He traveled more than 5,000 miles, dodging human traffickers and drug cartels for six months, to reach the United States, all while caring for his disabled brother.
Then, someone put him on a bus and sent him 1,400 miles farther north, to America’s third-largest city.
“We didn’t know anyone here,” said Daviel, speaking through a translator, as he stood in the small foyer of the Northwest Church of Christ in Chicago. A church member, Barbara Foucher, helped the Venezuela native fill out paperwork to receive help through the congregation’s food program.
Daviel’s brother, Albert, stood nearby, silent. Albert suffers from “a kind of paralysis” and is nonverbal, his brother said. Bringing Albert on the journey was dangerous, Daviel said, but their parents could no longer care for him. And the gang warfare and medicine shortages that plague Venezuela gave him few alternatives.
The brothers were among 70 families who made a pilgrimage through Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood on a sunny Saturday afternoon, past dog walkers and Little Leaguers, to the church’s food pantry. Christians and volunteers from a nearby high school loaded sacks of fresh vegetables, canned goods and loaves of bread into their cars, vans or backpacks as airplanes soared overhead, landing at O’Hare International.
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Some of those in need came here from distances even greater than Venezuela. For Ukrainian Anastasia Sokolova, Chicago was her third move in less than a decade. Her parents died when she was 7, and she grew up in an orphanage in the eastern city of Donetsk. In 2014, pro-Russian separatists took over the region, sparking a long, bloody conflict. She went for nearly two years “without money, without food,” she said, before she fled west to Kyiv. Then, in 2022, Russia rained missiles on Ukraine’s capital as it launched a full-scale invasion.
She evacuated through Russia — “I hate Russia,” she stressed — and eventually settled in Germany. Her godfather, who lives in Chicago, invited her here. She arrived three weeks ago. Another Ukrainian refugee, Ivan Shutenko, drove her to the Northwest church. The food she received will help her as she waits for permission to work.
The conflicts she’s endured (“my two wars,” as she called them) have strengthened her resolve to carry on, Sokolova said. “I never, never give up.”
‘The weirdest and worst-possible time’
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, sending Chicagoans back to work, churches in Chicago experienced a spike in need, representatives of two churches with food pantries told The Christian Chronicle.
Since 2022, the Windy City has welcomed more than 30,000 Ukrainian refugees, including Sokolova and Shutenko. Most have integrated into the city’s preexisting Ukrainian communities, where blue and yellow flags still fly from balconies two years after the invasion. Meanwhile, U.S. politicians argue over continued spending for Ukraine.
More problematic for Chicago, however, is the influx of more than 19,000 Venezuelans, including Daviel and Albert. Few have families here, and many arrive on buses sent from Republican-controlled border states. Under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Lone Star State has bused more than 100,000 migrants to cities run by Democrats, including Chicago.
Although J.P. Grosser certainly has his opinions about the politics of the surge, he said he does his best simply to serve the souls at his doorstep. He coordinates the food program for the Lakeview Church of Christ in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, about five miles east of the Northwest church.
The influx of migrants “caught us at the weirdest and worst possible time,” Grosser said on a recent Wednesday as he supervised the unloading of a large shipment from an area food bank. The city already had a housing crunch and a homeless problem, he said, and has struggled to find places for the new arrivals.
Uptown once had a reputation for gang activity and violence, second only to Chicago’s South Side, said Grosser, who moved here from southern Illinois in 2019. He remembers hearing gunshots down the street from his home.
Since the pandemic, the neighborhood has gentrified and prospered. The local ward also has become the temporary home for one of the largest groups of Latin American immigrants in the city, said Christa Pierce, wife of Lakeview minister Walter Pierce and Grosser’s sister. The student body of the local school district doubled. Uptown residents routinely see immigrant families asking for help outside Costco Wholesale and Starbucks.
The church brought in translators to help with its program, Krista Pierce said, and contributed coats to help the migrants weather the winter months. She and her husband attend community meetings for updates on the migrants. At a recent meeting, city officials reported a decrease in buses sent from the border states. One alderman said, cynically, that he expects another surge in August just as the city hosts the Democratic National Convention.
