Dear Friends,

As we prepare to celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20^th, I find myself reflecting on the past 6 months. Since the Refugee Admissions Program (RAP) was suspended on January 20^th, more than ten thousand refugees—individuals who had navigated the lengthy and complex legal process and had been approved to move to the United States–remain stranded in countries around the world. Many families remain separated, their lives in agonizing limbo.

At the same time, immigration arrests are sowing fear in many communities throughout the country. That legal residents–and even U.S. citizens–have been detained without clear explanations or access to due process should cause all of us to take notice and speak up, particularly to our elected representatives.

As we prepare to celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20th by highlighting the rich contributions and cultures of the New American community, I want to acknowledge a tough reality: we are in challenging times. Though refugees arrive here legally, many are receiving the painful message that they are not welcome in their new home, the very place where they had hoped to build a new life, away from war, conflict, and persecution.

And yet.

I invite you to join me in the delightful work of proving the national media narrative of despair, fear, and division (on both ends of the political spectrum) WRONG. Times like these may tempt us to shrink back in defeat, but I invite you to courageously move forward instead. Consider how you can personally resist these national narratives by extending the hand of friendship to a New American in our city. It doesn’t have to be big or flashy. Whatever you decide to do, know that our neighbors and friends need to be seen, valued, and embraced by the people around them.

Finally–in honor of the resilience and courage I witness daily among so many of our New American friends, I invite you to reflect: Who is someone in your life whom you’ve admired for their strength and conviction-filled life? Where are they now? How did their example shape you?

When I became a Christian as a teenager, my spiritual mentor taught me that my life in Jesus was not to be sequestered to a church building on a Sunday. A living, active faith should saturate my whole life and way of being. She encouraged me to purposefully look for people in whom I saw courage, strength, and a faith-filled way of living life. What could I learn from them?

One person I admired for many years for his courage and faith-shaped life was the late Congressman John Lewis. As we approach Juneteenth, I recently reread his last words—saved on my computer since the day they were published—and found myself encouraged once again.

May his words offer you strength and encouragement today as well.

“Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself. . . . 

 Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.”

–John Lewis’ Last Words, Published in The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, July 30, 2020.
Full Text Here

In Courage and Faith,

Kendra Jeffreys

Executive Director