A Salvadoran woman and her three-year-old son here in Seattle were recently granted asylum by an immigration judge. This decision – and her courageous testimony which led to it – brought joy to the hearts of all of us who accompanied them for more than a year. The pathway to permanent residency and citizenship that springs from this decision strengthens immensely their opportunity to thrive in the United States. An accompaniment volunteer recently saw them off from SeaTac Airport on the next step of their journey: to live with relatives in the rural Midwest.
The Church Council of Greater Seattle’s accompaniment to hearings and appointments and co-leadership for long-term accompaniment – through housing support, resource-sharing, health connections, moral support and counsel, legal referrals, and community solidarity – involve many faith communities, community members and loving individuals who come alongside an individual, household, or family. It takes a village to accompany in a way that upholds and affirms the rights and dignity of all immigrants!
You are that village. Congregations like Gethsemane Lutheran Church, which welcomed and supported the Salvadoran woman and her son, have collaborated with neighboring congregations and faith members for the last five years to anchor the intensive “walking with” in and around their church with a spirit of Convivencia. Alki U.C.C. is accompanying two Peruvian families who arrived at the church doors on a Sunday morning several weeks ago. Plymouth Church UCC sponsored and is helping to support a family from Afghanistan. Faith communities taking action are co-constructors with impacted families of the village of hope for a transformed reality where justice may prevail. This village of presence, relationship, and promotion of policy change is coupled with financial assistance as needed to build on the resiliency our migrating siblings manifest day by day.