A Place to Call Home
Published December 3, 2020
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”
Ephesians 2:19
Esther* was born a refugee, a stranger in her own land. Orphaned by war and given in marriage at a young age, she lived in constant fear.
When her husband fled with the children, she and her sister were left to fend for themselves. They made their way to a refugee camp in Tanzania where her sister became terminally ill and Esther was left to raise her niece and nephew on her own.
After surviving horrifying conditions in the camp for 8 years, she was granted refugee status and made her way to the United States. CIAC was able to come alongside her to apply for citizenship so that she could have the one thing she had always wanted, in her words, “a place to finally call home.”
*name changed and image representative for security
A place to call home. That’s what U.S. Citizenship means for hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees every year.
The practice of immigration law and the filing of forms with USCIS can be a technical and tedious process. Additional challenges like language barriers, the lingering effects of trauma, financial constraints, and cultural differences can make it even more difficult to walk along-side those pursuing Naturalization. It can be easy to lose sight of the person behind the paperwork.
Similarly, as we navigate life’s difficulties, we can lose sight of God’s great promise that when we put our faith in Jesus we secure our ultimate citizenship in heaven. Hebrews 13:14 says, “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”
As you begin the journey of filing the N-400 Application for Citizenship, whether it be for yourself, a family member or friend, or a client – remember the name on the application belongs to someone that God loves dearly, someone he has a plan and a purpose for. God has written a yearning for home on all of our hearts.
As we assist others in making their home here in the United States, we do so with the desire to share the Good News about the eternal citizenship that God invites them to have in heaven!
If you would like to invest in the lives of our refugee and immigrant neighbors as they are on this journey of searching for a “place to call home”, please consider giving to CIAC, which will enable us to continue providing immigration legal services at a low cost to each of these sojourners in our city and country.