This year, winter in New England was rough. Perhaps a hundred years ago, they would have thought it normal or even mild, but New England has not experienced a cold and snowy winter in several years. Its harshness made me realize that I needed to do something about my roof. So, last week the owner of a roofing company and his crew replaced my complicated roofing project in two days. Their constant energy and work ethic were astonishing. Whack, whack, whack all day long! How can they do that?! All day! The later part of that afternoon and the second day were quieter, just nailing and finishing. They were careful of my plants close to the house (which survived the ordeal unscathed!) and cleaned everything up carefully. It did not surprise me, but I do want to mention that the boss’s crew was completely Hispanic. If you look around, nearly all the roofers, at least in this area, are Hispanic.

And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.  Deuteronomy 10:19 (NIV)

What would we do without them?  Americans who have grown up here do not seem to want to do manual labor-type jobs. 

My job is to teach English to foreigners (ESL), which has been my passion for over forty years.  My students come to my class for the same reason they came to the USA: because they want to improve their lives.  They work nights, weekends, or other odd shifts so that they can go to school.  Besides working in construction, some of them work in warehouses and factories.  Some of them deliver your packages.  Many of the women are CNA’s, which is a physically exhausting and sometimes physically damaging job.   Some of them will never be able to work in their previous profession here (some were lawyers, politicians, or university professors), but they came anyway and got jobs painting houses so that their children would not have to grow up under oppression or out of control crime and corruption.

This next story is from my first years in ESL, at that time teaching at a vocational high school.  It was the 1980’s, and a young man from Vietnam came to my classroom for instruction.  One day, he told me his story.  He had enjoyed his life in Vietnam after the war was over, but he admitted that he had begun to get into gangs.  One day, his father said to him and his brothers, “Let’s go out fishing.”  So they prepared to go out for a few hours, got into their boat, and went out to sea.  It was just another one of their trips out to get fish.  Once they were out at sea, their father told them that they were never going back.  They left their mother there and went to Thailand and then eventually to the US and ended up in New England.  He never saw his mother again (at least at that time).  It broke my heart.  I have never forgotten him or his raw and tragic story.  I do know that he became a plumber, and I hope he has had a good life.  When I think of him, I pray about that.

So, who is my neighbor?

And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.  Deuteronomy 10:19

Not one of us knows what others have been through.  We do not know their hearts.  How have their hearts been crushed?  How does that affect their current behavior?

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.

The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 19:33, 34