A family in need! I received an email from the Presbyterian Church (USA) headquarters in

Louisville, KY in early November 2024. This was just a couple days after the U.S. presidential

election results were all but verified. “Hi Brian, a family near you is seeking asylum and needs

assistance getting to their long-awaited court hearing!” Two mothers and their two very young

children needed to get from California to Texas, as they had been escaping threats of violence

against their family’s lives in their home country due to their same-sex relationship. And many

of our organizations ready to assist were running low on funds for that year.

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Beginning in early 2024, a coalition, of sorts, was being created among Presbyteries in Southern

California. To a few of us it has come to be known affectionately as the I-10 Immigration

Alliance. With the faithful assistance among three Presbyteries, and an organization offering

temporary housing to families in this situation, this family of four were gifted airline tickets and

a gift card for food while traveling. Thankfully, they arrived in Texas and met their sponsor, just

days before the hearing.

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Riverside Presbytery committed half of the funds for the airline tickets, Pacific Presbytery

committed the other half, and San Gabriel Presbytery committed a very generous gift card for

food and other needs while the family travelled. This is the connectionalism of the PC(USA) at its

finest, among three local Presbyteries.

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Addressing immigration needs and resources with compassion and Christ-like love is one of the

top priorities of mission for the PC(USA), as well as for many of the Presbyteries and their

congregations along the U.S.’s southern border. Matthew 25, in scripture and as a mission effort

within the denomination, implores all of us to accompany the stranger. The way several of us

have chosen to do this is to assist our neighbors arriving from the south, escaping terrible

conditions back home, get to their sponsors and their court hearings. When these families arrive

with very little or nothing, they become dependent on the compassion of others. Christ calls us

to respond to them with just this kind of compassion, and more.

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Responding Compassionately,

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Rev. Brian S. Symonds

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