Each semester, our five sister fellowships (BCM, CCF, Kapwa, Greek Life, and La Fe) host several joint events on campus through our inter-fellowship leadership team, Covenant Team. When I restarted the Covenant team a few years ago, I felt it was hard putting on these events. They took a lot of time and energy from our leaders and were not very effective in reaching new students. Kapwa’s Halo Halo night or BCM’s Black World Tour seemed far more effective at reaching new students in our respective communities.
The immigration forum we hosted this past March was a different story. Over 80 students came to hear Rev. Deborah Lee speak. Of those 80 students, 15-20 were not from any of our fellowships. These students came because this is an issue that a many of them feel alone in. It was moving for them to see the Christian community give them space to share their stories and perspectives.
Not only was this a good outreach, it challenged our ministries to move beyond stereotypes to really understanding the immigration issues. For me personally, I recognized my own hard-heartedness. I often assumed that undocumented immigrants were mostly Latino. After doing this event, I learned about how many undocumented Asian-Americans there are. This challenge to my assumed stereotype has made me wonder: “What other kinds of stereotypes or assumptions have I made about the immigration issue that I have not realized?” This has made me open to learning more about this issue that affects so many people.
