A forgotten piece of Mennonite immigration history has gone viral on social media. “Banning travel or immigration into a country is not new,” begins the post by archivist Conrad Stoesz on the Facebook page...
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I have heard a lot of discussion about the parable of the good Samaritan among Christians debating the crisis and President Donald Trump’s ban. What surprises me as I listen to these conversations is that...
[read more]The slogan “America first” may take various forms in the coming years, but hostility toward Muslim refugees and other immigrants has become an integral part of it. Acting quickly after taking office,...
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The teach-in was supposed to happen at a local library. But when President Trump entered office with executive actions that heightened fears among the immigrant community, a larger venue was needed. Columbus...
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Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. (Zechariah 7:10) Mennonite Central Committee U.S. decries the executive actions on...
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Watching an early U.S. presidential primary debate, Matthew Bucher disliked what he heard about refugees and asylum-seekers. As the pastor of Immanuel Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va., he thought of a...
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HESSTON, Kan. — At half past midnight on Aug. 18 at Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, a welcoming group searched for a Congolese refugee family. As passengers spilled into the concourse, five...
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(Feb. 18, 2016) We try to imagine how it will be to travel home from Winnipeg, a 2 ½-hour trip, with a family of four who doesn’t speak our language! We’re a bit apprehensive but hopeful that our hand...
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LANCASTER, Pa. — Middle school students from refugee families are expanding their language skills and cultural understanding, thanks to a program with Eastern Mennonite Missions involvement. Leap into...
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This refugee tale is an imaginative work of biography, dedicated to “the disenfranchised and deported everywhere.” Based on the life story of Greta Enns (1902-1985), it is a timely contribution as...
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“God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence.” — Genesis 6:11 NLT According to the Biblical account in Genesis, it took Noah 120 years to build the original ark, one...
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As a 5-year-old resting in her mother’s arms at the bottom of a boat crowded with refugees, Nhung Tran could not have imagined the life she’s living now. A life as a doctor in Canada. A life where she is...
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When I visited the Middle East last year, I was surprised to hear many people say that the United States created the Islamic State group and continues to support it. At first glance, the statement seems...
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I dropped in on our local English training center for newcomers to Canada today. It wasn’t a planned visit, but I was having a conversation at a downtown coffee shop about how the Syrian families we...
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NEUWIED, Germany — The leader of MB Mission’s Oasis team had never seen anything like it before: a large crowd of Arabic speakers responding to the gospel in Germany. “I saw the Holy Spirit like an...
[read more]It is said that peace is more than the absence of war. Real peace goes far beyond avoiding large-scale armed conflict. What, then, is peace the absence of? Perhaps it is the absence of fear. Or the shrinking...
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Koroush and his mother, Maryam — refugees from Iran now living in Spain — lost everything but believe they have what they need with Jesus. “I saw the Jesus miracles with my own eyes,” Koroush said. (To...
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The immigrants had arrived. Was there no end to their numbers? What language were they speaking? What was their origin? Their destination? Why were they here? The two worlds were a study in contrast. The...
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HALLE, Germany — Eastern Mennonite Missions workers here say refugees need Jesus more than clean bedsheets, but they want to give them both. As Germany deals with Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World...
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God executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. — Deuteronomy 10:18 10,000 steps every day. That’s just over five miles. I have a...
[read more]The immigration debate took on an ugly tone this summer with politicians and political candidates labeling immigrants as “murderers” and “rapists,” rejecting refugees as potential “terrorists” and...
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Early in the Syrian refugee crisis, I was asked by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada to be part of a delegation meeting with Chris Alexander, Canada’s Minister of Immigration. We indicated that the...
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Mennonite Central Committee is appealing for more funds to help meet basic human needs of Syrians who want to stay near their homes as large numbers leave the Middle East. For four years, the war in Syria has...
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Every day, it seems, the refugee crisis in Europe worsens. Every day, the headlines that jump out at me when I open my computer in the morning are grim and foreboding. It’s not at all hard to imagine things...
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There are never enough winter jackets in the stacks of sorted clothes in the salon de fiestas (fellowship hall) at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas. The stream of Central American refugees who arrive...
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