Hey my friends,

It seems like there are far too many things to reflect on and respond to in a given week, but one event this week, which I describe below, prompted a lot of conversations with friends who work directly with refugee resettlement. So, I thought it was important to reflect on it with all of you today.

But before we get into that, here are some resources to consider:

​-Mosaics Podcast This podcast is really important, not only because it highlights a lot of the work that goes on regarding refugee resettlement, but it sheds light on the individual stories of refugees themselves, which would otherwise be unknown to many people. I highly recommend keeping it in your podcast library.

​-Patagonia Act Now As an avid outdoorsmen, I have always loved patagonia gear. When I discovered the backstory to how patagonia got its start by its conservation efforts and how it is one of the strongest voices in support of caring for our planet and public lands, I admired them even more. I have a deep, deep love for our world and everything that lives on it and it makes me so heartbroken and furious to see how it is being mistreated. The website I linked above will not only keep you posted on ways you can get involved regarding national issues, but they make it really easy to get involved on local environmental issues too. I found it to be a really important resource and wanted to share it with you.

​-5 Calls.org and the 5 Calls App. I again want to share this resource. I use the app all the time and it makes raising my voice on issues I care about directly to my state representatives quick and effective. While it may feel like its unproductive, we have seen what keeping the pressure on accomplishes. Sustained pressure and continuing to raise our voices does make a difference. This resource makes it easier to do that in our busy lives.

Okay, onto today's newsletter.

Justice Without Borders: Examining America's Selective Refugee Response.

As you may have seen, the current administration is aiming to bring the first group of South Africans to the United States via its refugee program as soon as next week. This is both a confusing and a divisive effort given that the administration has been blocking refugee admissions from the rest of the world.

The white South African resettlement process has been highly unusual, allowing a small group of up to about 50-100 people to rapidly immigrate to the US while other refugee populations wait years for the opportunity.

Due to these events, the President and CEO of Church World Services, Rick Santos, issued the following statement:

“We are concerned that the U.S. Government has chosen to fast-track the admission of Afrikaners, while actively fighting court orders to provide life-saving resettlement to other refugee populations who are in desperate need of resettlement.

“By resettling this population, the Government is demonstrating that it still has the capacity to quickly screen, process, and depart refugees to the United States. It’s time for the Administration to honor our nation’s commitment to the thousands of refugee families it abandoned with its cruel and illegal executive order.”

“Despite the Administration’s actions, CWS remains committed to serving all eligible refugee populations seeking safety in the United States, including Afrikaners who are eligible for services. Our faith compels us to serve each person in our care with dignity and compassion.

“We continue to urge Congress and the Administration to restore a robust refugee resettlement program that prioritizes refugee families who remain in grave danger. For decades, the refugee resettlement program has been a vital humanitarian program that supports U.S. diplomacy, promotes national security, and enriches American communities.”

The court case Pacito v Trump challenges the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and the abrupt withholding of millions of dollars in critical funds to refugee-serving agencies and was filed by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) on behalf of Church World Service (CWS), HIAS, Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW), and nine impacted individuals.

A Little Background

It is important for everyone to understand that South Africa is a multiracial democracy. The country endured a highly repressive colonial and apartheid system for almost 200 years, which ended in 1994 with Nelson Mandela's election as president. The president and his advisors, including Elon Musk (a white South African, though not of Afrikaner origin), are using Afrikaner farmers to promote a narrative of "white victimhood"—a strategy aimed at undermining Civil Rights achievements in the U.S. while punishing South Africa.

The white South African applicants for placement in the United States claim they have faced racial discrimination in post-apartheid South Africa. For a bit of background, Afrikaners are descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa, who established the nation's apartheid racial segregation system in 1948, subsequently subjecting the Black population to mass evictions and brutal segregation. As a result of this history, white South Africans still own more than 70 percent of the country's agricultural land, despite making up less than 10 percent of the overall population.

White farmers occasionally experience violent attacks in their homes and the government has condemned these attacks. Experts say there is no evidence of any widespread targeting of whites and emphasize how these incidents appear to be part of South Africa's overall high violent crime rates, which affect people of all races. In the midst of all this, the South African government has criticized the efforts by the current U.S. administration, saying it fails to recognize the country's history of colonialism and apartheid.

