Today, a resolution honoring the work of Episcopal Migration Ministries will roll by on the House of Bishops Consent Calendar without much fanfare. We want you to know about their work, because the past four years have seen a changing landscape.
The Rev. Alyssa Stebbing
In 2015, I was one of eight “pilgrims” Episcopal Migration Ministries took to Rwanda and Kenya to visit a refugee camp and meet with many of the organizations involved in the process of refugee resettlement. We learned about every stage of the process a refugee must undergo, from applying for status when fleeing, to medical testing, to investigation of their claim, DNA testing, all the way to when they step off that plane into another country. Working with the local affiliate in Houston, Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston and mentored by the wonderful Rev. Linda Shelton, we’ve worked with churches in the Diocese of Texas to help explain the process and offer a variety of ways congregations or groups can support a family arriving in the U.S. for safety and a place to call home. Sponsors, like me, helped resettle families from greeting at the airport, furnishing an apartment, stocking the pantry with food, teaching a family how to budget, helping them learn our banking systems, register kids for school, get enrolled in ESL, get women involved in women’s support groups, and find a faith community.
When the refugee admission numbers were cut in the US, EMM turned their attention to also address the great needs of asylum seekers at our own southern borders. In the last few years they have created a much stronger network of volunteers, faith leaders, and local collaboratives that work together to raise funds, take action on immigration reform, get involved in EMM’s monthly Episcopal Asylum & Detention Ministry, cosponsor through EMM’s Neighbor to Neighbor program, and gather in prayer for our neighbors. I cannot praise enough the tireless efforts of EMM staff and their dedication to this work.
All these things are practical descriptions of programs, but the real ministry is meeting the actual people and families that sacrifice so much, even sometimes their very lives, to find home and community. The gift is realizing how much we all long for the very same things and hope that the followers of Jesus might be companions in the way to love and safety.
The Episcopal Herald 