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Home  The News Featured News Stories Laredo Church Puts Christ At Center Of Immigration Question
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Laredo Church Puts Christ At Center Of Immigration Question |
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Wednesday, 19 April 2006 |
 Iglesia Cristiana Misericordia, an evangelical church in Laredo, Texas.
While Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, the largest US diocese with five million Catholics, made a call to civil disobedience on behalf of illegals, Rev. Gilberto Velez, pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Misericordia, as the Pentecostal Church of 2,200 members in known in Spanish, takes a different view.
He told L.A. Times reporter Stephanie Simon that he hopes Congress will pass a law "within the framework of biblical mandates." For Velez, that means maintaining a reverence for life and family, while still observing the laws of the land.
Valez tries to maintain a balance between observing the law and showing the love of Christ. For example, he told Simon about a recent incident when he saw three men forging through the tall brush outside his office window. He knew they were illegal border crossers, and he invited them into the church. He warned them that they were doing something illegal and that they faced great hardship in the future. He offered to pay their bus fare back to their villages in Mexico with the condition that they would apply for a visa before returning. At the same time, however, he provided them with a meal.
The men did not take Pastor Valez's advice, and headed for Houston. Even though he had made a point of the fact they were breaking the law, he still offered a prayer for the men, asking God to keep them safe.
Church members are not against a border crackdown. One member, Eleidy Olivarez, said that she thought it was a bad idea to build a wall because, "God doesn't want to divide people," according to the L.A. Times article. At the same time, Olivarez thinks that each illegal person should be fined and the money used for more border patrol officers and security cameras.
Another church member, Sonia Garcia, was quoted by the L.A. Times as saying, "To me, abortion and immigration are issues of equal importance. We're talking about protecting the family."
Valez and his Hispanic congregation do not like the idea of either amnesty or mass deportations that would separate families. They feel that better efforts to stop illegals at the border would be an act of Christian kindness because so many die using illegal routes. They also feel that immigrants should have proper documents because they are often abused by unscrupulous employers.
Evangelical leaders can't agree on immigration policy, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. They reported that some evangelicals say their beliefs in law-and-order issues mean they favor returning nonresidents to their own countries and that employers should be fined for hiring them. Leo Godzich, associate pastor of Phoenix First Assembly of God, told the Wall Street Journal, "To me the issue is, do we support lawlessness?"
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the majority of influential Christian conservatives have delayed taking a stand on the immigration issue. This includes groups such as the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Black Evangelical Association, James Dobson's Focus on the Family and Concerned Women for America.
Valez and his people have taken a stand, however. In interviews they told Simon that balance could be achieved. They believe it is possible to keep illegals out of the U.S., and to put others on a path where they can gain U.S. citizenship as long as they work hard, pay taxes, learn English and stay our of trouble.
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Words To Live By
"Will evildoers never learn—those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD? There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous." - The Bible: Psalm 14:4-5
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