All of this creates a critical need for followers of Jesus, not to oppose or condemn the white Afrikaners themselves from seeking refuge in our country, but to raise of our voices for equal justice for all refugees who are desperately seeking refuge, regardless of ethnic or religious status.

Biblical Perspectives on Refugee Justice

The Bible consistently calls God's people to show particular care and concern for the most vulnerable, which explicitly includes foreigners seeking refuge. This mandate is made clear in passages like Leviticus 19:33-34: "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt."

Prioritizing one ethnic group over others who face greater dangers directly contradicts biblical principles of impartial justice. Deuteronomy 10:17-18 declares that God "shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you."

Jesus himself was a refugee, fleeing with his family to Egypt to escape violence (Matthew 2:13-15). The early church demonstrated radical inclusion across ethnic and social boundaries, with the book of Acts showing how the Spirit broke down walls of prejudice and preference. This ethic is also a central feature in how Jesus will judge the nations after his second coming in Matthew 25, making it clear that whatever people do or don’t do for the most vulnerable among us is the central measurement of how Jesus will measure their loyalty to him.

Showing preferential treatment based on ethnicity while neglecting those facing immediate threats of violence goes against James 2:1-4, which warns against showing favoritism, and violates the biblical mandate to care first for those in greatest need. As Proverbs 31:8-9 commands: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Such policies also contradict the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), where Jesus explicitly challenges ethnic and religious preferences in helping those in desperate need. The question isn't "before we help them, what ethnic or religious group are they from?" but rather "who is in greatest need of compassionate neighboring?"

For followers of Jesus in the United States, advocating for refugees and immigrants isn't merely a political position—it's a fundamental expression of Christian faithfulness. The entire biblical narrative is shaped by stories of migration, displacement, and seeking refuge. Its sacred pages were written by refugees, immigrants, and those living in exile under imperial rule. From Abraham's journey to a new land, to Israel's sojourn in Egypt, to Jesus's family fleeing to Egypt as refugees, the people of God have consistently been called to remember their own history of displacement and to extend compassion to others in similar circumstances.

As Americans, unless we are indigenous Americans, our citizenship in our country is due to the immigrants and refugees in our ancestry. So, we have a particular responsibility to extend the same welcome to others that our ancestors received. To do otherwise is to demonstrate selective amnesia about our own history and to perpetuate cycles of exclusion that contradict both our national and religious values. In a world where nationalist ideologies increasingly compete with Christian allegiance, how we treat refugees and immigrants paints a vividly clear picture of whether we truly believe that our primary citizenship is in God's kingdom rather than any earthly empire.

Upholding the cause of refugees and immigrants is vital for the church's prophetic witness in our time. In an era of increasing xenophobia and nationalism, followers of Jesus have the opportunity to demonstrate a different way—one that reflects God's heart for the displaced and models the kind of radical love that marked the early church.

The call to welcome the stranger isn't optional for followers of Jesus—it's a fundamental expression of Christian discipleship and a powerful testimony to the transformative power of the gospel in our deeply divided world.

How do I navigate conversations about this?

In our world of misinformation, I always want to be clear in my values and have accurate terms regarding issues I care about, but it can be difficult to do so. However, after talking with dear friends who have devoted their lives to refugee advocacy and resettlement, I wanted to include this video you might find helpful: Conversation Guide: How to Talk to Your Family About Refugees.​

A lament for our time:

O America, Land of Promise

Where have your golden doors gone?

The tired, the poor, the huddled masses

Now sleep on concrete floors

Behind chain-link “justice.”

People cry in crowded cells,

While we debate their worth

In marbled halls and social media threads—

Have we forgotten how to weep?

Have we unlearned how to love?

We who crossed oceans ourselves,

We who fled persecution's hand,

Now turn away the desperate,

Build walls against the wandering,

Call fear our new religion.

O Lord of the displaced,

Who fled to Egypt as a child,

How long will we worship security

While your children die in deserts,

Are tortured in prisons of hate,

And drown in rivers of indifference?

Forgive us our hardened hearts,

Our weaponized bureaucracy,

Our selective memory

That forgets our immigrant songs

While singing nationalist hymns.

Restore to us the heart of the stranger,

The courage of the welcoming,

The wisdom to remember:

They are us.

We are them.

How we treat them.

Is how we treat you.