Our identity as pilgrims on this earth should remind us that every person seeking safety, opportunity or community reflects the image of God.
A young Israelite girl, taken captive by the Syrian army, finds herself serving in the home of Naaman, a powerful commander afflicted with leprosy. Despite her displacement and suffering, this unnamed child becomes the instrument through which God brings healing — not just to Naaman’s body but to his heart. She tells Naaman’s wife about the prophet Elisha in Samaria, whose God could restore him. Naaman listens, travels across borders, and ultimately experiences both physical healing and spiritual transformation.
Centuries later, Jesus referred to Naaman’s healing as an indication of God's favoring the witness of this foreign child. This story reminds us that God often uses the faith of immigrants and exiles to bless the very nations in which they reside. Though she was a foreigner and a captive, the young girl’s witness became the channel of divine grace to a leader from a rival nation. In her courage and compassion, we see God’s intent that His people — no matter where they live — serve as instruments of healing, reconciliation and blessing.
Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly works through the diaspora — the scattering of peoples — to accomplish His purposes. Joseph, sold into Egypt, became a deliverer who saved countless lives from famine (Genesis 45:7–8). Ruth, the Moabite widow, crossed cultural and religious lines to become the great-grandmother of King David and part of the lineage of Jesus Himself. Daniel, an exile in Babylon, influenced kings through his integrity and wisdom. Esther, a Jewish immigrant in Persia, used her position to save her people from annihilation.
Time and again, Scripture demonstrates that the foreigner, the sojourner, and the refugee are often the very people through whom God moves to bring light to nations. When we recognize this divine pattern, we begin to see that today’s global migration is not merely a political or social phenomenon — it may also be a providential movement through which God is working anew.
In the kingdom of God, there are no second-class citizens. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The barriers that often divide human societies — race, culture, language, legal status — are dissolved in Christ’s inclusive love. From the earliest covenant, God called Abraham to be a blessing to “all nations of the earth” (Genesis 12:3). At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out in a way that crossed linguistic barriers, signaling that the gospel was meant for every language, tribe and people.
When we look at immigration through God’s eyes, we see opportunity, not threat; blessing, not burden. Each person arriving from another land carries within them stories, gifts and perspectives that can enrich our communities. Diversity, when embraced through the lens of God’s love, becomes a source of vitality and renewal.
Our churches and communities have been renewed by the energy and faith of immigrants who bring new life to worship, mission and service. From Hispanic congregations organizing community food banks and impacting their communities through small group evangelism, to African and Asian believers strengthening Sabbath School programs and youth ministries, the mosaic of cultures within the Seventh-day Adventist Church testifies to the beauty of God’s diverse family.
Yet, in our polarized climate, it is easy to absorb narratives that portray immigrants, especially the undocumented, as a threat to economic stability or national identity. As followers of Jesus, we are called to discern truth from fear. Scripture commands us to “love the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19). Our identity as pilgrims on this earth should remind us that every person seeking safety, opportunity or community reflects the image of God.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we must stand apart from the chorus of suspicion and hostility. Our prophetic calling is not to echo fear, but to embody hope. We are a global movement, with believers from every continent, united under one Lord. The same Spirit that sent Philip to the Ethiopian traveler and Peter to the Roman centurion compels us today to cross barriers of language, culture and nationality.
The story of the little Israelite servant girl in Naaman’s household challenges us to consider how God might use us — and our immigrant neighbors — to bring healing in times of division. Her faith transcended borders. Our calling does the same.
May we, as the people of God, recognize the divine purpose unfolding in the movement of peoples around us. May we welcome the stranger, affirm the refugee, and celebrate the immigrant, knowing that in doing so, we may be as Hebrews 13:2 describes, entertaining angels unawares.
Carmelo Mercado is the Lake Union Conference vice president for multicultural ministries.
