Reflections

It was an emotional day for the Micah Corps while in Hastings listening to our immigrant friends, so we will share some of our reflections from the two days:

Rachel Linch: “The immigrants we had the opportunity to hear from yesterday had so much hope in their voices. To me, they are as bold as a lion, as in Psalm 28:1: ‘The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.’ Also, all people are children of God, which makes all people a reward. In today’s society and especially today’s American culture, not all people are treated accordingly. We are supposed to ‘love kindness’, as Micah says, but are we loving kindness when we do not treat strangers as children of God?”

Omar Cruz: “This past couple days I got the honor to listen to some amazing stories of faith and hope. Even though they went through struggles and harsh times, hope and faith keeps them going on with life.”

Cassie Reid: “The brave adults who shared their stories with us inspired me in ways of a pure moment of revelation utterly indescribable. And to be interviewing them the day of the new Immigration Reform Bill making it to the Senate floor simply solidified the moment in history as a step towards God’s Kingdom on Earth. I feel so blessed by my birthright and inspired to encourage those rights to be bestowed on all of the citizens of God’s world.”

Tori Osler: “I was absolutely blown away by the absolute courage all the immigrants, but especially the women, showed today by sharing their stories. They opened up to us a part of their life that is very real and painful for them, and that is a huge honor and speaks highly of the United Methodist Church and what we stand for.”

Wiping Her Mother's Tears

“But our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”

                Philippians 3:20

The Micah Corps spent the last two days at Grace United Methodist Church in Hastings, NE, hearing personal stories from immigrants. It was an emotional, yet much needed experience. We will share a couple of their individual stories here on this blog, but first we need to set the stage for these stories. The Micah Corps interns were sitting in a room in Hastings Grace UMC, and five women, all Latinas, and their children came into the room one by one. There was a fearful hope in their eyes, as they all sat down. A few spoke English, but a couple did not. We immediately introduced ourselves and what the Micah Corps stands for in order to establish trust for these women. We needed them to know that we were not here to hurt them, to exploit them, but rather to share their stories in order to promote understanding across our state in United Methodist Churches. The tension in the room was relieved when the women understood this, and read the Bible verse on the backs of our navy blue t-shirts. (Micah 6:6-8: Of what does the Lord require? To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.) The women began to tell us their stories.

  Imagine, for a moment, your mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, or any person who is close to your heart. Then, imagine not being able to say goodbye to them before they passed away to God. This happened to one of the immigrant women. She missed her grandfather’s funeral, a man she was very close to, because she could not leave the country for fear of never being able to come back. She has children here. They are in constant fear of their mother and father being deported. “Where will the children go?” our new friend lamented, ”To jail? For what? We are not criminals. We had to flee our country because we could not feed our children. We are just trying to live a normal life without being in fear of being taken away from our children.” Her wide-eyed innocent two-year-old daughter sat on her lap with Kleenex in hand, wiping her mother’s tears.

                There were also stories of hope! Several women in Nebraska, and across the U.S. want to flee domestic violence, but are afraid because if they go to the police they might be deported. However, Sandy Sypherd, Risk-Taking Mission and Justice Ministries District Coordinator, and Aida Olivas, Migrant Educator, told stories of Justice for Our Neighbors, Nebraska (http://www.jfon-ne.org/ ), a non-profit that provides free legal services to struggling immigrants, supported by Mission Shares of the United Methodist Church, helping these women by letting them know about the VAWA, or Violence Against Women’s Act, and helping them get on the track to immigration status without the knowledge of the abuser. They no longer have to fear their husbands or boyfriends, or fear deportation, and can now contribute to society just like you and I.

                As we finished up our emotional time of sharing, we were notified that the Immigration Reform Bill was passed through the Senate Committee. Joy spread across every face in the room, and we immediately took a picture (below) of our happiness to capture the moment.

Micah Corps: Summer 2013 Beginning

It is finally May and we are almost done with our first week of the Micah Corps internship! I'm Rachel Linch, from the First United Methodist Church in Lexington, NE, and I, along with the other interns, am going to be updating everyone throughout the summer on what has been happening with the Micah Corps! This post is mainly going to highlight what we have done these first three days and then we will post a new blog and introduce everyone.

We got started with this internship on Monday, May 20th at 1:00 pm! All six of the interns were told to bring in three team building activities. Pictured below is a picture from one of my favorite games we have done so far! This game was all about thinking on our toes and coming up with different questions for the other interns by going on a specific word that was on one of the cards in the middle of the floor. For example, the card might say, "hilarious," and then I would ask one of the other interns, "What is something hilarious that always makes you laugh?"

Six strangers, ten weeks, one faith.   Cassie leads us in a game to get to know each other!

 

 

 Also during these first three days we got acquainted with our schedule for at least the next two weeks. Four of the six interns will be focusing on Children in Poverty in Nebraska and Immigration.  All six interns got the privilege to meet Jill from Voices for Children and Darcy from Nebraska Appleseed. These two organizations along with four of the Micah Corps interns will be working very closely together this summer.

 Learning from social justice leaders in Nebraska is part of our internship.   Jill Westfall, from Voices for Children in Nebraska, and Darcy Tromanhauser, from Nebraska Appleseed, share with us.  Thanks, Jill and Darcy!

 Cassie Reid, a student from Hastings College and myself will be focusing on Children in Poverty in Nebraska. Tori Osler from Elsie, NE and Omar Cruz, from Omaha, NE will be studying Immigration Reform. Last, but certainly not least, Corinna Mitchell from Lincoln, NE and Rachel Bauer from Ogallala, NE will be studying environmental stewardship. We are so blessed by the Tri-Community United Methodist Church for letting us use their space for our team meetings so we can prepare for our summer.

Micah Corps couldn't happen without the support of local churches!   Pastor Charlotte Abram, of Tri-Community UMC in Omaha greets Omar, Cassie and Corrina.   Thanks, Tri-Community congregation for being our home base this summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer 2013 is going to bring a lot of exciting things for all of us and the Micah Corps team is thrilled to be supported by so many people. We look forward to updating you through our blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed throughout the summer. Continual prayers for the team would be greatly appreciated and we look forward to meeting so many Nebraskans as we share and study these issues.

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you. To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8