Our nation is the enduring dream of every immigrant who ever set foot on these shores, and the millions still struggling to be free… this idea called America, was and always will be a new world. President George H.W. Bush

I doubt that any child says he or she wants to be a refugee or immigrant when asked about their adult aspirations.  Yet millions of people find themselves in those categories. Technically the first Pilgrims we so proudly claim as heroic pioneers were refugees and immigrants. They fled England when their preferred ways of living clashed with the powerful. Because they lacked proper documentation to leave, they snuck out of the country.

They found refuge in the Lowlands across the North Sea. There they they struggled to fit in, find jobs, learn the language, and overcome their homesickness for their home country. As their children grew up and adopted ways that displeased their elders, the community decided to relocate again. The Mayflower, the ship they hired to cross them, barely made the crossing.

What we teach about the first Thanksgiving is distorted and incomplete, but it is still a testimony to their faith, endurance, and hard physical work.

Refugees and Immigrants Today

UMHCR (United National Refugee Agency) tells the stories of modern refugees and immigrants in photos.  The story is one of growing desperation. UMHCR reports that at the end of 2022, a total of 108.4 million people had been displaced and driven out of their homes by war, persecution, and human rights abuses. That is 19 million more than in 2021.

The unprovoked war in Ukraine accounts for much of the increase, but not all of it. The Russian invasion in February 2022 generated the fasted emigration of refugees since WWII. Weather-related disasters such as droughts, floods, and wildfires, attributed to climate change, add to the staggering numbers. Combined with conflicts and insecurity in Afghanistan, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Myanmar, the global village is facing tremendous suffering.

Each One Help One

I was excited to learn that the new church home I’ve found has committed to assisting one Syrian refugee family settle in a neighborhood near the church. The young parents have been living in a refugee camp in Jordan for ten years. Their two grade-school-age children have never lived anywhere else until a week ago when they landed in Columbus, Ohio.

I estimate a team of around 50 church folks went through orientation and background checks to partner with CRIS (Community Refugee and Immigration Services) to give this family a chance to recover from the trauma of the civil war in Syria a decade ago.

A Typical Visit

The first visit to their apartment focused on things like how to adjust the temperature in their apartment, find the things they needed in the kitchen, and work the stove. A couple of volunteers spoke with the parents through a translation app.  I sat and went through picture books with their daughter who added a couple of dozen English words to her vocabulary. Their son went outside to kick around a soccer ball with the son of one of the volunteers.

On my second visit, they wanted to use their new Kroger gift card. Using the translation app, we navigated the aisles explaining various items and translating prices. They were thrilled at the huge selection of fruits, vegetables, and snack foods. Others had already stocked their pantry with basics and had taken them to an international store to purchase specialty items.

Starting Over Again

From the photos they’ve shown us, it appears they had good lives in Syria until the civil war drove them away from all that is familiar. Parents and children alike are eager to explore their new home. CRIS will focus on learning English, finding jobs, and learning how to care for themselves as quickly as possible. The children are already enrolled in school and will start a few days ahead of other students to increase their chances of adapting well to a very different way of doing things.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the weight of troubles in the world. But that doesn’t mitigate the problems. Reading a picture book with a child, helping a mother find shampoo, assisting a father in selecting snacks for his children, and helping them navigate paying for things does help. Seeing two young boys overcome the language barrier by kicking a soccer ball around outside is a hopeful sign of the possibility of peace. If enough of us who are living safe and secure where we want to be would partner with relief agencies to do such simple things for contemporary pilgrims, refugees, and immigrants, we’d make good progress toward mending the brokenness of our global village.

Organizations like UMHCR, CRIS, and LIRS (Lutheran Refugee and Immigration Services) do miracles with their finite resources. They’d all be delighted to have a helping hand if this is something that appeals to you.

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Mary Brewster’s Love Life and Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold. Bookshop.org/Mayflower; Mary Brewster
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Autographed copies are available on my website.

