Online Resources
We Choose Welcome is a grassroots community seeking to mobilize and equip women of faith to build and cultivate a welcome movement from their tables at home to the halls of Congress. They empower our community to have brave conversations about immigration and to take impactful action for the vulnerable in both our personal lives and through advocating for more just immigration policies.
Arrive Ministries is a Christian nonprofit serving refugees and immigrants in Minnesota, in partnership with the local church. Since 1988, they have resettled more than 12,000 refugees with the support of 6,000 volunteers from local churches.
They are providing ongoing services to thousands of immigrant and refugee neighbors in the Twin Cities and Central Minnesota.
The Evangelical Immigration Table exists to encourage distinctly biblical thinking about issues of immigration, providing discipleship resources focused on immigration from a biblical and missional perspective as well as advocating for public policies consistent with biblical values.
Books
World Relief immigration experts Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang move beyond the rhetoric to offer a Christian response to immigration. They put a human face on the issue and tell stories of immigrants' experiences in and out of the system. With careful historical understanding and thoughtful policy analysis, they debunk myths and misconceptions about immigration and show the limitations of the current immigration system. Ultimately, they point toward immigration reform that is compassionate, sensible, and just as they offer concrete ways for you and your church to welcome and minister to your immigrant neighbors.
What does evangelism look like at its best?
Evangelism can hurt sometimes. Well-meaning Christians who welcome immigrants and refugees and share the gospel with them will often alienate the very people they are trying to serve through cultural misconceptions or insensitivity to their life experiences. In No Longer Strangers, diverse voices lay out a vision for a healthier evangelism that can honor the most vulnerable—many of whom have lived through trauma, oppression, persecution, and the effects of colonialism—while foregrounding the message of the gospel.
From the harrowing experiences of their journey across the South China Sea in the aftermath of the Vietnam War to the heartwarming account of their successful restaurant venture in America, the refugee story of Vinh Chung and his family is riveting. In a time where the current topics are immigration and human rights, this first-hand account reminds us to view events and people with a lens of compassion.
The story of two refugee families and their hope and resilience as they fight to survive and belong in America
The welcoming and acceptance of immigrants and refugees has been central to America’s identity for centuries–yet America has periodically turned its back at the times of greatest humanitarian need. After the Last Border is an intimate look at the lives of two women as they struggle for the twenty-first century American dream, having won the “golden ticket” to settle as refugees in Austin, Texas.
In Seeking Refuge, three experts from World Relief, an international non-profit specializing in refugee resettlement, offer a practical, well-rounded, well-researched guide to the issue.
Drawing from history, public policy, psychology, many personal stories, and their own unique Christian worldview, the authors offer a nuanced and compelling portrayal of the plight of refugees and the extraordinary opportunity we have to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Author Sarah Lanier explains how cultures around the world can fit into two basic categories and how these categories differ. Whether you are a cross-cultural worker or simply live in a cross-cultural neighborhood, you'll find this book to be a valuable resource for understanding and relating to others from a different "climate".
Films
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili's head, he's forced to flee the country with his wife and young daughters. Capturing the family's uncertain journey firsthand, Fazili documents their harrowing trek across numerous borders revealing the danger and uncertainty facing refugees seeking asylum juxtaposed with the unbreakable love shared amongst the family on the run.