A man got into a cab at LaGuardia airport. The friendly cab driver, a recent immigrant from Southeast Asia, asked in broken English why he was in New York. The man replied, “I am a Lutheran minister and I am here for a convention. Do you know what a Lutheran is?” “Oh yes,” the driver responded with a big smile on his face, “I know about Lutherans. They are the ones who help my people.”
That cab driver was one of 800,000 refugees from all over the world who were resettled in the United States by ‘Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service’ (now ‘Global Refuge’). In 1979, I initiated a program at my church that sponsored three of them. They were among the ‘boat people’ from Vietnam who fled the country after the fall of Saigon in 1975. LIRS resettled over 15,000 of these Vietnamese refugees in the United States.
The plight of the boat people was in the news for much of the late 1970’s. The American Lutheran Church was encouraging congregations to work with LIRS to help these people. I was on my required one-year internship, before going back for my last year of seminary. I asked the senior pastor (my internship supervisor) if our church could sponsor a family. He said he was busy enough already, but if I wanted to do the work, he would support me and encourage the congregation’s participation.
I filled out the necessary LIRS paperwork, received council approval, and submitted the application. We soon heard that we would be sponsoring three young adults. There would be a young woman about 21 years old, her 19-year-old brother, and a cousin in his late 20’s. Our committee went to work to prepare for their arrival. We raised money to rent an apartment for their first several months. We had enough left over to pay for a line of credit for them at the grocery store. We found jobs for them to begin as soon as they arrived. We arranged for a retired teacher to tutor them in English, and, to help with day-to-day life questions. We arranged for a doctor to provide basic care at no charge. We found three bicycles for them to get around our small town, and arranged for drivers for when they needed more transportation than that. We planned ways to introduce them to the congregation and community. Unless a major medical problem would arise, there would be no need for any government financial support.
I picked them up at the airport and could see our work was just beginning. The two siblings were wonderful young people. They were smiling and nodding all the time (unable to speak English), grateful for everything, and would prove to be pleasant and hardworking. Their cousin was able to speak English, but I soon wished he could not. He was demanding, took everything for granted, appreciated nothing, and resented having to work for things Americans were already enjoying (even though I kept telling him that we too had to work for our stuff). He was a constant source of frustration, causing no small amount of resentment for those of us on the committee. But for the sake of the other two, we all put up with him, and in time things got better.
Not long after the three were settled in, I had to return for my final year of seminary. But the Refugee Committee, with some very capable members, continued their work for many years. Once these first three refugees had their feet on the ground and some money in their pocket, they were anxious to move to a city where there were more Vietnamese. Committee members understood that desire, and helped make that happen for them. Then, they sponsored another family, and then another, and then several more. After the boat people were all resettled, they continued on with whoever needed help next. The committee eventually disbanded, but not before sponsoring several dozen refugees.
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It is our Christian duty to ‘welcome the stranger,’ as Jesus said in Matthew 25:35, and “love the foreigner” as Moses said in Deuteronomy 10:19. I myself am only four generations from getting off the boat, and am a big supporter of immigration. I do want us to continue to receive the “huddled masses yearning to be free.” As a nation, we can be enriched and strengthened by our new immigrant citizens.
However, I do not believe it is our Christian duty to support open borders, give unconditional amnesty for everyone within our borders (no matter how they got in or why they are here), and provide unending free stuff for those who ignore our laws and are here illegally.
We must have a fair and sensible system for receiving and welcoming immigrants. They, and us, must be serious about being on board with the principles of our nation that have enabled America to be what Abraham Lincoln called ‘this world’s last, best hope.’ It is not arrogant or nationalistic to say that. It is simply a fact, proven by the fact that so many people do HOPE to come here. We have our faults; every nation does, and we must continue to strive to be better. But if we cannot continue with the foundations we were built on; if we become something else and are destroyed from within; we will then no longer be able to be a refuge for anyone, from anywhere.
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Matthew 25:35 — (Jesus said), “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
Hebrews 13:2 — Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Deuteronomy 10:19 — You are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
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Adapted from a prayer on the Global Refuge website:
Lord Jesus, you were a refugee when you fled with Mary and Joseph to Egypt. Bless all who seek refuge on this earth. Meet their needs for safety and for home. Move the hearts of your people to show them welcome. God of rebirth, we pray for immigrant adults and children who have been forced to leave behind all they have ever known. Heal them from the trauma of fear, deprivation, and loss. Comfort them and give them peace. Help us to recognize your presence in the refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers who flee from their places of birth, seeking safety and welcome in our nation and our communities. In your great mercy, Lord, hear our prayer. Amen.
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