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Fortunately for these future Plymouth Pilgrims, they were not the first English religious rebels to leave England. By the early 1600s King James had made it very clear he would tolerate no challenge to his authority as either the monarch of Britain or the head of the Established Church. He was a religious man, with well-developed, if somewhat rigid, ideas about theology and scripture. Perhaps inspired by Martin Luther’s work to translate the Bible into the language of the German people, King James commissioned the translation of the Bible into a version that suited his thinking. The 1611 King James bible is nearly a replica of the 1560 English language Geneva Bible. However, the Geneva translation included notes that railed against the Pope and didn’t shed a positive light on monarchy either.  King James had the resources to publish a version that suited his personal theology better.

Like It or Leave

By the time the Scrooby Pilgrims emigrated, King James had removed over three hundred protesting clergy from their pulpits in England. Some of the displaced clergy fled to become Amsterdam refugees. By the time the Scrooby group arrived they were fairly well established.

These future Pilgrims arrived in a growing and prospering city approaching 200,000 people. Amsterdam  had a reputation for religious tolerance. As long as new arrivals caused no trouble and found ways to support themselves, the Dutch authorities had little interest in their religious preferences. It was a Golden Age for Amsterdam. During this time period the popular canals were just being built. In 1602 Amsterdam became home to the world’s first stock exchange when the Dutch East India Company opened an office to trade their own shares. Though our Pilgrims had moved on to Leiden by 1618, that year the city established the first global regular newspaper, “Courants.”

The Scrooby Amsterdam refugees represented a much larger Separatist movement in England. This group believed the only way forward faith-wise was to return to the simpler church structures of the first century. The various small towns in North England around Scrooby had given rise to a number of Separatists who either lost their pulpits or presumed they soon would. One of them, John Smyth, emigrated with a group of followers from Gainsborough in 1607, the year our group from Scrooby tried to leave, but were betrayed in Boston, England. Scrooby Separatists had worshiped with the Gainsborough congregation and thus knew some who successfully migrated to Amsterdam.

Make New Friends

Another group of London based Separatists had already settled in Amsterdam back in 1595. They formed a church future Plymouth Governor William Bradford referred to as the Ancient Brethren. At first our new arrivals, under the leadership of William Brewster, John Robinson, and Richard Clyfton, were relieved and grateful to find kindred spirits already established in Amsterdam. Their relief was short lived. Both John Smyth’s relocated Gainsborough group, and the Ancient Brethren were caught up in a series of internal conflicts as well as contentious relationships between the two groups.

It must have felt to the newly arrived Scrooby Pilgrim immigrants they’d been betrayed a second time in only a couple of years. The late Mary B. Sherwood wrote in Pilgrim: A biography of William Brewster,

It would have seemed natural for the people from Scrooby to join once more with their neighbors from Gainsborough, the church of which they were formerly a part. They did not do so, primarily because of the bewildering behavior of the minister, John Smyth. Smyth, whose search for the truth had led him to separate from the Church of England, was still finding the truth illusive. He continued to pore over the scriptures and theological writings, reaching one temporary conclusion after another, sometimes rejecting a ‘truth’ he had recently proclaimed.

Indecisive Leadership Wrecks Havoc

One of the more challenging conclusions Smyth reached was that an English translation of scripture was not acceptable, because it was translated by humans, and therefore not reliable as being the true word of God. He insisted they study only Hebrew and Greek scriptures – apparently not caring those too were written and preserved by mere mortals. For new immigrants struggling to adapt to speaking Dutch, this was one more challenge they could do without. Smyth also concluded infant baptisms were inadequate since infants did not decide whether they wanted to be baptized or not. The Scrooby Pilgrims had most certainly all been baptized as infants in the Established Church of England. After Smyth re-baptized himself and all of his followers, he later decided he had been wrong in his conclusions about baptism.

William Bradford in his recollections of the Scrooby Pilgrims brief time in Amsterdam later wrote, Smyth was “a man of able gifts, and a good preacher, eminent in his time, but whose inconstancy, unstable judgment, and being suddenly carried away, soon overthrew him.” (Alexander Young: Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Colony of Plymouth).

