October 1, 2025
Wednesday Blessings,
Sunday after worship, I joined clergy colleagues for a prayer service at Delaney Hall. This is the immigration detention center near Newark Airport. It felt as if we were standing at a great chasm of humanity.
Several people spoke. We sang songs and we prayed. We prayed for the people who had been rounded up by ICE; we prayed that they receive due process; we prayed that they be safe, that their needs would be cared for and that they wold be free from harm. We prayed for the families who were waiting patiently outside for the opportunity to cross the chasm and see their loved ones. We prayed for the guards and staff that they care for those being held with respect and dignity. We prayed for the administration that they open their hearts to do justice with fairness and compassion.
As we gathered for prayer, families were lined up along the fence, sitting in the shade waiting for their time to go in and visit with their loved ones. What broke my heart was the children. Little ones, the age of Amelia and Sarah, playing ball and drawing with chalk on the macadam. It seemed surreal.
At a certain time, I noticed everyone stand up and make their way towards the gate. This is what they came for; this is what they were waiting for. And then I saw something that I can't release from my memory, an infant, probably only a a few months old, held in the arms of a person expectantly waiting. I can only imagine the sadness of the person on the inside, living away from this baby.
It took me back in time, twenty-four years, when I was waiting on this side of the world, waiting to be approved by the government to go to Cambodia and meet my daughter. I can find no words to express what I felt in that moment and what I feel for the families I saw at Delaney Hall. Tears are my only expression of the heartache.
I don't know what our presence offered to those who were on the inside and their families standing on the other side of the gate. I pray that our witness offered a bridge of support and care.
"O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? May we continue to walk together and may we seek to bridge the chasms in our worlds.
Pastor JJ
Sunday after worship, I joined clergy colleagues for a prayer service at Delaney Hall. This is the immigration detention center near Newark Airport. It felt as if we were standing at a great chasm of humanity.
Several people spoke. We sang songs and we prayed. We prayed for the people who had been rounded up by ICE; we prayed that they receive due process; we prayed that they be safe, that their needs would be cared for and that they wold be free from harm. We prayed for the families who were waiting patiently outside for the opportunity to cross the chasm and see their loved ones. We prayed for the guards and staff that they care for those being held with respect and dignity. We prayed for the administration that they open their hearts to do justice with fairness and compassion.
As we gathered for prayer, families were lined up along the fence, sitting in the shade waiting for their time to go in and visit with their loved ones. What broke my heart was the children. Little ones, the age of Amelia and Sarah, playing ball and drawing with chalk on the macadam. It seemed surreal.
At a certain time, I noticed everyone stand up and make their way towards the gate. This is what they came for; this is what they were waiting for. And then I saw something that I can't release from my memory, an infant, probably only a a few months old, held in the arms of a person expectantly waiting. I can only imagine the sadness of the person on the inside, living away from this baby.
It took me back in time, twenty-four years, when I was waiting on this side of the world, waiting to be approved by the government to go to Cambodia and meet my daughter. I can find no words to express what I felt in that moment and what I feel for the families I saw at Delaney Hall. Tears are my only expression of the heartache.
I don't know what our presence offered to those who were on the inside and their families standing on the other side of the gate. I pray that our witness offered a bridge of support and care.
"O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? May we continue to walk together and may we seek to bridge the chasms in our worlds.
Pastor JJ
