Separated by the Border
Between our recent anniversary travel in Greece and helping out with a Sankofa Journey last weekend, it's been a few weeks since I sent out a newsletter.
Speaking of Sankofa, here's my co-facilitator leading a devotion about costly discipleship in the shadow of the Edmond Pettus bridge.
While on Sankofa I finished Gena Thomas' new book, Separated by the Border: A Birth Mother, a Foster Mother, and a Migrant Child's 3,000 Mile Journey. In the book Gena tells some of her own story, including her family of origin, international travel, experiences as a cross-cultural missionary, and becoming a foster parent.
We also meet Lupe and her five-year-old daughter Julia who travel the dangerous route from Honduras to the U.S. border, seeking to escape violent circumstances. Throughout these narratives Gena includes history and background about our immigration system, right up to the current crisis we're watching unfold under this presidential administration.
Gena's story eventually intersects with Julia's and, eventually, Lupe's and this is the brilliance of this book. Over the past couple of years we've heard so much about migrant caravans, unaccompanied migrants, detention centers, and the like. We've been saturated into abstraction by the constant barrage of bad news and heartless policies. But in Separated by the Border Gena humanizes all of this and makes it clear why these terrible things - seemingly so far away and distant - must continue to matter. It's a really good book and I hope you'll get a chance to pick it up.
Last month, reporter Natalie Moore - whose book The Southside is required reading for anyone who wants to understand our city - had a good piece in one of our papers about how to be a white neighbor in a black neighborhood.
Well-meaning white people often ask me how they can be a good neighbor if they move into a black or Latino neighborhood.
I give simple advice: be a good neighbor.
That means don’t come in with a savior mentality hitched to your moving truck. Don’t start your own block club or community organization; join the existing one. Smile and say good morning to your neighbors. Don’t write off the neighborhood schools. Understand the cultural fabric of the new place you call home. Don’t call the police.
In the clearest terms, don’t be a colonizer.
It seems like pretty straight forward stuff but, man, have I watched white people agonize over this... and get it so wrong.
Over at Christianity Today, Dante Steward has a really beautiful essay about the hope that continues to exist for Black Christians despite the pain inflicted by this nation.
The black church in America offers a rich legacy of faith that—like the crucifixion itself—exists at the intersection of chaos and pain and love. Its stories shine through to our present day and remind us that history without hope is indeed a history without help.
Please read the whole thing, and don't miss the quotes that frame each section of the essay.
Finally, this week my editor sent me the copy-edited version of my manuscript. I've got a month to go over it a final time - gulp - before letting it go for publication in May. I mention that because discipleship and race has been on my mind for a couple of years now and my latest article for Missio Alliance deals with this intersection in light of the next presidential election.
Political arguments that seep into church are nothing new. American churches and denominations have split over the course of the nation’s history, and often the causes behind these divisions have been viewed through the lens of politics. But, in recent memory at least, 2016 felt different.
In the months preceding the election I spoke with pastor friends who were trying to understand what was happening in their churches. These are relatively nonpartisan leaders. In fact, they generally avoid anything that might sound too political. But in 2016, politics found them.
I'm actually quite curious to know if pastors and ministry leaders are preparing for the 2020 election with discipleship in mind. If you're aware of any examples I'd love to know!