Matthew Soerens is a strange chap -- an American, white suburbanite who has taken to an incarnational-type of life among the immigrant poor here in the seemingly prosperous western burbs of Chicagoland. Pretty cool actually. As I have often said, "When their bedbugs become your bedbugs, then you are doing something right." I mean, I'm not saying that Matt has bedbugs . . . but, well . . . nothing.
Anyway, I like what Matt has contributed in the article linked below entitled "Seeing Our Immigrant Neighbors". "Seeing" is indeed a critical first step in faithful missional engagement among diasporas. Only when we learn to see can we move on to faithful prayer, relationship, advocacy, incarnation, discipleship and the like. I hope you'll read the article below and pay attention to what Matt is saying. It is, in my opinion, flowing out of genuine and sacrificial experience. Also, I'd love for you to share in the comment section of your experiences about learning to see immigrants among you. What are some of the best ideas you know of for helping others to see them?
Seeing Our Immigrant Neighbors: "In DuPage County, where I live, about one in five residents is foreign-born, and one in four speaks a language other than English at home. In many neighborhoods, like mine, a large apartment complex easily visible from a major thoroughfare but never noticed by many white suburbanites, the vast majority of the residents are either immigrants or their children. I have started to realize immigrants are all around me, not just in my neighborhood, but at the grocery store, our local public elementary school, and at the Laundromat."
What are some of the best ideas you know of for helping others to see them?
ReplyDelete1) Open your eyes at church. Some will appear and they are possibly guest of someone in your church. 2) If you are an employer some will appear by name in applications. Some will even come into your workplace and introduce themselves seeking employment. 3) You will see them walking down the street because many do not have cars & rely on buses or walking for transportation - Rich