A development grant helped the Lakeview church expand its basement food pantry. As Grosser took inventory, church members sweated through their shirts as they unloaded large crates of milk, Brussels sprouts and an unexpected gift — multiple boxes of frozen vegan pepperoni pizzas.
Volunteer Audrey Bowen called on her Tetris-playing skills as she worked the pizzas into freezers already stuffed with brown-and-serve sausages.
On Saturdays, those in need line up and make quick shopping trips to the church basement. The brief interactions, plus the language barrier, make it tough to share Jesus with the migrants, Grosser acknowledged.
But perhaps the best way to feed people spiritually, he said, “is to lead by example and to let them see how we are toward them.”
“We do feel the urgency, the desire and the importance of serving God,” he added. “God has blessed our family so much, it’s ridiculous. So we know we have a lot to give back. And we’re honored to do it.”
Scenes from a giveaway
At the Northwest church, interactions may be even shorter than those at Lakeview.
The congregation doesn’t yet have the facilities to accommodate indoor shoppers, so it still follows protocols used during the pandemic. Nonetheless, a few of the church’s clients have attended worship services, and some have helped out with the pantry, minister Patrick Odum said.
During the Northwest church’s Saturday distribution, Odum met recipients as they stood by their cars or on the church’s freshly mowed lawn. He entered their information on his phone and did his best to remember — and pronounce — the names of repeat customers, who came to Chicago from Latin America, Vietnam, the Philippines and elsewhere. Then volunteers brought out the food, presorted into individual crates.
A few of those who came to receive food spoke with the Chronicle. Some declined to give their last names.
Barbara, who moved here from a small town near Krakow, Poland, more than two decades ago, said she has come to the Northwest pantry for at least seven years. “The food service is amazing,” she said, adding that she always shares what she’s given.
She doesn’t think she’ll ever return home, especially since her town is less than three hours from the Ukrainian border. She’s worried that, should Ukraine fall, Poland may be next.
Laticia Soto, originally from Mexico, works at a textile factory. Lately the company has cut back her shifts, and the food from the church helps her make ends meet. Two other Mexicans, Luis and Jorge, said they’ve had the same problem at the plant where they work. The food allows them to save money to send back home.
Daviel, the Venezuelan, preferred that the Chronicle not use his last name nor take his photo, said his interpreter, Abdiel Estrada, whose father preaches for the church’s Spanish service.
Instead, a Chronicle reporter and Estrada prayed with Daviel and his brother before Estrada invited them to visit the church’s clothes closet. As they browsed, volunteers retrieved a box of food for the Venezuelans.
During their 5,000-mile journey to the U.S., the danger often seemed too much, Daviel said as he loaded the produce into his backpack. But each time, before he turned back, he remembered the political Armageddon and economic desperation that he and Albert had left behind in their homeland.
Going north, he said, at least there is hope.
This story originally appeared in The Christian Chronicle and has been reprinted with permission.
Erik Tryggestad is president and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. He has filed stories for the Chronicle from more than 65 nations.
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37 Responses
Aiding and abetting invaders. Breaking the law in the name of Christ as they work to help George Soros and the evil cabal destroy the USA. If you think this is good and of the Lord, you are very much mistaken.
Wow. Even Jesus broke the law when it came to helping people’s physical needs.
Rebecca,
Jesus never broke the law. He was sinless.
The Pharisees would have disagreed with you
Tricia, you’re right. However, the Pharisees basically added on to God’s commandments:
“The Pharisees were the false religious teachers who constantly opposed Jesus. There were 613 commands in the Old Testament but the Pharisees created over 1,500 additional “fence laws” for the people to obey. They believed the best way to keep people from breaking God’s Law was to build a protective barrier around that Law, even though the Lord never told them to do this. The people of Jesus’ day were burdened down by man-made legalistic rules that God never commanded…” Kent Crockett, 2015
Jesus was sinless, but the Pharisees were white-washed tombs.
