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Our nation has been gripped by images and stories from the U.S./Mexico border. We have heard statistics, opinions and countless messages about the tens of thousands who are trying to cross the border into the United States each month. Many of us feel helpless and don’t know what can or should be done. Matthew Soerens joins Today’s Conversation to clarify what’s going on at the border and how Christians can make a difference.

In this podcast, you’ll hear Matthew Soerens and NAE President Leith Anderson discuss their recent trip to the U.S./Mexico border and:

  • Why so many people are leaving their countries to come to the United States;
  • What leaders agree on regarding a solution to the crisis;
  • How churches and nonprofits are ministering along the border; and
  • What churches thousands of miles away can do.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Leith: How is today’s situation at the border unique in a place where there’s long been migration?

Read more

Matt: I think the single biggest factor that makes this different is so many children. Close to half of the people who have arrived in the past few months have been children. And we can’t treat a 6-year-old or a 10-year-old the same way we would treat a 25-year-old or 40-year-old. Of course, I think any of us would agree that children don’t make the decision to come in the first place, and the reasons that they’re coming are also somewhat distinct.

I’m sympathetic to someone coming and fleeing poverty for a better life. That was my ancestors’ story to come to the United States. But, many people coming are expressing a fear of violence and persecution, which is consistent with very high rates of gang violence in particular and of homicide in those particular countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. A lot of the individuals coming — not all, some are just saying, “I’m fleeing poverty” — but many of them would tell you, if you asked why they’re coming, a pretty horrific story of fleeing violence and trying to protect their families from being killed, or raped, or otherwise harmed.

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Matthew Soerens has served with World Relief, the NAE’s humanitarian arm, for 13 years. He is currently the U.S. director of church mobilization, and seeks to help churches understand the complexities of immigration from a biblical perspective. Soerens previously worked as a Department of Justice accredited legal counselor at World Relief’s local office in DuPage County, Illinois and, before that, worked with World Relief Nicaragua. Soerens is co-author of “Welcoming the Stranger” and “Seeking Refuge” and holds degrees from Wheaton College and DePaul University’s School of Public Service.
Leith Anderson is president emeritus of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor emeritus of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He served as NAE president from 2007-2019, after twice serving as interim president. He served as senior pastor of Wooddale Church for 35 years before retiring in 2011. He has been published in many periodicals and has written over 20 books. Anderson has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, and is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Bradley University and Denver Seminary.