Our Community Conversation (Week 8)

In light of the recent refusal of the US government to grand some members of Ebenezer Baptist Church, our partner church in Cuba, religious visas to visit us, our conversation tomorrow night will focus on immigration from a Christian perspective, including the biblical foundation for the treatment of foreigners and what our church's response should be to the visa denials and to immigrants more broadly. 

We looked at the following scriptures as they relate to our treatment of aliens, immigrants, foreigners, and strangers: Exodus 22:21; Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:33; Leviticus 23:22; Leviticus 24:22; Numbers 15:16; Deuteronomy 1:16; Deuteronomy 24:20-21; Deuteronomy 27:19; Jeremiah 7:5-12; Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5; Psalm 39:12; Ephesians 2:12-19; 1 Peter 1:1-2; 1 Peter 2:11-12; Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 3:9

Then we had a discussion and this is what people said:

• My experience as an immigrant was that I was sponsored by families and there was always a church there to help us. As an immigrant I was paid lower than the regular nurses in Philly but I needed a job and there was always a church to help me. People picked us up and drove us to church, they included us in everything, churches hosted us, and there were always many different cultures present and accepted from Indian, Iranian, Japanese, etc. Each of us would cook something and contribute. The churches were instrumental in welcoming us into American life an culture. The Lord has been there all along. 
• There are different kinds of aliens and if we really want to know how to help them then we need to learn about how different they are. Each culture that comes to our country has different needs, values, beliefs, and ideas. If they lack the ability to speak our language that will be another layer of difficulty. If they lack skill or if they are illegal that will pose challenges too. We need to figure out what the needs are before we will be able to help them. 
• The young people here in our country from other places use English at school and Spanish at home. What they want they get through English. Any concerns we might have about English fading out should be alleviated. 
• Identifying where people are and who people are is important. We once offered ESL here and we learned about each other in that process. The children could interpret and we learned about where people lived and what was important to them. Understanding each others cultures and accepting each other as we are is the path to community, and for that we need open hearts. 
• We have to be able to respect the culture of immigrants to be able to engage without offending or excluding. 
• We could offer ESL (English as a Second Language) again or we could do something crazy and offer SSL (Spanish as a Second Language) and then we could really engage with our community in a powerful way. 
• One of our members Jim Davis speaks Spanish and because of that skill he can volunteer for Dorcas Ministries as a crisis counselor. Spanish is a great asset to his ministry. 
• When Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove was here the thing he said that has stuck with me is that we need to go out into our community not to try and see how we can help them but to learn how they can help us. We need to let them be our teacher and use their talents. That will draw us more into the community. 
• I must admit that I am very conflicted about applying the scriptures related to aliens to illegal immigrants in our country. 
• I think they need to obey our laws.
• But the Bible says that aliens and citizens should be treated as equal under the law. 
• What does it matter whether the immigrants we encounter are legal or illegal. God still calls us to love them right? Even if they are in prison God calls us to visit them. It is not our job to determine what to do with illegal immigrants - that's why we have police and the judicial system. Our job as a church is different. We are called to love and care for the immigrant regardless of their status. 
• When I went through the process of immigration it was hard. I had to wait forever for my turn and then there was an embarrasing physical examination, X-rays, and a difficult test. I felt very bad during the last election cycle when some political workers called me and asked me questions about immigration. I got angry. I feel like it is not fair for others who come in now to not have to go through the process I went through. They are breaking the law. I get angry about that, but I my immigration and theirs are not the same. They are coming under different conditions and it is not right for me to judge. 
• One way that we've offered help before was to reach out to the farm labor. The Baptist State Convention used to ask us to fix up toiletries for the immigrant and migrant workers who were working on the farms around us. If we know of any farm laborers who are being mistreated then we need to speak up and try to eleviate that if possible. The treatment of farm workers is a responsibility that we have. 
• We don't have to look very far to find illegal immigrants or resident aliens among us. They live near by in our community around the church. 
• Some of the things that often creep into our conversation about immigration as a nation are fear and racism or prejudice. As Christians we need to be able to engage with our immigrant brothers and sisters without fear and without prejudice. Christians are people who do not live in fear or racism and therefore whether we are talking about immigration or participating in outreach to immigrants we must make sure that it is free of fear or prejudice.  

Our Community Conversation (Week 7)

What does the Bible say about tithing and stewardship?

We looked at passages about "tithing" and "stewardship" in Genesis 14:18-20; Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:20-32; Deuteronomy 14:28-29 & 26:12-13; 2 Chronicles 31:4-6; Malachi 3:8-10; Matthew 23:23-24; Luke 18:9-14; Hebrews 7:1-10; 1 Corinthians 9:14; Galatians 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; and 2 Corinthians 8. 

Then we had a discussion and people said this about "tithing" and "stewardship":

• There are generational and gender differences in the views we have on giving and money. Seniors give what they give no matter what and Boomers give less. X-gen and Millennials don't give as much because they don't have the same kind of commitment to institutions. 
• For Boomers generation it is about involvement (time and talents come first and then giving follows). What are some ideas that we can use to motivate giving? We need to remind ourselves of all the things our staff does...seniors/children/youth all need to think about what those programs provide. Actions and activities that happen on our facilities like AA and the Carying Place require financial support. 
• Don't use thermometers! Remind us what we're involved in. 
• Should we "tithe" (give ten percent of our income) before or after taxes? Is it net or gross?
• We should give our "first fruits" (the best and first of what we have) to God and not our leftovers. 
• Generation Xers and people with children have a hard time giving money. Kids are expensive so we tithe our time to activities and service instead of our money. There's no disposable income so we will give more money later but we can give our time now. 
• We should and we can give something - not just time and talents but money too. 
• We need to do an inventory of our time, talents, and treasure. 
• The Planned Growth in Giving plan that was led by Jerry Harris was effective. It led people to make commitments in giving. Many people were able to increase their giving by 1% in the first year of that program and it has stuck with those members. 
• Please round off your tithe when you give. It's easier to count.
• We support the things that we have ownership in and that we think are important. Time is a part of giving. 
• We need some new creative strategies for development. 
• We need to step out in faith. Many years ago we made a decision to start tithing when we had children. It was hard and scary, but we did it and our children never went without anything. We will never regret the choice to tithe. 
• We must remember the quote from Malachi. If we give God will take care of us. We started to tithe and each year we've increased our giving and we've hardly even noticed it. 
• I remember a jar I had as a little girl and I would take 10% out of it and give it to the church. My parents taught me the importance and purpose of tithing when I was a small child. We need to teach the same message to our children so we can pass this command on to future generations.