Dee, we must be reading a different Bible because the Jesus we believe in would be praising these churches for their generous and kind response! Our church in the Chicago area held a winter coat drive for hundreds of new immigrants not prepared for a Chicago winter. The church also aided us with the Ukrainian family we sponsored last year and the Mexican family who became homeless during the pandemic. I’m glad you weren’t living in Egypt in 4 BC when that Nazarene family crossed the border!
Comparing the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt with immigrants illegally entering our southern border is a false narrative. Judea and Egypt were provinces of the Roman Empire. Travel between them was facilitated by the ancient trade route called Via Maris. The trip was more like going from Texas to New Mexico, perfectly legal. Our southern border is overrun with persons seeking to cross the border between two sovereign countries illegally. They have no legal or moral right to enter without following the proper, internationally recognized protocols. Comparing Old Testament aka Torah laws to modern immigration laws is also a false narrative. The rules have changed drastically. By international law, the USA has a right to control its borders and immigration.
Dee and Daniel, I do not have anything against secure border laws that allow also for refugees access.
However none of us are able individually to keep someone from coming across the border. It is also not our responsibility to enforce the law unless we are actually have a credentials to do so. We can advocate for laws that are just and fair, but it is not ultimately up to any one of us who becomes our neighbor and whether they are here through legal means or not.
What we ARE able to do is meet the needs of the person in front of us – no matter how they got here, if they are in need then we are to remember what scripture repeatedly teaches about caring for the poor and the needy. THAT is where our focus should be.
Too many Christians are spending vast amounts of their energies on opposing illegal immigration while forgetting the second greatest commandment to love our neighbor as ourself.
Who among us has not broken a law? Why are we so focused on another person’s legal status?
One more thought that I have related to this, is that I see a lot of fear underlying the rhetoric about illegal immigration. Think of fear as faith in reverse. Put your Faith forward on the One who is in control.
Tricia, Jesus said, ““Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16. Neighborly people need to be shrewd enough to know when they are being scammed. Compassion has to be tempered with sound judgement. How people got here does matter, unless you are advocating rewarding lawlessness and welcoming those who themselves have behaved in a most unneighborly way by breaking our laws to get here. Not only that, but undocumented immigrants are the targets of criminal activity that goes unreported as well as being pawns in the games cartels play. It’s not fear, it’s reality. The cartels are not rational actors. Nothing I said suggested I advocate vigilante action. I want the Feds to do their job.
Tricia:
We are focused on another person’s legal status because that status has a direct bearing on the lives of our children. It means our children are less likely to secure a summer job, less likely to receive quick service in the ER, less likely to benefit from small teacher to student ratios in public schools, and less likely to be safe from drugs.
I could go on, but you need to understand that when people break our laws, they are showing a great disrespect for our nation. Jesus would absolutely NOT have been okay with that. He consistently upheld the rights of Jewish people to protect their borders, their children, their animals, and their personal property.
We can be kind without breaking American law. And, trust me, fear has nothing to do with it at all. Using “phobia” every time someone disagrees with what is going on is truly ridiculous.
You do understand that seeking and applying for asylum is an internationally recognized legal protocol that is in our Federal laws? Under 8 USC 1158 they can apply for asylum regardless if they enter through a port or entry or not.
8 U.S. Code § 1158 a (1):
Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum in accordance with this section or, where applicable, section 1225(b) of this title.
Charles,
We are talking about those who come here without applying for asylum. We are talking about people who live in the shadows. Unfortunately, our asylum system is also being abused by those who just want to make money at our expense. True asylum cases are extremely rare.
Tom and Rebecca,
Jesus always helped people, but have you ever asked yourselves why he generally ended his help with the words, “Go and sin no more” Or “Go and show yourself to the priest”?
It is wrong to assert that helping law-breakers is what Jesus would have done absent him also telling them to stop sinning. It is ILLEGAL to cross our borders outside ports of entry. It is ILLEGAL to smuggle people across our border, ILLEGAL to import child sex traffickers and drugs, and ILLEGAL to ignore the laws of the USA by obtaining fake work permits and fake social security numbers, etc.
