DISCLAIMER: This is a satire piece, the names and churches are made up. It is merely what I wish to wake up one day and see in the news.
The immigration crisis at the border has kept growing over the past few months with no sign of slowing down. But while the Office of the President and Congress are stuck in a back-and-forth game of passing blame, the nation has been surprised by an unusual form of leadership which has stepped up to handle the situation: the Christian community. Starting with a mega-church in Austin, Texas, churches all over the nation are coming together to find homes and handle the needs of the children at border.
It all started last Sunday when Mark Piper, pastor of the 10, 000 member mega-church, known as Willowback, decided to confront his congregation with the crisis. “I know this will upset many of you, but these are not illegals invading our country. These are human beings!” He continued, “We need to see this as a force of nature, like Katrina or Sandy. This is our time to serve the least of these and obey the teachings of Christ to love our neighbors.”
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In the following week, Willowback drew from its large pool of cash, which they were saving for an even bigger building, and instead bought a piece of land near the border of Texas and Mexico. They made arrangements with the Red Cross to fund the installations of sanitary temporary housing. The total area will support 20, 000 families during their time waiting for trials to see if they can stay in the country.
The church community didn’t stop there. Many of the families of Willowback have stepped forth to say they are willing to offer shelter in their homes and temporary guardianship of any unaccompanied children. Of course the children’s safety is first priority, so the families willing submitted themselves to the same background checks and due process that any potential adoptive families would have to go through.
Once news started to spread about Willowback’s actions in the border crisis, other churches started contributing as well. Within a single month, land and funding for more than 50, 000 temporary shelters has been secured. Also, the list of willing families and homes has grown to over 100, 000. More and more churches join the community action every day.
The Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released and official statement, “While this is an unprecedented event in every way, and we are facing some uncharted legal territory, we have no choice but to respond quickly as to take advantage of the resources being made available by the American people. I am sure that if the American people are willing to welcome these families, the political will is going to follow soon after.”
Responding to critics who say this will forever change America as we know it, Mark Piper had this to say, “Of course it will change America as we know it. Every time we get an influx of immigrants it changes this country. That is what makes America so great, we are not a people of a race or culture, we are a people bound only by common values. We have enough land, enough resources, and enough opportunity to more than provide for these families. All we have to do it make it happen intentionally and collectively.”
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When asked about the issue of all these families coming here illegally, Mark stated, “And who makes these laws? We do. The reality is that we have bad laws. We have had many bad laws in this country, like slavery and Jim Crow. When laws are bad, it doesn’t meant that people who break them are bad, it means we need new laws. We need laws which let more people enter this country legally and safely. We need to either do this, or take down our pedestal inside Lady Liberty which states, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…’”
There is obviously a lot of legal and logistical problems left to solve and issues to be worked out, but Mark is confident that these are all obstacles which can be overcome. While the debate rages on, it can be said we are seeing something here that is going to make a major impacts on this country for years to come. As one of the members of Willowback stated, “For the first time I am truly proud to call myself an American and a Christian. I feel like our actions finally match our words. It just… it just feels great. Like a weight is lifted off our community.”