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To be or not to be involved with ministry to immigrants in the United States? That is the question Christians must ask—both nationally and locally. At the church I pastor in Delaware, I am discovering that believers' answers are as diverse as the countries from which our congregants come. The issue is indeed complex. But perhaps the experience of our multiethnic congregation, All Nations Fellowship, may help frame evangelicalism's answer.

All Nations Fellowship (PCA) is a three-year-old church planted halfway between Baltimore/Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia/New York City. The region is packed with immigrants. Between D.C. and Delaware alone, there are over 195 nationalities represented. What is drawing them here? Economic liberty. And what is attracting them into evangelical churches? English classes and community meals, served with Christian love in an ethnically diverse environment.

"There were men, women, and children of color everywhere!" exclaims Luis, an adventurous young father from poverty-stricken Guatemala. He was describing his first Sabbath at All Nations Fellowship. Luis works several minimum-wage jobs to support his family and was attracted to our congregation by our conversational ESL (English as a Second Language) classes—complete with a free meal and childcare. He hoped the classes would help him improve his communication skills and move toward U.S. citizenship.

Along the way, he became friends with ANF member Ignacio—a legal immigrant from Venezuela who has a 'white-collar' job in center-city Wilmington. Other ESL class members included Eva from Iran and Young from Korea. Together, this trio exemplifies the three groups that our church (and the American church nationwide) encounters in debating today's heated immigration issues:

(1) Immigrants who have recently become U.S. citizens. Folks like Eva and Young have often waited extremely long periods of time for their citizenship. Others are political refugees or are now married to an American-born spouse. These folks are on a faster track to U.S. citizenship. In all cases, these people have patiently navigated the immigration system and waited to become Americans—officially and legally.

(2) Legal immigrants who hope to become U.S. citizens. Sometimes these situations turn bittersweet. Our church has befriended legal immigrants who become illegal by overstaying their visas. Lenas and Daiva are Lithuanians whose work visas expired, but they nevertheless tried staying here. When we discover such sad realities, we encourage them to submit to the current law. Lenas and Daiva were deported because of our advice.

In other cases, individuals find themselves in a waiting game as they legally work here. This is the situation for Peter from Kenya and Ignacio from Venezuela (mentioned earlier), both of whom are Christians and vital contributors to our church. While in this interim state, we help with practical needs and encourage biblical patience as they move from work-visa status to 'green-card' status. For those who are not yet Christians like Wilmo from the Dominican Republic or Daira from Haiti, our response is a biblical no-brainer. We receive the foreigner, remembering our mandate from Deuteronomy 10 to "love the foreigner, for you were once foreigners."

(3)  Immigrants who come illegally. Here's where the question becomes more difficult. To be, or not to be, involved with them as Christians? And how? Some politicians today propose legislation which would charge churches with felonies if undocumented workers are accepted into their activities like English classes or community meals. How do we respond? By applying time-tested biblical principles used by Christians through the ages.

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April (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50