So, be careful in ascribing to Jesus some kind of fake persona that does not view breaking the law as a sin.
When you encourage illegal entry, it will only increase. When it does, Americans here legally end up footing the bill through crowded schools, crowded ERs, and less job opportunities.
One other point, Tom. Jesus was not an “illegal alien” in Egypt. God sent him there.
Okay, the Egypt comment was a bit of hyperbole, but let me illustrate with a real life illustration. During the 30’s and 40’s in Eastern Poland, the German government dehumanized the Jewish people and rounded them up sending off to death camps. I had cousins in Eastern Poland (Catholics) who resisted and hid Jews in their home. Some person in their community informed the Germans on this group of resisters.Subsequently,a group of 30 people (including my cousins) were marched outside of town and ordered to stand alongside a ditch as the Germans unveiled a machine gun which mowed down the whole group. When this Mexican homeless family arrived at our front door with their three grade school daughters, we did inquire about their “legal” status, but accepted them as image bearers of the God who made us and welcomed them into our home. Their welfare was far more important to us than any job they were “stealing “ or some abstract place in line we “deserved “ because we were fortunate enough to be born here in the US. Didn’t Jesus talk about the last being first and how the Good Samaritan came to the aid of someone not of his tribe?
Tom,
All good points raised, but you are missing mine: Jesus came to fulfill the law, not break it. When you ignore the laws of the United States by encouraging people to break them, what kind of message does that send to others? How is it helping someone when you allow them to enter a country illegally? How does that reflect our God?
As I stated before, we can help others as Jesus did WITHOUT breaking our laws. Jesus respected the law and encouraged others to do the same. In the case of the Nazis, they lost their humanity once they killed that first Jew. After that, any “law” they passed regarding God’s people came directly from Satan and would have been/should have been ignored by all Jesus followers.
I guess when it comes down to it, I would want to know how you respond to the needs of those who are in your community – do you help them regardless of legal status?
Tricia,
How do we help those here illegally? That is the question. Do we encourage them to hide from the law, or do we encourage them to report to ICE?
What do you think?
Dee, repent. Read Matthew 25 and tremble.
John,
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Care to interpret what Jesus means by “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine”?
Except it is not an invasion, despite what Texas and Governor Abbott may think.
Ok, so because someone crossed the border illegally, it is Christian for us to let them freeze or starve to death.
THAT’S our testimony? I can’t.
Marin,
It is never “Christian” for us to let ANYONE freeze or starve to death. Where did you get that idea? It is incumbent upon us to follow the laws of our country. That is all. We can feed, clothe, shelter and help those here illegally while encouraging them to report to immigration. WE CAN DO BOTH, as I already stated above. Hiding people from the law is wrong. In the case of Nazi Germany, “laws” made up by the Nazis could be completely ignored since those “laws” were put in place by Satan. Corrie Ten Boom would agree with me – hiding Jews was the only option in those circumstances.
Hiding illegal aliens from U. S. law and helping them stay here ILLEGALLY is wrong. When people sneak in and evade the law, they are spitting on our country.
Where did I get the idea from? People are literally criticizing a ministry for providing basic necessities to people because said people are here illegally….and trying to use scripture to do it. This article said NOTHING about “hiding them” or “smuggling them” or helping in any other way than providing food and shelter in a city known for its harsh winters. And read the extrapolations and criticism. From Christians.
Again, I can’t.
If a person is in need of basic human necessities, help them, period. As my mom taught me: “You may be a person’s sole interaction with a believer today. What will they leave learning about Christ because of you?”
And isn’t saving their souls TOP priority, regardless of status?
I personally have known people who turned themselves in to employers (for using false documents) and ICE AFTER becoming Christians because the Holy Spirit convicted them.
