In a January 27 statement published by Church World Service in response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order regarding refugees, I offered these thoughts……
“Disciples communities around the nation are eager to help and to welcome refugees. As the first faith movement founded on the American frontier, our members remember deeply the characteristics of independence, initiative and determination to contribute that have historically characterized our American spirit. Such values, often born of pain and challenges, are likewise ones we see reflected in the courage of refugee individuals and families who continue to be our neighbors, our fellow church members, and our school and work mates. We therefore remain deeply committed to fulfilling God’s call in scripture to welcome the stranger and treat ‘the alien who resides with you…as the citizen among you’ (Leviticus 19:34). We have upheld this commitment to offer hospitality to well over 40,000 refugees since the time of WWII, and have done so by providing housing, employment, mentoring, contributions, prayer and friendship. In this critical era when one in every one hundred thirteen individuals around the globe is a refugee, asylee, or displaced person, we remain strongly supportive of the U.S. refugee program, which vigorously vets refugees through multiple federal and international agency interviews, screenings, and lengthy checks. Indeed, refugees are the most scrutinized of all arrivals into the U.S. Our faith communities remain ready to serve as historic welcoming partners with the U.S. government to embrace vulnerable refugees of multiple ethnic and faith backgrounds in need of safety and healing in this land. As we ‘do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,’ we are likely to find our own communities strengthened by the gifts and courage brought by refugees—and may indeed, as our scriptures remind us, find we have ‘entertained angels without knowing it.’” (Hebrews 13:2)
Read quotes by refugees and others in the full statement: https://cwsglobal.org/cws-denounces-president-trump-announcement-on-refugee-resettlement/
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