis in January and February, I invited neighbors near and far to give toward our Immigrant Neighbor Crisis fund that our church set up. I have no good way to thank the families that donated generously. I can only assure you that we raised a few thousand dollars that I personally hand delivered to the pastors and families in need.

It made a huge difference.

Thanks for your generosity.

We count ourselves blessed to be able to shine a little light into a dark situation, remembering:

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” -John 1:5