Loving the Soujourner
“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner…
Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners…”
Deuteronomy 10: 17-19
Current and past history is replete with accounts of conflict, famine, genocide, persecution, and other violence that is a violation of the human rights of certain people groups…and the stories of the victims of those events fleeing for their lives and finding refuge in other lands and among other people groups.
At this time in history, there are 79.5 million displaced individuals throughout the world, with over 3 million of those living in the United States. [UNCHR] That is a staggering 1 out of every 100 individuals in the world that has been displaced from their homes. Those 3 million refugees in the United States are spread throughout the major cities, with individuals and families from over 40 different nations seeking refuge here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The nations…here in Pittsburgh. How does our great and awesome God, who loves the sojourner, call us to respond to the sojourners in our city?
With Jesus’ love. A love that find them broken, traumatized, without community, and searching for a safe place to call home. A love that joins them on this journey, and walks with them. A love that shares hope for their situation now, and hope because of a citizenship that is available to them for eternity. A love that welcomes them into the community surrounding them, and makes them part of that community.
By joining our sojourner neighbors on their journey, at whatever place they may be… by advocating for them and sharing hope with them on this journey, and by welcoming them into our community.
Through Sojourner Alliance, the Christian Immigration Advocacy Center enables the church and communities to serve their sojourner neighbors, by partnering with them to provide high-quality legal services in a compassionate and culturally-appropriate way.
We believe that as we love our refugee and immigrant neighbors, sharing the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them and enabling churches to welcome them into their community, that we are fulfilling the call of our great and awesome God to walk in His way… to love the sojourner.