The conflicts and the unstable local leadership, combined with the typical immigrant challenges of adapting to a strange new culture, led the Scrooby group to conclude they’d come to the right country, but the wrong city. They lived there only one year before moving onto our next stop on this Pilgrim journey – Leiden. Come back next week to learn more about life in Leiden.

Thank you for taking time to read more about the 17th Century Pilgrim Journey. I hope it inspires as we wait out the consequences of COVID-19 and commemorate the Mayflower’s 400 anniversary with virtual celebrations. Why not share it with a friend? Got this from a friend? You can sign up for your own free subscription at HowWiseThen. I am always looking for leads about good people making great contribution to our global village. If you have a suggestion for a future HowWiseThen blog, let me hear from you. I have a variety of free downloads waiting for you on my website.

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In 2018 alone LIRS provided foster care to 1,643 children and facilitated reunifications with family members for an additional 34,358 children. The agency arranged visits for some 6, 882 detained migrants, provide them comfort and friendship. LIRS’ Migrant and Refugee Leadership Academy trained 150 new members to advocate for immigrants and refugees and build support in their local communities.

New CEO At LIRS

As of February, LIRS is under the leadership of newly appointed CEO, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah. She comes to LIRS after serving as the Policy Director to former First Lady Michelle Obama. Now, more than ever, we need bold action to ensure America remains a shining city on the Hill and a bastion of hope for those seeking a better life. Krish embodies these timeless values. She is the second refugee and first non-Lutheran in LIRS’ 80 year history to lead the effort to protect rights and create opportunities for vulnerable refugees and migrants.

An immigrant herself, her family fled a civil war before coming to America.  She knows firsthand the challenges and opportunities facing refugees and asylum-seekers. Krish’s parents fled with her when she was just nine-months old. They credit much of the successful transition to life in the U.S. to the Baltimore Schools where her parents found jobs as teachers. The school also became a safe place to make the transition from their war-torn country of origin to their new country of choice. Teachers and staff welcomed them as new neighbors and helped the family navigate their new country. Now Krish wants to pass on the help her family received by overseeing an agency that is committed to welcoming the stranger.

Exactly the Leader Needed Now

LIRS Board Chair, Bishop Michael Rinehart, says, “Krish is exactly the kind of once-in-a-generation leader LIRS needs right now. In the wake of unprecedented challenges to U.S. refugee resettlement and immigration policy, the LIRS mission – to protect, embrace, and empower those we serve – is more crucial now than ever. Through our extensive nation- wide search, we aimed to identify a leader who not only has a deep passion and commitment to this work, but also has the business acumen to drive the organization in a positive direction. The selection of Krish is an embodiment of the Lutheran commitment to be a church for the sake of the world.

My Family of Immigrants

I know the story of three of my four grandparents’ family’s reasons for leaving Europe to come to the States. My maternal grandfather’s ancestors fled England to escape persecution and likely imprisonment, if not execution. My ancestor, Elder William Brewster, was part of a movement challenging the authority of the Established Church of the late 1500’s and early 1600’s. They were refugees in Holland for a decade and then part of the Mayflower story.

My paternal grandmother came as a child with her family after her father was conscripted to fight in four consecutive wars. He left Germany with what fit in a small wooden trunk along with his wife and several children, one of them being my grandmother. My paternal grandfather came as a young teenager, with his three teenage brothers. I suppose it was in the hopes they would have a better chance of supporting themselves here than they could there. His parents and sisters stayed in Germany. I am not certain, but suspect he never saw his parents or sisters again.

Looking for Help and Hope

I hear a lot of talk today about why don’t immigrants and refugees just come here legally? Most try. We often move the piece of legal cheese with little notice. We change policies and tactics and instead of assisting desperate people, we too often make criminals out of people who are only doing what my ancestors did – run from horrendous circumstances, hoping that we will welcome them. I hope that too. Thanks to the efforts of LIRS, at least some of today’s immigrants and refugees are finding hope and help.

You might also be interested in this article about a creative way a Houston agency helps immigrants.  Bicycling to a Better Life.

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