Migration is a vast and complex topic, with no two migration stories alike. As such, we knew we could not address everything in one StoryArc. I want to acknowledge the vital importance of studying and understanding forced migration and militarized migration, including the transatlantic slave trade, modern human trafficking, imperial expansion, and colonialism. These encompass some of the greatest evils people have ever perpetrated against their fellow humans, and continue to drive grave injustices in the twenty-first century.
But much of today’s political, social, and religious tensions center on migration by choice, so that is the focus of the essays, art, poetry, interviews, and stories in this issue. We defined migration by choice to include refugees, who, while fleeing violence, persecution, natural disaster, or economic distress, may have some agency in when or where they choose to flee to. How we as individuals, families, and communities respond to migration is grounded in our understanding of human history, culture, and the imago Dei in each of us. It speaks to our interpretation of God’s many exhortations to care for “the foreigner” among us. It forces us to grapple with deep-seated fears, prejudices, and beliefs about scarcity that we might not otherwise want to face.
To delve into the migrant experience is to walk as Jesus walked, and to be discipled in faith, generosity, empathy, and justice. No matter your family history, migration is intricately woven into the story of God’s people. Let’s learn together through this most human of experiences.