Why Immigration Legal Aid?

So, maybe you have heard that Restoration is starting a Legal Aid Ministry this Spring.  Why legal aid when there are so many other issues out there?

We are choosing to serve in this way because God invites us, throughout Scripture, to love, show compassion and mercy, and to do justice. Why are there dozens of Scriptures in which God tells us to love and care for those who are far from their homes? We believe that the unique experience of the immigrant and the migrant moves God and He hears, sees and responds. God is inviting us to do the same – to hear, see and respond.

Addressing the legal and practical needs of immigrants is one way we can join God in these things. Our human experience is necessarily connected to that of immigrants. We are all longing for a home and have been ourselves welcomed by God into His house, the Kingdom of Heaven. We are choosing to join God in caring for those who are far from home, welcoming them into this country and inviting them into the Kingdom of Heaven.

There is also a present and real need for honest, inexpensive legal services in our area.  We are the Church, reflecting to the world who God is and what God is like.

And when we pour ourselves out for others, sourced by the living water that is poured into us, we bring the light and reality of God’s Kingdom into our own hearts and into the world.

And if you want to hear why other churches are serving the immigrant, check out this presentation at Willow Creek Community Church where Bill Hybels interviews author Matt Soerens on the issue of immigration from a biblical perspective.  Bill’s introduction (the first 10 minutes) is very helpful if you don’t have time for the entire 60 minutes presentation.

~Christine Jones on behalf of the RILA Team (Christine Jones, Natalie Foote, Jason Braun, Liz Gray, Erin Owen, Susie Wallin, Michelle Swearingen and more!)

And RILA has an email: ila@restorationarlington.org  feel free to get in touch!