April 2, 2020 Prayer Partner: Resources and Prayer in the Midst of the Crisis
Dear friends,
In this challenging and unprecedented season, many are working tirelessly in “essential” jobs to care for the sick, ensure that we all still have food to eat and maintain public safety. Others are trying their best to continue their normal work from their homes, often while also trying to teach (or at least supervise) children who are not in school. Others have jobs that cannot really be done from home, so they’re anxious to know how their employment will continue. And still others have been let go from their jobs altogether and are worried about making their next rent or mortgage payment and feeding their families.
These concerns are affecting us all, but immigrants and refugees are often uniquely vulnerable during a pandemic. We wanted to pass on a few resources that we think you might find helpful.
- FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES: Our partners at Welcome have prepared a toolkit for families to encourage distinctly Christian thinking about issues of hospitality and immigration, including coloring pages, a book list, prayer journal pages and more.
- WATCH:
- Jenny Yang shares thoughts on how local churches are caring for the vulnerable – including many immigrants – amid the crisis. This short clip is part of several hours of content from the COVID-19 Church Online Summit, presented by the National Association of Evangelicals and Wheaton College’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute, all of which is available through Easter at www.covid19churchsummit.com.
- If you’re looking for something edifying to watch, stream The Stranger, our 40-minute documentary exploring a distinctly Christian approach to issues of immigration. It’s available on our website or via Amazon Prime or RightNow Media.
- Check out these short videos exploring the Evangelical Immigration Table’s core principles.
- READ:
- National Association of Evangelicals president Walter Kim has written a careful theological consideration of the question of “to cancel or not to cancel” in-person Sunday church services with Christianity Today CEO Timothy Dalrymple.
- Both Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission president Russell Moore for the New York Times and Southern Baptist pastor Alan Cross for The Bulwark write on how the Christian belief that each life is made in God’s image informs a Christian response to the present moment.
- Matthew Soerens explores in Relevant how Christians might use stimulus payments from the federal government to care for those who are uniquely vulnerable.
- Download our free e-book, Thinking Biblically about Immigrants and Immigration Reform and if you think our approach makes sense, make sure to add your name to the Evangelical Call for Restitution-Based Immigration Reform.
- LISTEN (all available on all major podcast platforms):
- The Beyond Soundbites podcast from the Refugee Highway Partnership North America has a new episode focused on how COVID-19 is affecting asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border
- Jenny Yang talks about immigration issues on The Disrupters podcast
- Matthew Soerens discusses an Evangelical Call for Restitution-Based Immigration Reform on The Holy Post podcast
While this pandemic is affecting different people in different ways, no one is unaffected. We’ve already asked you to be praying for the vulnerable in the midst of this pandemic, but please know that we’re also praying for you, even as we send this email, and are eager to help support you in any way that we can. If there are specific ways we can pray for you and your community during this season, please reply and let us know.
In Christ,
The Evangelical Immigration Table
