"Welcoming the Foreigner"

The other day I was playing sand volleyball at one of the only sand volleyball courts in Twin Falls. Soon a group of refugees showed up, and when we were done playing for a bit, they took the court. Eventually, we were ready to play again and asked if we could join them. They politely let us join in. They didn’t speak much English, but they knew the game, they understood the rules, and they simply enjoyed playing. After awhile, an officer came around the corner on patrol. That moment is when the refugees packed up their stuff and left the park. A little later, the officer pulled up to someone from our group and asked if the refugee men had been “disrespecting” women, because someone had called in claiming this was an incident that had taken place at the park that night. We told the officer that as far as we knew, there hadn’t been any problems, and the officer figured that much but had to check it out anyways.

Personally, I never once felt disrespected. It was a fun game, with friendly competition… two groups of different people, from different places, with different cultures, doing nothing more than playing a game of volleyball. I don’t know who made the phone call in an attempt to get the refugees kicked out of the park, if it was a neighbor to the park, or someone watching from afar, but I believe it was very uncalled for and unfair. The fact that the refugees quickly scattered when the police officer arrived, makes me believe that this wasn’t the first time they have been treated this way. Don’t misunderstand me, it isn’t the police officer’s fault, he was doing his job and responding to a phone call the way he should. But, why would someone call in to report a “problem” that wasn’t a problem?

There is too much judgment and hate in our world today. Even something as small as this, is the hate that seems to be tearing our world apart. 

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34)

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)

God loves the foreigners among us. It shouldn’t matter where they are from, what the color of their skin is, how they talk, what they believe, how they act, or anything else. God simply loves the foreigners. Why can’t we love the foreigners in our communities? Why can’t we put our differences aside and love purely because we all are foreigners here in some way? When you see any unkindness, or unfairness taking place: do something about it. And I don’t mean to go get revenge or harm others out of anger, but instead to stand up for the refugees. Stand up for the people being mistreated for no good reason at all. Show them respect. Make them feel welcome. Treat the foreigners as if they were native-born here. ALL are welcome into the family of Christ, and it isn’t our job to decide otherwise.