February 2020 Prayer Partner: “We would like to go to church together… in one car”
Dear friends,
“We would like to go to church together on Sunday in one car.”
Those words have stuck with me since last fall. At a gathering of national evangelical leaders, Dr. Gus Reyes responded to a question on undocumented members of Hispanic Baptist churches in Texas. For some families, he said, mom and dad drive in separate vehicles to church – so that if one were to be picked up and deported, the other parent would be left to care for the children. They pray for a change in immigration policy to allow them to drive to church together, in one car.
Since November, hundreds of national evangelical leaders and local pastors have affirmed the Evangelical Call for Restitution-Based Immigration Reform. Restitution outlines a way forward for many church members (and others) without status to get right with the law. The Evangelical Immigration Table believes that this is a realistic solution consistent with biblical principles, which honors the law and keeps families together.
At a time of heated political polarization, it may seem naïve to believe elected officials could find common ground to resolve this situation, but God can and does do what is impossible from a merely human perspective (Luke 18:27). We believe that a solution to the problem of illegal immigration is long overdue. Deporting all immigrants here in the country illegally is neither feasible nor morally just.
I’ve spoken with Members of Congress—on both sides—who want to lead in this direction. They need to know that there is support from the people they represent. If thousands of evangelical Christians add their name to this statement, our elected officials could introduce legislation consistent with these principles confident that the Christians they represent will have their backs.
Would you help us make this happen? Here are three things we’d ask you to do:
- If you’ve not already, please take a few seconds to add your name to this Evangelical Call for Restitution-Based Immigration Reform.
- Spread the word by forwarding this email, posting on social media or asking those at your church and within your social networks to add their names. For those looking for more information, you can point them to this recent interview on the Holy Post podcast or to this article in FoxNews.com, or to the Evangelical Immigration Table’s Thinking Biblically about Immigrants and Immigration Reform resources.
- Lastly, pray with me that thousands of evangelical Christians add their names, that Members of Congress pay attention and finally pass legislation along these lines, and that our brothers and sisters in Christ who are desperate to earn permanent legal status receive that opportunity; so that families could drive to church – together – without fear.
In Christ,
Matthew Soerens
National Coordinator, Evangelical Immigration Table
