Cars

“Why this car does not favor us?”

Brothers Bal and Purna shared a 90s model Corolla that had seen better days. They needed a car to get to their jobs across town, and this was all they could afford. My husband, Kevin, and I were forever helping them refill leaking fluids, jumpstart the battery, change flat tires, and call and wait with them for tow trucks. They regarded Kevin with great respect because he knew how to do such basic car repairs.

The brothers have come a long way since those days. They’ve worked hard and saved their money for newer and better cars. They both now own reliable Nissans, Bal a recent model Murano and Purna a stylish Altima. They feel so safe in their new cars that they now take road trips across the country to visit their relatives in Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Nebraska. The trips have been without incident, other than joyful family reunions and exploring their new country.

El Camino del Inmigrante

I have a pet peeve with the local news. They tell us about exciting, cool things after they’ve happened. I often think, Why didn’t you tell me about that sooner? I would have loved to go! Sometimes even my church does that. So in the spirit of spreading the news while you can still do something about it, I introduce you to El Camino del Inmigrante, a 150-mile pilgrimage from the southern border to Los Angeles, making the suffering and contributions of immigrants and the love of Christ visible to many. El Camino will take place August 20-30.

Check out these links for more information.

Daring, Feetfirst

https://www.ccda.org/events/el-camino

https://sojo.net/articles/faith-action/way-early-church-lives

https://www.crowdrise.com/documentary-for-el-camino-del-inmigrante

 

Never Too Old to Learn

Wahoo! I turned in the final exam for my BIA course on Immigration Law! In the spirit of continued learning, I offer today a list of my favorite books about refugees and immigration, in no particular order. Happy reading!

• Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible, by M. Daniel Carroll R. and Ronald Sider
• Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate, by Matthew Soerens & Jenny Hwang
• Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis, by Stephan Bauman and Matthew Soerens
• Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a failed missionary on rediscovering faith, by D.L. Mayfield
• Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America, by Helen Thorpe
• The Middle of Everywhere: The World’s Refugees Come to Our Town, by Mary Pipher
• This Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers, by Marilyn Lacey
• Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference, by Warren St. John
• God Grew Tired of Us, A Memoir: The Heartbreaking, Inspiring Journey of a Lost Boy of Sudan, by John Bul Dau with Michael S. Sweeney
• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman
• What is the What: the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng: a novel, by Dave Eggers
• Refugee for Life: My Journey across Africa to Find a Place Called Home, by Innocent Magambi
• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah
• Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, by Leymah Gbowee
• Say You’re One of Them, by Uwem Akpan
• A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story, by Linda Sue Park
• Unbecoming Citizens: Culture, Nationhood, and the Flight of Refugees from Bhutan, by Michael Hutt
• Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, by Conor Grennan