{"id":12692,"date":"2016-05-13T18:08:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T01:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=12692"},"modified":"2016-05-13T18:26:38","modified_gmt":"2016-05-14T01:26:38","slug":"an-immigration-vigil-at-umcgc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/an-immigration-vigil-at-umcgc\/","title":{"rendered":"An Immigration Vigil at #UMCGC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article by\u00a0Pam Brokaw | Video by Rev. David Valera<\/strong>
\nMay 13, 2016\u00a0|\u00a0PORTLAND, Ore.<\/h4>\n

United Methodists were encouraged by Los Angeles Area Bishop Minerva G. Carca\u00f1o to reach out to immigrants in their communities when they return home from the 2016 General Conference. \u201cWe walk with Jesus who was himself an immigrant,\u201d Bishop Carca\u00f1o said Friday speaking passionately to several hundred people attending an afternoon Immigration Vigil. \u201cIf you want to see God, if you want to see the kingdom of God, welcome your brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bishop Carca\u00f1o was joined by other bishops lending their support to the march and vigil across the street from the Oregon\u00a0Convention Center which is hosting the United Methodist General Conference. The event was sponsored by Voz Hispana Cambio Comunitario, Metodistas Asociados Representando la Causa Hispano Americana, and the Love Your Neighbor Coalition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Participants
Participants at the Immigration Vigil. Photo by Patrick Scriven for the PNW Conference.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A vigil coordinator, Francisco Lopez of the Oregon\/Idaho Conference<\/a>, urged attendees as they prepared to march to tell the Obama Administration to stop deportations of mothers and children and families. \u201cThis is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. This is a human rights issue,\u201d Lopez shouted to the crowd as he spoke against a recent federal government decision to increase deportation of families seeking asylum.<\/span><\/p>\n

People in the crowd wearing name tags from the General Conference carried signs that said \u201cKeep Families Together!\u201d \u201cStop! Raids! and \u201cStop Deportations!\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The atmosphere was one of solidarity and support for immigrant families. Attendees waved signs and shouted their support for action in God\u2019s name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosanna Panizo, an extension minister from the North Carolina Conference<\/a>, invited the crowd to recognize Jesus in the immigrants in their midst. \u201cChrist himself is calling us in his hidden presence\u2026\u201d she said. \u201cTo love our neighbor is not an option. To love our neighbor is a commandment.\u201d Panizo is an extension minister in Peru. She directed attention to the hundreds of people who come north to the United States every day seeking freedom and safety. \u201cWe want asylum, not deportation,\u201d she said as the crowd chanted \u201cStop deportations!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bishop Carca\u00f1o echoed the urgency of Panizo\u2019s words as she talked about her frustration with the United States Congress. At a recent Congressional hearing she witnessed demoralized representatives who seem to have given up on formulating a responsible response to immigration issues. On a broad political spectrum, one political party seeks to deport and the other wants to build a wall, the Bishop said. She described a presidential candidate\u2019s suggestion to take money sent home to families in Mexico to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. \u201cThis is so hateful,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked recently by members of Congress who is \u201cdoing it right\u201d regarding immigration, Bishop Carca\u00f1o pointed to the United Methodist Church in Germany. \u201cOur Congress seems to be oblivious to what needs to be done,\u201d she said. She encouraged United Methodist churches to welcome immigrants and provide sanctuary and support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Retired Bishop Elias G. Galvan supported the words of fellow Bishop Carca\u00f1o in comments after the rally. When asked how churches and United Methodists can connect with immigrants, he suggested seeking people where they congregate at markets, churches and where they work. Many immigrants can be found in their work as landscapers, painters and day laborers. \u201cIt is important for us to reach out and talk with people,\u201d he said. Building on-going relationships is critical to outreach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bishop Galvan said that while immigrants often do not speak English their children can interpret for them. He encouraged United Methodists to invite immigrants to their homes and to break bread together and to build trust. \u201cif we do that,\u201d he said, \u201cI am sure they will come to our churches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pam Brokaw serves as pastor at the\u00a0Castle Rock and Winlock United Methodist Churches in Washington. She is a member of the PNW Media team serving at General Conference 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article by\u00a0Pam Brokaw | Video by Rev. David Valera May 13, 2016\u00a0|\u00a0PORTLAND, Ore. United Methodists were encouraged by Los Angeles Area Bishop Minerva G. Carca\u00f1o to reach out to immigrants in their communities when they return home from the 2016 General Conference. \u201cWe walk with Jesus who was himself an immigrant,\u201d Bishop Carca\u00f1o said Friday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":12696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,449,157,32,443],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-justice","8":"category-general-conference","9":"category-immigration","10":"category-news","11":"category-video","12":"post_format-post-format-video"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/maxresdefault-5.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-3iI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12692"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12702,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12692\/revisions\/12702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}