"What's an American? I love this country and I want to make it better. This is my home."
When Ricardo emigrated with his family to Phoenix, Arizona, at age 8, he didn't know what to expect. "I thought it was going to be this Disney movie," Ricardo told filmmaker Nathan Clarke on one of many trips to Phoenix on behalf of the City project. The metropolitan area of 4 million didn't have the beaches and kids playing on the streets that he imagined, and the heat was worse than in southern Mexico, his home country. But when Ricardo joined his high school football team as a ninth grader, one dream—of winning both off the field and on—started to come true.
In this second This Is Our City City film based in Phoenix, the immigration debates that have divided U.S. Christians take on a human face, as Ricardo's dreams are shattered—then reemerge as a newfound vocation to work for the common good.
As you watch, ask the following questions:
1. What is the Christian view of citizenship, and how might it differ from a purely political view of citizenship?
2. What challenges, and blessings, have immigrants brought to your community?
3. How have unfulfilled dreams led to a new vocation in your life or in the life of your community?
