I Was a Stranger Challenge
At the heart of why Christians believe we should love, welcome, and seek justice for immigrants is our commitment to the authority of Scripture over every aspect of our lives. The Bible speaks clearly and repeatedly to God’s concern for the immigrant, guiding the Christ-follower toward principles that we believe should inform both the interpersonal ways that we interact with our immigrant neighbors and the public policies that we support. However, in a time when immigration has become a polarizing political issue, most Protestant Christians admit that they do not primarily think about immigrants or immigration primarily through the lens of their Christian faith.
In order to encourage those—both in local churches and serving in government positions—who profess to follow Jesus to allow their response to immigration to be infused with biblical values, we invite you to participate in a new initiative called “I Was a Stranger…,” which takes its name directly from Matthew 25:35, where Jesus says that by welcoming a stranger, we may be welcoming him.
The focus of the challenge will be on inviting participants to read a short passage of Scripture each day for forty consecutive days that speaks to God’s heart for immigrants and to pray for the immigrants in the Memphis area and across the country. This local-church-based initiative focuses on two primary groups of people: ordinary church-going Christians and elected officials. The fundamental goal of the challenge is discipleship, conforming our thoughts and actions to the authority of Scripture. Our request of both lay people and of elected officials is simple and uncontroversial: would they commit to reading the Bible and to praying about this important issue of our day?
To find out more about the I Was a Stranger Challenge in Memphis, please contact kspencer@wr.org.
Or visit the Evangelical Immigration Table for links to the YouVersion reading plan, printable bookmarks, or a zip folder of 40 social media scripture posts in English or Spanish.