Alongside Immanuel

Jesus was born at Christmas, only to quickly find himself on the run as a refugee. Or perhaps he was an asylum seeker. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that he was  forced to flee the threat of Herod’s persecution. He was carried by Joseph and Mary to Egypt, beyond Herod’s dominion, where they would be safe from the genocide inflicted by a jealous ruler on the little boys of Bethlehem.

Many of today’s refugees know viscerally what it means to awaken in the middle of the night and to flee with what little they could carry, as an angel instructed Joseph to do. To feel danger just behind them. To complete a grueling journey only to arrive in a new land and a new culture with the ongoing grief of the loss of one’s homeland. Jesus presumably lived all of that in his fully human flesh as a small child. And millions today find solace in that reality.

Amid the greatest displacement crisis in recorded history—where over 120 million people, including millions of children, have been forced to flee their homes—we believe God is on the move. As Acts 17:26 declares, He sovereignly appoints the times and places of every person, and even in crisis, His redemptive purposes are unfolding.

This Christmas, we are invited not just to witness but to participate in God's redemptive movement—responding with generosity, advocacy, and prayer. Just as we stood in the gap before, we now have the chance to build toward a future of hope, dignity, and belonging for those on the move.