Open Letter to Christians Who Want to Know How They Can Help

Last updated on: July 2, 2018 at 3:03 pm by Bethany Anderson

Open Letter to Christians Who Want to Know How They Can Help 2018-07-02T15:03:43-07:00 Bethany Anderson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

To my Christian friends who want to know how you can help,

Thank you for your call/text/email asking me how you can help. Of course, it’s devastating to read the stories and hear the cries of children who have been separated at our border because of the Zero Tolerance Policy enacted in April 2018. It’s heartbreaking. It’s hard to not want to do something. I’m so thankful that we are not too numb to the world’s atrocities to let this go by without a visceral reaction. Thank you for caring. Thank you for posting. Thank you for wanting to help.

But my friends, this is not new. We did not get here over night. Immigrants, adults and children, have been suffering in our country and at our borders for years. The rhetoric that laid the foundation for this has been swirling around for decades. The relatively small group of Christians who have given our lives to God’s work in and through immigrants in the US have been pleading with our brothers and sisters to listen, to learn, and to care for a while now. We’ve been fasting, protesting, hosting prayer vigils for over a decade. The immigrant community has been crying out even longer and louder than us.

We aren’t here because no one cared. We are here because not enough of us did. Had there been more of us, we might have been able to prevent this. We could have stopped it. Our apathy and complacency and our fear of getting too political stopped us.

I don’t say this to make you feel guilty. I don’t want you to feel shame. But I do want you to know that this is very, very serious. We can’t afford for this to be a flash in the pan reaction. I know the world is hard and there is so much to care about…so many causes to defend. My fear is that most of you, in response to the severity of emotion this has caused, will attend a march, post something, or donate, as a way to alleviate the heaviness of it all..and then move on to the next thing. But Jesus is inviting us into something much deeper than one time activism.

My plea is for you to stay with this. Stay engaged. Expand your advocacy. Learn more about our immigration system. Read up on what’s happening in Central America and research US relations in those countries. Gently and lovingly correct misinformation. Call out the bigotry towards immigrants. Seek the heart of God through scripture and prayer.

But also, fight your savior complex that might compel you to think you have the right answer (I’m looking at you, Christian women who said something along the lines of, “I just want to go and adopt these poor children”).

Let’s learn and listen and ask good question and do all we can do to make sure every single child is returned to their parents. Let’s demand our government does better.

And joining the fight for Comprehensive Immigration Reform would help too.

Stay with us.

-Bethany Anderson

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 16, 2018

Well since you mentioned the Bible...

Next Post

July 9, 2018 Common Statements Used to Defend Family Separation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Children and Immigration Church Current Events DREAM Act Garnet Immigrant Families Inspiration Our Children Uncategorized What does the Bible say about Immigration

Select a Month January 2019 December 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 December 2013 August 2012 June 2012 May 2012 March 2012 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 December 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible contains the phrase "Vanity of vanities"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalms Proverbs Job Ecclesiastes