The Immigration Service and Aid Center project is a collaborative ministry between Buckner Children and Family Services and the Baptist General Convention of Texas that focuses on equipping churches and other organizations to engage the immigrant community along a continuum of ministry options.
As a starting point, ISAAC provides unbiased immigration information from a Christian perspective. Whether it is through personal visits, sermons, Web site information, newsletters or through the ISAAC blog, the staff at ISAAC will help your organization “separate the wheat from the chaff” on a broad range of immigration issues and topics.
ISAAC helps churches seeking to move further along the continuum by supporting service ministries such as ESL, citizenship, or other literacy programs. Through its relationships with other literacy organizations, ISAAC can help your church find the training and resources it needs to set up these types of ministries.
ISAAC is also creating the Philemon Network which works to aid those who have been deported.
When an alien is deported, the Federal Government will take them to the nearest border crossing in their home country and drop them off. They follow this same practice for children. For deported Mexicans in Texas, this means they are left in Juarez, Ciudad Acuña, or other border towns irrespective of where they where they came from originally. As you can imagine, this creates a dangerous situation. In response, ISAAC is developing a network of churches in Mexico that will show hospitality to these individuals as they find their way back to their original home in Mexico.
Finally, there is a dire need for quality immigration counseling and service at an affordable price. Far too many immigrants have been scammed by “notarios” and immigration consultants who prey on their lack of familiarity with the legal system. For others, the cost of an immigration attorney keeps effective legal counsel out of reach. In response, the Federal Government has allowed non-profit organizations, such as churches, to become “recognized organizations.” To become a recognized organization, the church will have to undertake a rigorous application process and must have “accredited” representatives.
ISAAC provides technical application assistance and trains church representatives. The application process takes approximately one year and there are some costs involved, but the results are outstanding. ISAAC has helped two Texas Baptist groups become “recognized” in the past year and a half. These groups have aided immigrants to become citizens, processed paperwork for visas, and, in some cases, even helped undocumented aliens to remain legally in the United States.
Wherever a church finds itself along the continuum of ministry services, ISAAC will support ministries, develop relationships and provide education to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We believe that Romans 13 and Hebrews 13 are not mutually exclusive and that they seek to help churches minister to a mission field that has come to us.
Visit the ISAAC blog at http://isaac-project.blogspot.com/ or sign up to join our newsletter.
