sanctuary_foothills.jpg

I watched Obama’s speech describing his executive order on immigration with a group of people who gathered at St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church where Francisco Perez Cordova has been in sanctuary for the past few months. Obama’s executive action means that Francisco will able to live in the U.S. without fear of deportation, though it’s not clear exactly when he’ll be able to leave the church.

After Obama finished, Pastor Jim Wiltbank talked to the people gathered there with Francisco at his side.

“Sixty days ago,” he said, talking to Francisco, “we stood here in this place. We struggled with the question, what do we do now? We didn’t know how long it would be. Now we know. We don’t know the exact date, but we know the process. President Obama said you get to stay.”

When the applause died down, Francisco managed a tearful, “Thank you.”

Francisco’s wife and children were there as well. “We are so thankful that their father gets to stay here with his family,” Wiltbank continued, “and together, we get to change the United States.”

“A lot of work went into making this day happen,” he said, addressing those who helped with the sanctuary process. “Your letters, your calls, your being with Francisco, all of your love has made this happen. Let us continue loving this family and continue loving all those who others don’t yet qualify, who are left out of this action. Let’s continue to work.”

This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2014.

4 replies on “Watching Obama’s Speech At St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church”

  1. I have to wonder as you watched it, did you now support the theory that “any means justifies the ends?”

    What will you say/do when another parties philosophy is forced upon you?

    Let’s say that an Independent President uses tax dollars to purchase guns for every citizen. Will you happily accept your weapon?

    Will you claim it’s unconstitutional? What if he invokes “scripture” as a reason for his actions?

    Would you claim separation of church and state?

    You have just landed on your backside at the top of the slippery slope.

    So long!

  2. I think the anchor baby program needs to stop. They need to blame themselves for splitting their families up. If they hadn’t crossed the border illegally to have their baby to begin with they would not have to worry about being split up. Try to make your country better not come here to make ours like what you left. Illegals need to go home. Come over legally then you are more than welcome.

  4. This is a truly great country and I am confident this wrong will be righted. When a name is put to a statistic it is a little more humanizing but that is only one name of the supposed millions who are awaiting the next step, or misstep. Now that roughly 5M people will soon be legally allowed to move around this country who will be giving them work? What will happen when they leave these cash only, illicit jobs? Who do you think will fill the void? Yep, 5M more who are waiting along the southern border to begin their own hike north. So who has the president really helped? Or did anyone think this beyond poking a finger in the eye of Congress and the American people?
    And where were you fifty one years ago today? I was just getting out of school when the monsignor came on the PA to lead all the classes in prayer.

Comments are closed.