Day 1, Friday: Sanctuary

Yesterday we all arrived to Tucson by early afternoon. We were picked up from the airport by David, our BorderLinks delegation leader. After a snack of chips and salsa with hot chocolate, we settled in for our first session.

The meeting room is comfortable and reminds me of a youth group room. It has several old couches in a circle and the walls are a soft blue. Large windows fill the room with sunlight, even on a rainy day.

The last thing we did in this session was hear from David a brief history of the United States' history with Mexico and Central America. While it was not surprising - most of the information was also in Aviva Chomsky's Undocumented, which we were required to read before the trip - it was still shocking. When we read the headlines here in the U.S., it can be easy to isolate today's immigration concerns without considering the actions the United States has taken throughout history that contributed to the violence that precipitated many refugees fleeing to America. We reflected as a group on feelings of disappointment we had experienced in identifying and naming these acts committed by our own government.

After dinner we attended a vigil at Southside Presbyterian Church. The church provides Sanctuary to one woman, Rosa, facing deportation and her family. The need for her to stay in Sanctuary - where she is safe from ICE officials - has exceeded anyone's expectations; it will be six months next week. Because she cannot leave the facility, the church hosts a vigil every evening. The vigils are led by people from faith groups around the community, and we heard about how it has been a unifying effort among the various congregations.

We started the vigil by hearing the philosophy and history behind the Sanctuary movement. It was sobering to think of the situations in which people find themselves, and inspiring to hear of Rosa's courage - and the church's courage - in making this public statement of Sanctuary.  This movement has been active for decades, helping many people over the years.

As soon as our leader had told us of the Sanctuary movement, she said, "And now we will sing together 'Sanctuary.'": Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true; with thanksgiving I'll be a living sanctuary for you.

This was the most moving part of the service for me. We had just heard of sanctuary as this church building, offering its facility to house a woman who just wants to stay near her kids. And then, through the words of this simple chorus, we were invited to reflect on what it means for us - as individuals, as a student body, as leaders in our own congregations, as people of faith - to live sanctuary.

May we continually strive to be people of peace, who see and affirm the humanity of all God's people, who seek unity regardless of nationality or resident status. May we see as God sees:  all people as fully human and worthy of dignity.