Bethel Host­ing Mid­west Im­mi­gra­tion Sum­mit

MISHAWAKA – Bethel is host­ing a Mid­west Im­mi­gra­tion Sum­mit to dis­cuss the na­tion’s ris­ing ten­sions on the topic of im­mi­gra­tion and the re­li­gious and leg­isla­tive con­cerns therein. The sum­mit will hap­pen on Tues­day, Mar. 10, in the Ever­est-Rohrer Ro­tunda from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will cover the topic of im­mi­gra­tion in Amer­ica and how it re­lates to the cul­tural, leg­isla­tive and re­li­gious mi­lieu of the coun­try. The speak­ers at the sum­mit are com­ing from the Coun­cil for Chris­t­ian Col­leges and Uni­ver­si­ties. The sum­mit is one of four to­tal hap­pen­ing around the coun­try; Bethel is the only host in the Mid­west. 

 “We host the event be­cause Law & Grace un­com­fort­ably co-min­gle in the leg­is­la­tion of im­mi­gra­tion pol­icy,” Pres­i­dent Chenoweth wrote. “Be­cause for the church, our ‘na­tion of laws’ ex­ists in con­text of a spe­cial fond­ness Je­sus shows for spe­cial pop­u­la­tions such as the for­eigner, widow, or­phan, and op­pressed.” 

Chenoweth also hopes that the sum­mit en­cour­ages in­di­vid­u­als to en­gage with pol­i­tics from a bib­li­cal per­spec­tive. 

“Sur­veys show that most evan­gel­i­cals get their views on im­mi­gra­tion from the news rather than the Bible,” Chenoweth wrote. “There­fore, this event di­rects our at­ten­tion to­ward the ac­tual sta­tus of our laws, the ex­pe­ri­ence of im­mi­grants, and what Bib­li­cal pre­cepts mean for our stu­dents and com­mu­ni­ties.” 

The sum­mit will in­clude the fol­low­ing speak­ers: Matthew So­erens, U.S. di­rec­tor of Church Mo­bi­liza­tion at World Re­lief, at 2 p.m.; Jill Stoltz­fus, ex­ec­u­tive di­rec­tor of the As­so­ci­a­tion for a More Just So­ci­ety, at 3 p.m.; and a panel at 4 p.m. with Bethel rep­re­sen­ta­tives Sam Ojwang, an MBA stu­dent; Anna Letens, a 2019 grad­u­ate; Al­fonso Flo­res, a cur­rent ju­nior; Se­bas­t­ian Alonso, a cur­rent sopho­more; and Dineli Presteguin, a cur­rent fresh­man. 

This Bethel panel will be asked ques­tions and me­di­ated by Bethel’s Dr. Kent Eby, the di­rec­tor of the In­ter­cul­tural Stud­ies Pro­gram. Dr. Eby has a Ph.D. on per­spec­tive trans­for­ma­tion, and he was also the vice pres­i­dent for in­ter­na­tional re­la­tions at St. Pe­ters­burg Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­sity in Rus­sia. As a lec­turer and a full-time mis­sion­ary there, Dr. Eby has had plenty of prior ex­pe­ri­ence when it comes to con­ver­sa­tions such as these. Check-in is at 1:30 p.m. and a break for a light meal takes place at 5 p.m. 

Reg­is­tra­tion for the event closes on Mar. 3; reg­is­ter­ing for the sum­mit is free, but the max­i­mum ca­pac­ity for at­ten­dees is 100. Any hope­ful at­ten­dees with ques­tions about the con­tent should di­rect them to Chirstin Rine at crine@cccu.org; ques­tions about con­tent should be di­rected to Kristy Bride­groom, the di­rec­tor of con­fer­ence ser­vices at Bethel, at Kristy.Bride­groom@BethelU­ni­ver­sity.edu.