Friday, February 15, 2013

Welcoming the Stranger

It's time to gear up for the big immigration debate in Congress this spring.

The only way reform will get a vote is if thousands of people, both Democrats and Republicans, contact their senators and representatives asking for significant immigration reform.

Jenny Hwang has a lot of answers for those who are against immigrants.  Her book, Welcoming the Stranger with co-author Matthew Soerens, debunks the major myths out there: that immigrants cost the US more than they give, that they don't want to learn English and integrate into our society, that the best solution is mass deportation.

Jenny points out that the word ger (immigrant) occurs 92 times in the Hebrew Scriptures.  God cares a lot about those who are strangers and migrants.


To check out 40 of those verses and hear myths debunked,  go to this website:

www.G92.org


To listen to a 30-minute talk by Jenny on immigration as a biblical issue and how immigrants are strengthening Christianity in the US, go to this website of Calvin College:

http://new.livestream.com/calvin-college/TJS20130108

For a list of evangelical leaders who support immigration reform, see:

www.evangelicalimmigrationtable.com

To learn how you can be an advocate for immigration reform this spring and summer, go to the World Relief website.  Jenny works in Washington, D.C. for World Relief, an arm of the National Association of Evangelicals.  She is director of advocacy and policy for the Refugee and Immigration Program of WR.  

www.worldrelief.org/advocate

World Relief is sponsoring a conference in Philadelphia on Feb. 22-24 called "Justice and Liberty for All."

Thank you to Linda Bieze for linking me to Jenny's talk at Calvin College and her other advocacy work.



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