![]() ![]() Since late June 2018, IFT has posted the bonds of 60 mothers, fathers, grandparents, and older siblings who were separated from younger children because of immigration detention. ![]() And this is really what IFT’s work is, and what this moment in the history of immigration asks of us all: to show up and to use what we have, doing what we can, to support the togetherness and stability of families as they go through their asylum proceedings, and to do that regardless of what the outcome of those proceedings might be. Later that evening when we were saying goodbye, after we’d discussed their asylum cases and had spoken with their attorney about specific ways IFT can provide additional support for their case, Gladis and Ever gripped our hands and thanked us for showing up. Gladis and Ever thanked us repeatedly, asking us to convey their gratitude to all the volunteers and partners, including the Lumos Foundation, who had made the shopping trip possible. Groceries such as milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, meat, and juice. We took the family to a local department store to shop for food and some essentials, filling a cart with the items that are impossible to buy if you’re an asylum seeker who isn’t yet allowed to work. But for all his desire that that would be the case, he wasn’t seeing any evidence suggesting 2019 would be any different from 2018. Like most people, he was hoping the flip of the calendar from one year to the next would signal a new beginning: hope, possibility, a shift in fortunes. As we held her baby and played with her friendly, curly-headed three-year old, Gladis told us that that same morning, her husband, Ever, had woken up in a funk. Gladis, the mother of two young children, welcomed us into her home. On New Year’s Eve we found ourselves in Houston, visiting families for whom Immigrant Families Together (IFT) had posted bond or has been supporting since the summer 2018 family separation crisis provoked by the US government’s zero tolerance policy. Written by Julie Schwietert Collazo and Francisco Collazo, co-founders of Immigrant Families Together. Shop and Donate - The Tales of Beedle the Bard in Audio Instead, give me a trusting heart that is open to receive Your Fatherly love for me and motivated to prioritize our relationship today.How We Work with Children and Young PeopleĬhild institutionalization in the United States May my view of You no longer be defined by negative patterns from my childhood. Thank You for not rejecting me, but instead calling me to come to You. Prayer: "Lord, help me to realize that I am Your beloved child. #Fatherly lumo fullReflection: What’s your view of God? Is He indifferent toward you? Perhaps He is even hostile? Or do you believe that God, who is full of compassion, wants you to come to Him? This new kind of childhood, spiritual childhood, is an exciting opportunity for us to develop a proper view of God as the loving, compassionate Father that He is. God sees us as His children! We always want what we think we deserve, yet the Father’s shocking love is unhindered by our foolishness, failures, and insecurities. His words contain an important fact about the heart of God toward us. This is why Jesus’ statement about children in Mark 10 is so profound: Let the children come to Me. ![]() #Fatherly lumo how toWe bend, twist, and conform to what others are saying about us, naively learning how to survive. What parts of me do I need to hide in order to belong?Īs children, we determine the answers to these questions before we can even critically think about them. Without realizing it, we begin asking questions like: Rejection, shame, and dysfunction are passed on to us by our earliest influencers, not only by what they say but by how they live. Song lyrics, product slogans, and even new languages are easier to pick up as children. The medical term, brain plasticity, is a fancy way of saying that- like a fresh pack of Play-Doh, our brains are soft and pliable in childhood. Who we are today was most profoundly determined in the first decade of life. Experts agree that our experiences in childhood define us more than any other stage of life. Something similar happens to the human brain as we age. Over time and exposed to air, this once soft lump of dough with so many possibilities becomes hard, cracked, and a lot less adaptable. Do you remember being a kid and opening that cute, little Play-Doh container with the colorful lid? The difference between a fresh pack of Play-Doh and the crusty, old stuff gets real when you’re trying to mold something out of it. ![]()
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