Make Room in the Inn of Your Heart
Dear EBC Family,
Last week was the most chaotic week I believe we’ve ever had at the EBC office. We cleared all the floors and walls in every room in preparation for painting, carpeting and other renovation work. Everything was moved into the foyer with a small lane through it all so we could navigate. It was very difficult to get work done with all the upheaval.
Then something happened that put our difficulty into perspective. Pastor Joe sent a message to the staff asking us to pray for one of our Spanish Ministry families, as the mother had just been detained by ICE. Her husband has refugee status, but she entered the country illegally. They also have a three-year-old girl. Suddenly my little upheaval was quite insignificant.
As everyone knows, border security and immigration are highly charged issues these days, and I am not writing today to weigh in on the subject. Typically, people either argue strongly for the importance of law and order, or they advocate for the need to continue America’s heritage as a home of immigrants. Both values have significant merit, and great wisdom is needed to chart a path which incorporates both.
Today my intention is to simply make our church family aware so that we can care and pray. In the family of God, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” (1 Cor. 12.26) This family is suddenly experiencing a painful trauma that many undocumented residents constantly dread. At present, a grandmother who has a visa is helping take the little girl to be with her mother. The husband is doing all he can to take care of his wife while making plans to join her once she is deported. Each of them need our prayers. Countless others, including some in our own congregation, live in constant fear of the same upheaval.
I hope you will join me in caring and praying for these vulnerable people. This is the season we think much of Joseph and Mary looking for space in Bethlehem and finding none. Their situation has some significant differences from that of undocumented residents in America today. But what they have in common is the clear need for compassion.
Pastor Toby
Categories: Evergreen Connection