Abundance = Left Overs
I believe in the words of Christ, when he said, “I have come so that they may have life, and a life in abundance.” Abundance does not mean wealth, abundance in its most basic sense can mean that I have left-overs from supper tonight. If I truly believe that I am His ambassador of Christ, then as his representative I’m called to ensure that his words are made real to all people. Abundance is an abundance on all levels, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, it’s not partially abundant, it’s not a qualified abundance, it is abundance.
On Saturday, September 18, 2021 it was estimated that some 15,000 hopeful migrants were on US soil, under a bridge but fenced off from freedom, in Del Rio, Texas, just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, México. The majority of them had fled a life of misery in Haiti.
This situation seems to have caught US officials by surprise, both Federal and State. Why was this a surprise, we have hundreds of state department employees in embassies in EVERY country from Canada in the north to Argentina in the south. Every country that lies on the route of these Haitians has been dealing with their mass migration for years, their media outlets have reported on it extensively, but yet somehow NO ONE, not democrat nor republican knew anything about it. As a government we must be some of the most inept people at foreseeing geopolitical crises unfolding before they’re a reality. A quick online search turns up many news articles about large numbers of Haitian migrants crossing into Honduras going as far back as 2016, and I only looked for about 60 seconds.
The plight of these migrants seems to concern very few in the US while at the same time their illegal presence has many speaking out. Not with innovative ideas of how to stop the apparent exodus from Haiti or with innovative immigration reform policies that allow immigrants a mechanism so that they can work (there is a worker shortage in the US) and return home and then return to work again without ripping their families from the beloved home nation. Rather, they’re speaking out on how we “must stop people from crossing” we must “let them know our borders are not open” we must “send them back home immediately.”
Many are appalled with the reports of the immigrants bathing and washing clothes in the Rio Grande. I guess that they’re shocked that they would be doing such “uncivilized” things, unfortunately they’re not shocked that they’ve been reduced to having to do this because there are no other options. The reality is that these folks have been through a tremendous battle, to survive they’ve learned how to get by, how to be creative, how to improvise in the moment because it’s only a moment and their eyes are set on the destination. They’ve been navigating a river of poverty with white water, category 5, rapids and waterfalls for years, without a life jacket, much less a raft. They’ve seen countless others succumb to these rapids, but they’ve not, not yet. And they’re not in this river because of their own negligence. They are in this river largely because when you’re born into generational poverty the only place that you can live is on the edge of a river, figuratively and literally. It’s not a matter of if you’ll fall in, it’s a matter of when.
I guarantee that when each Haitian climbs up out of the waters of the Rio Grande onto US soil they are thankful that finally someone has decided to rescue them before they drown. Just like the relief I felt in that helicopter when that canyon opened up to safety, these thousands of hard working and determined Haitian now feel relief, or so they thought.
Much to their chagrin the US government announced Saturday that there would be immediate mass removal of the migrants who would be flown back to Haiti. It’s been reported that many of the migrants accepted the flights because they were told they would be going to Florida only to find themselves landing in Port au Prince, Haiti. It’s as if we’ve literally plucked them from this raging river, flown them seemingly to a place of safety, only to have the door opened up and to be shoved out, right back into that raging river again.
The answer is NOT to let everyone who shows up at our border in.
The answer is NOT more government aid.
The answer is obviously NOT what we’re currently doing either.
I am PRO-Capitalism, it has done more to transform the living standards of the world than anything else. Far beyond socialism, communism, or any aid give-aways. That being said, we cannot enjoy the fruits of a global economy in the US and not realize that a global economy is a two way street and our way of life is not a secret to the rest of the world. The global economy has created enormous wealth in the US and it’s shown the developing world what they do not have.
You may not have a voice that matters in the immigration debate and you may not have a mechanism for helping any of the migrants at our border, but you can have a direct impact on future generations by giving to Mission Lazarus so that future generations are equipped to thrive with an abundant life.