Posts By: cameronstevens

Amplifying Welcome Resources

[Jesus] said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the… Read more »

A Prayer for the Senda de Vida Shelter in Reynosa, Mexico

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance joins in protesting the decision by local authorities in Reynosa, Mexico to close and/or demolish the Senda de Vida shelter. For more information, read the statement from Angry Tías and Abuelas As the Psalmists of Old, in this time of despair for the families who are finding safety and respite in the… Read more »

Raising Our Voices to Advocate for The Stranger

Wanderers, travelers, Weary and worried, God grant us strength and Courage to dare. Risking our safety, Freedom, and status, Your children need us, Dare us to care. (From God of the Traveler, hymn text by William McConnell, 2018) World Refugee Day may have passed but it is not too late for you to honor refugees… Read more »

Exploring Resilience and Service

No one dreams of growing up to become a refugee. The term itself is used to describe what happens to someone—being persecuted or threatened with persecution; being forced to flee one’s home country; at the mercy of other governments and other nations—but it does little to define who someone is. When we hear the word… Read more »

Connecting with Others through Learning

Opportunities to learn about refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. and around the world are numerous as we approach World Refugee Day on June 20th. Knowing where to begin with this complicated subject can be daunting, so we have pulled together some study materials to better educate your congregation about today’s refugees. Learning about… Read more »

Creating Meaningful Worship Around World Refugee Day

Now is a good time to start planning a World Refugee Day worship service for Sunday, June 20th. Dedicating part or all of your worship service to honor this day is not only a powerful message to refugees in your midst, but also an opportunity to connect the ways in which our faith is shaped… Read more »

A faithful response to the border, refugees, and immigration matters

Every day there is something else in the news about refugees, immigrants, or the border—it is difficult to keep up with it all. And, try as we might, it is too much to really understand after one class or webinar. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it on your own because, whether you are interested… Read more »

Leaps of Faith and a Commitment to Welcome

Calvary Presbyterian Church (San Francisco, CA) has a long history of community engagement, living a life of faith and action. Because they continually search for ways to broaden their engagement with asylum seekers and refugees within the congregation and the San Francisco area, in January they invited PDA to lead an Adult Education series. In… Read more »

PDA Announces New Refugee & Immigrant Advocacy Grant Opportunities

People from Cameroon, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo held in immigration detention centers because they put their trust in the U.S. as a place of safety only to be denied due process and ordered deported. Asylum seekers from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and dozens of other countries who were turned back at the… Read more »

Preparing Welcome as a Spiritual Practice

Written by Susan Krehbiel, PDA’s Associate for Refugees and Asylum Awaiting the US election results this past week, I was reminded how difficult it is to wait. In fact, a general observation of predominant American culture shows that waiting is difficult for many of us. Our advertising tells us repeatedly that we live in a… Read more »