ANDREWS UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE SPEAKER URGES THAT REFUGEES ARE NOT TO BE FEARED, BUT LOVED

BERRIEN SPRINGS – Issues like immigration and the plight of refugees have been in the news in recent months and were the topic of a conference last week at Andrews University. The conference came just days after President Donald Trump announced he will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program in six months unless Congress acts.
The Mission in an Era of Migrants and Refugees Conference was sponsored by Andrews University and the Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The conference included speeches and discussions on the church’s role in responding to the ongoing refugee crisis and addressing immigration concerns.
Lake Union Multicultural Ministries Vice-President Carmelo Mercado helped organize the conference and has been one of the speakers. He said the conference comes at a good time as the nation debates what to do about “dreamers” who came into the country illegally as children.
“Love thy neighbor is the main message,” he said. “Regardless of people’s status, we must reach out to each other. We believe that we must reach out and love unconditionally and churches are in a good place to do that.”
“One reason why we’re having this conference is to educate people that refugees are not to be feared but loved. These are people who want to work and serve. They are fleeing persecution and difficult situations and are looking for peace and security.”
Mercado said he disagrees with those who think that immigrants are a burden on the host country. “I don’t think they are a burden at all, they’re adding to the economic base of the country and want to support their families,” he said. “Maybe they did not come in legally, but they feel they are Americans in culture.”
He said that while there needs to be respect for the rule of law, laws change. The Lake Union Conference is working to assist “dreamers” in their efforts to stay in the country and support legislation to resolve the immigration crisis, he said.
Another speaker at the conference was Syrian-born violinist Mariela Shaker. Shaker lived in the war-torn city of Aleppo until a few years ago when she got the chance to study and live in the United States. She sees her ability to play the violin as saving her life and now travels the world to perform and bring her message of peace and hope to people.
Shaker taught music and studied business in Syria and got the chance to come to the United States in 2013. She has since been granted asylum in the United States
“The situation started in 2011, our home was randomly bombed several times,” she said. “We had mortars falling on our heads and a neighbor was killed. We were living day to day, we didn’t know what was going on around us.”
Shaker and her family are Christian which are a small minority in the country. “I try not to interfere with politics, I hope peace will happen,” she said. “I didn’t experience discrimination in my neighborhood, we were part of a mosaic with Muslims, Christians and Kurds all visiting each other and celebrating each other’s holidays. We share food and water since the war.”
She said she was desperate to get out and worked for six months to get the chance to come to the United States to study first at Montmouth College and then at DePaul University, both in Illinois. Although she was able to get out, her parents and brother are still back in Syria.
“I wanted to make music, to create beauty in the darkness,”she said. “I think music can remove barriers. I give a message of love and peace over war and hatred. I want to spread beauty and hope through music and help light overcome darkness.”
She’s been able to do just that on stages around the world, often performing for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. She said she was “blown away” when she received a “Champion of Change” award in 2015 at the White House after being nominated by the U.N.
While she still considers herself a Syrian and hopes to go back someday to help rebuild the country, she now also sees herself as an American. “Now I feel like not just a Syrian but a new loyal American,” she said.