Do Justice Devotionals Address Immigrations
Given last week's news that immigration reform will not happen this year in the U.S., a number of Christian Reformed Church agencies are collaborating on a series of devotionals about the issue to be posted on the Do Justice blogsite.
The first devotional went up today, written by Rev. Kate Kooyman, an immigration organizer for the Christian Reformed Church.
In her devotional, “A Lament for Immigration (Part 1),” she writes, “John Boehner announced that immigration reform isn't going to happen this year. Though we have the votes to pass a bill, a bill won't come to a vote. Families suffering separation, farmers under the stress of a 70 percent illegal workforce, communities bearing the strain of the thousands of traumatized children seeking safety...all this will continue. Immigrants will continue to bear the weight of this injustice.”
Kris Van Engen from the Office of Social Justice will write Tuesday’s devotional, followed on Wednesday by Viviana Cornejo of the Office of Race Relations.
Rev. Joel Boot, director of Ministries and Administration, will write the devotional for Thursday.
This is an issue that Boot mentioned at Synod 2014 in his final “state of the church” address as the CRC’s executive director.
“In a broken world filled with broken people, the initial stance must be a broken heart and not an argument about a broken law,” he said.
On Friday, the devotional will feature a refugee resettlement story from Canada from the Refugee Justice Task Force.
The focus of the devotionals, says Kooyman, will be on “what it means to be justice seekers when we lose. How to maintain our voice, our passion, and our hope when everything points to despair and defeat. How to be Christian advocates, not just political ones.”
This is an issue that Joel Boot mentioned specifically in his "state of the church" address at Synod this year:
“In a broken world filled with broken people, the initial stance must be a broken heart and not an argument about a broken law,” he said.