Can’t say I see that happening if we lead with “Are you here legally? We are only feeding legal immigrants at this church!” versus “do you know Jesus? Here, have a meal and let me tell you about Him…”
Marin,
Some things to ponder in this debate follow. Is the church really helping in the long-run or are they hurting others in the process? Does Jesus tell us to care for our own families first? I believe he does.
“Residents on the south side of Chicago have taken legal action against the city over its invasive use of public buildings for housing asylum seekers. NYC students have been forced into remote learning as schools accommodate migrants in the city. Throughout America, hospitals are overrun, shelters are out of beds, and low-income children have nowhere to go.
Even those who risked life and limb for our nation are returning home to find themselves on the streets without shelter amid the largest spike in veteran homelessness in 12 years—while those who entered illegally are being housed by billions of dollars’ worth of government-funded programs.”
https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2024/06/07/the_human_cost_of_bidens_border_policies_1036534.html
I am a strong advocate of strong border policies. People must come into this country as the law prescribes. We must know who comes into this country and that whatever necessary criteria the U.S. determines are obeyed.
However, once someone is in this country, no matter how they have arrived, it is incumbent upon those of us who call ourselves Christian to be sure they have food and shelter and other needs are met. That’s pretty much according to Jesus.
This is the best answer. We uphold the laws of our land and push for a secure border, while providing care to fellow humans in need regardless of how they got here.
We need to separate the policy from the people. Polling consistently shows most of the country agrees the current immigration policy as it is playing out on the ground is wrong. HOWEVER when a person in need is actually here, past the broken border, it is an opportunity for Christians to help and to share the Gospel (and no one listens more attentively than someone being helped by the speaker).
And zooming back out to a big picture national effect perspective again, if the illegal immigrant becomes a God fearing Christian with Christian values, that illegal immigrant and the people they influence might very well become an asset to the nation. Idealistic? Sure, but that’s part of Faith and Faith works wonders.
People decrying the loss of traditional values in our nation, but then also wanting to keep out a great number of people that hold to those traditional family values.
It’s primarily the privileged native-born elites that are degrading our culture, not the humble immigrants.
Brian,
Perhaps you do not view the United States as a sovereign nation? It would explain your position if that is the case. We have borders for a reason. They are not meant to be welcoming mats for anyone and everyone – they are meant to protect American citizens who live here. If you try to enter most other nations by simply walking across their border, you will likely get arrested.
We are not the “savior of the masses”, as some seem to think. We are a sovereign nation with laws to protect Americans. Americans, as citizens, have a right to expect their government to protect them from those who would take advantage of their generosity and hard-won freedoms.
The problem is that there is no magic neon sign over a person’s head that shows they are here illegally.
Second, even if they are, they may have requested asylum and the process is being worked out determine eligibility. Or to put it another way, did Jesus ask or point why or how the man fell upon robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan? Was somewhere he should not be (wrong neighborhood)? Was he naive or arrogant to think he could travel alone? Did this guy “legally” steal money (like a tax collector) and then flaunt his wealth? And so on. Scripture is completely silent on this.
I guess it boils down to whether you wish to give that migrant the benefit of the doubt or not. If you are, then you would not give them 20 questions on their immigration status in the US. Of course there is that bit in 1 Corinthians 13:7 that says one should give the benefit of the doubt.
What is not said in all this, is that a majority of illegals here in the US are visa overstays, not those that cross the border illegally. Of course, visa overstays are a much more ethnically and nationally diverse population so it is easy for the those decrying the southern border crisis to ignore it (especially if a number of those overstays are from European countries). Those would be nativists don’t seem to ask or wonder if the white guy from France, Ireland, or Canada in their church is here legally. I wonder why that is?
Charles:
In my opinion, this is not a race issue: It’s a legal issue. Do we want to remain a sovereign nation or not? Do we want our laws followed or not? Visa overstays are just as culpable as those who waltz across our border and claim asylum so they can get a better job.
In order to remain a nation, we have to keep our borders secure. Israel is more than aware of this, as are most sovereign nations throughout the world. Borders are important, and so is maintaining them.
