Mennonite Weekly Review

Last summer a colleague and I visited with a small immigrant Mennonite congregation near Atlanta as Georgia prepared to implement some of the strictest immigration laws in the country.

Stephen Kriss is a teacher, writer, pastor, student and follower of Jesus living in Philadelphia.

We listened to the congregation’s leaders, their fears and their struggles. I recounted rap lyrics from Jay-Z in my head while responding to questions about the legal obligations of a traffic stop.

While a number of people in the congregation are underdocumented according to U.S. government requirements, even documented immigrants were fearful of the new policies. Many of the immigrants didn’t fully understand what the law meant. They remembered issues around persecution and corruption from policing in their own countries.

As my colleague and I wondered what we might be able to do, we heard two requests: Pray for us, and help us take care of our kids if we are deported.

This was not the kind of meeting I had signed up for as a Mennonite minister. I wondered how I had gotten myself into a situation where I was offering pastoral advice on policing procedures based on what I know from listening to hip-hop music.

I remember walking out into the Georgia sun feeling overwhelmed and unsure. My colleague and I were tired, but we decided to visit the Martin Luther King Center quickly before it closed.

Words from King outside the memorial spoke to me, intensely: “When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice.”

I left committed to my work of pastoring those who lead congregations filled with immigrants — those documented and undocumented. I left knowing I’d have to continue to speak, to find my own way of provoking, that good might eventually prevail. I left knowing I’d need to be prepared to act, not only because of the situation but because of my belief in God and God’s call of service and leadership in my life — because love calls forth real action.

Later, at a Franconia Mennonite Conference gathering, Mennonite pastor Yunus Perkasa Tjeng of Atlanta shared a stark reminder. Yunus said praying for safety for our immigrant brothers and sisters is necessary but not enough. Laws like the one in Georgia have real impact; I can’t keep telling my congregation that things will be OK, he said.

Personally, I’m convinced that our salvation as followers of Jesus living within the Mennonite stream is caught up with our engagement and transformation alongside immigrants who represent the heart of our own dreams and who give us a glimpse of God’s dream for us all.