DREAM Sabbath • September 16th to October 9th

Be a Voice for Undocumented Students!

From September 16th to October 9th, congregations across the United States will lift up the lives of DREAM students in prayers, readings, reflection and education during at least one Sabbath service as a way to help educate and spread awareness of DREAM students and their hopes to attain full recognition of their contributions to this country.  The large showing of support by faith groups will hopefully continue to build momentum for the DREAM Act in Congress.

Would your congregation consider doing any of the following this fall?               

• Inviting a DREAM student (which we can help coordinate) to share his/her testimony at a service
• Showing a video of a DREAM student (sample videos will be available in the near future)
• Praying as a congregation for the DREAM student and if comfortable, praying for our elected officials to have the courage to support and pass the DREAM Act
• A call to action for members to pray and fast for the DREAM student who shared his/her testimony and the thousands in our country
• Passing out a bulletin insert with prayer points about DREAM youth so folks can be reminded to pray throughout the week

Please note the service doesn’t have to be called DREAM Sabbath nor does the whole service have to be dedicated to the DREAM student.  Also, congregations do not necessarily have to tie the hardships that many undocumented students face to a piece of legislation, but to just highlight their stories which in and of itself is very impactful.  This will give congregants an opportunity for prayer and reflection about a very real issue of pain happening within own communities.

This packet of information <http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/sabbath_packet.pdf>  contains a plethora of resources to help a congregation with their DREAM Sabbath, including stories of DREAM students, bulletin inserts, theological reflections, sermon starters, myths and facts about the DREAM Act, a sample agenda for a DREAM Sabbath event, and much more.

In order to register your event, please click here <>

For more information or any questions, please check out www.interfaithimmigration.org or contact advocacy@wr.org

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

World Relief Commends the Administration’s Recent Announcement of the Review of Cases in Deportation Proceedings

August 22, 2011

World Relief Commends the Administration’s Recent Announcement of the Review
of Cases in Deportation Proceedings

August 22, 2011- Baltimore, MD- World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National
Association of Evangelicals, applauds the Administration’s August 18th announcement
regarding an interagency process to review the 300,000 plus cases in deportation
proceedings. This process will identify low-priority non-criminal cases that should not
be prosecuted under an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, as well as cases that may be
eligible for actual immigration benefits. The process will focus the Administration’s
resources on the removal of high-priority cases, such as convicted felons and individuals
who pose a serious threat to national security.

“This is a tremendous step towards a fair and effective immigration system,” said
Stephan Bauman, President and CEO of World Relief. “We urge the Administration to
dedicate the necessary resources to ensure that this process is quick, efficient, and
comprehensive. We trust that immigrants who are hard-working, contributing members
of our society, mothers and fathers of U.S. citizens, students, and many who served in the
military will not be prosecuted and, when eligible, will have the ability to receive legal
status and fully integrate into our society.”

This administrative review ensures that during a time of fiscal constraint, our resources
are being used as effectively as possible to enhance our national security by targeting
those who pose the greatest risk to the United States. For years, the deportation of noncriminal
aliens has torn families apart and misplaced limited government resources on
those in our country who are working hard and supporting their families. This new
Administrative process ensures that the priorities the Administration set in place of
deporting those who are most harmful to our country are actually reflected in our
immigration processing.

“This is the right step forward toward ensuring that many immigrants who are
contributing to our communities are not deported, often back to a country they no longer
know, leaving their jobs and families behind,” said Dan Kosten, Senior Vice President of
U.S. Programs at World Relief. “While the consideration of relief under this policy will
only be applied to cases actually in removal proceedings, the existence of a majority of
immigrants who would not benefit from such relief highlights the urgent need for
Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Only by reforming our
immigration laws will the root problems of immigration be addressed to strengthen our
country’s heritage of welcoming those who are willing to work hard and contribute to our
country.”

We applaud this action taken to ameliorate some of the current injustices of the
immigration system by identifying and granting relief to meritorious cases, and World
Relief remains committed to continuing our work with the local church to provide
immigration legal services and assistance as this process moves forward.


Jenny Yang
Director of Advocacy and Policy
 

####

World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, is a
faith-based international relief and development organization committed to serving the
most vulnerable populations through the local church. World Relief currently works on
five continents, in some of the most impoverished areas of the world. In the United
States, World Relief focuses on serving the foreign-born, including providing
immigration legal services to refugees, asylees, parolees, victims of trafficking and other
vulnerable immigrants in twenty-four cities around the country. World Relief also
supports churches in developing immigration legal services programs. Since 1979,
World Relief has resettled over 236,000 refugees in the United States.

Loving the Stranger Network Blog appends the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

G92: Equipping the Next Generation for an Effective Biblical Response to Immigration — October 20-22, 2011

Register Online NOW!
*The first 250 college students to register will get housing in Cedarville University’s dormitories*
www.cedarville.edu/G92 <http://www.cedarville.edu/G92>

What is G92?
At G92 you will hear from prominent national leaders who will inspire attendees to think Biblically about immigration and equip a new generation to respond in a way that exalts Jesus and draws people to Him.  G92 refers to the 92 times the Hebrew word for stranger, ger, occurs in Scripture.  It refers to people who have come from another land and is often referenced in connection with how God’s people are to treat the “ger” in their midst.

Speakers
Invited speakers who come from across the political and evangelical spectrum include keynote speakers Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and Jim Wallis, founder and President of Sojourners. We will also hear from Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way, Carlos Campo, President of Regent University, Galen Carey, Vice President of Governmental Affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals, and many other religious leaders, writers, and academics.

Why?
The goal of this event is to promote a high-level conversation about immigration in a way that honors the example of Jesus Christ and the written Word of God. Keeping Jesus and Scripture at the center of this discussion can transcend partisan and media sound-bites and model a high level of civility as attendees think carefully about immigration.

Sponsors Include:

• National Association of Evangelicals
• Esperanza USA
• National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
• Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU)
• Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention <http://erlc.com/>
• Immigrant Hope <http://www.efca.org/>
• Evangelical Free Church of America
• Regent University
• Conservatives for CIR
• World Relief

Register Online NOW!!!
*The first 250 college students to register will get housing in Cedarville University’s dormitories*

VISIT www.cedarville.edu/G92 <http://www.cedarville.edu/G92>

Dates: October 20-22, 2011 at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio

Cost: Full Conference is $95 per person for adults and $45 per person for students.
A conference day-pass is also available as follows:
Thursday, October 20, 2011 is $30 per person
Friday, October 21, 2011 is $50 per person
Saturday, October 22, 2011 is $30 per person

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
ONLY Online Registration is available. Pay online by credit card or by postal mail.
Registration fees are not refundable after the deadline.

Spread the word!
Forward this email, print out the flyers and pass them out, or check out the below online resources!

Join the G92 Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/G92-Immigration-Conference/114681011957085

Check out the G92 blog here: http://blogs.cedarville.edu/g92/




We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Congressman Mike Honda on the California Dream Act

From The Los Angeles Times letters section, Sunday, July 31, 2011

Dream Act may blaze a trail

Re "California Dream Act signed into law," July 26

Akin to California's cutting-edge leadership on a range of issues, the governor now leads the country on immigration reform.

In passing the Dream Act, California is enabling thousands of California students to constructively contribute to our economy.

The Dream Act is just the first step. We must pass comprehensive immigration reform quickly. Deportation of millions is clearly not viable. Deporting America's undocumented immigrants would cost us far too much.

Congress needs to step up on comprehensive immigration reform, and commitments by courageous states like California pave the way.

Michael Honda
Washington
The writer is a Democratic representative from San Jose [California].

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”