I wish we could see this as separate from race, especially with how diverse our nation is. Unfortunately, if you look at the history of why and how our immigration policies were established, you will read about RACE. (Read the original policies and how they explicitly favor those coming from European nations, outline racial considerations favoring whites, antisemitic limitations on the number of Jews entering, and more.)
Fast forward to today, if you watch and read the reactions of many conservatives about our immigration issues, you’ll see comments about “the browning of the nation” (including Tucker Carlson’s infamous “they made the nation browner and dirtier” comments), white replacement conspiracy theories, concerns over how so many non-whites vote Democratically (so this is a plot to keep the country blue), and more.
I believe you are a minority if you don’t see how racially charged these comments are.
And I’m not holding my breath for ANY outrage or concern over those here on expired visas anytime soon. They aren’t the target demographic of concern.
75% of unauthorized immigrants come from Mexico, Central America, and South America. 46% of all unauthorized immigrants speak English “not well”/”not at all”. Languages Spoken at Home, 72% Spanish. One of the major concerns about unauthorized immigrants of any background is identity. When individuals have contact with LE, no one knows for sure who they are. Aliases are commonly used to avoid arrest for warrants and identifying persons of interest in crime investigations. One fellow I was clearing in Booking had 30 pages of aliases. When unauthorized individuals enter our country, we often have no idea who they are unless they have been arrested and fingerprinted previously. Fake ID mills are common. Is this the kind of system we should be supporting? Our Immigration service has the obligation to know who is coming into (and staying in) our country to prevent criminals from coming in. Those immigrants who have over-stayed their visas are somewhat known, having been vetted. Those who enter without authorization seek to undermine the identity measures intended to protect US citizens.
Marin,
Comments could be racially charged, but I am focused on the legal aspect of this issue. It is about keeping Americans safe, the main responsibility of our government. When veterans are not being housed while illegal aliens are, that’s a problem. When American students are forced to take classes remotely because children of illegal aliens are crowding their classrooms, that’s a problem. When young people can’t find work because jobs are being taken by those who aren’t here on a legal footing, that’s a problem. When American wages are depressed because illegal aliens are willing to work for less, that’s a problem. When hospitals are overrun with illegal aliens taking up appointments/waiting rooms/doctors that are there to treat Americans, that’s a problem.
You can put a racial tinge on the issue if you wish, but facts are facts. I am an American and I love my country. I don’t like seeing Americans pushed to the back of the line while those who walk across our border are housed, schooled, fed and clothed at taxpayer expense.
Churches and church organizations handing out “freebies” are not actually helping those who come here. They are simply delaying the day of reckoning.
If I walked into Mexico or any other sovereign nation, I would expect to be arrested. I would not expect food, clothes, free housing, and free medical care.
You will need to reconcile God’s command to follow the law with how we treat those who break our laws.
My point is that our laws around immigration are racially charged, so it’s very hard to separate the two.
But in the end, what’s the resolution? If feeding and clothing immigrants is simply “delaying the day of reckoning”, what do you recommend? Leaving them cold and hungry? How will THAT look on our streets and under our bridges?
I do love this country but I don’t feel comfortable determining who deserves aid based on nationality. That’s against both state and Biblical law.
I believe this is a heart issue that is being exposed. It is both concerning and heartbreaking to read thread after thread (not only here but elsewhere) of Christians constantly coming up with excuses not to help others. Whether it’s “I don’t think you work hard enough to help yourself” to “how did you get here” to “I don’t want to enable you by giving you a meal or opportunity” and more….a common theme in the comments across MANY topics on sites like this boils down to an unwillingness to extend love, grace and service to others unless WE – in our own humanity – think they deserve it. Read that last part. “Unless I think you deserve it, you are to get no aid” is our message. No reflection on the grace and mercy extended to us. Just judgmental “you should’ve done this and THEN I’d care!” I expect the usual “you’re too touchy feely, be about the LAW!” response from those who have been spared from the law…..
But then we blame the liberals and the media for why the church is unattractive….