Georgia Student Detained, NYU Withholds Diploma, and We Want to Hear From You
Plus: White South African Pastors Respond to Trump and My Thoughts on Data, Knowledge,Wisdom and Justice
Friends! I am still repeating the prayer from our “Detained and Deported” webinar last week with experienced immigration lawyers and wise ministers who shared from their wealth of experience and expertise. We must choose love over fear, grace over guilt, and trust over control. God loves us deeply so we don’t have to be afraid – even amidst more raids, more funding cuts, more detentions, more impunity. Love must drive us, not fear, guilt or our desire to control. As Colossians 1 proclaims, it is Christ who holds us up and together.
Here are 5 things we believe are worth your time:
SCRIPTURE AND PRAYER
Episcopal Church & White South African Pastors Respond to Trump
The Episcopal Church has ended its 40 year partnership with the federal government of the United States to resettle refugees because of its steadfast commitment to racial justice and resistance to White supremacy. They have not rejected their biblical obligation to serve the poor and marginalized, but have instead refused to ally themselves with a government that seeks the opposite. Moreover, 150 White South African Christian “unanimously reject these claims” of victimization, violence and hateful rhetoric against White people in South Africa. These letters are worth our meditation and reflection especially as we ponder not just individual, but institutional resistance where we have influence. Jesus paid it all for His justice, shalom and reconciliation to be made available to all. What cost will we pay?
STATISTICS
Data, Knowledge, Wisdom and Justice
Jesus said, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. One of the things essential for that is knowledge. And like I’ve written here, there is a concerted effort by our current administration and indeed forces throughout history to hide what is happening to the most vulnerable people in our country. So as books are banned and people are taken, one of the most important things we can do is read slowly, count and pray. Because downstream of every policy is a person. Immigration advocate Austin Kocher wrote this piece outlining why data is important and another highlighting the creation of the Journalists’ Resource. Our prayers and our work for justice won’t be loving and effective if it is not informed. May we continue to read, listen and learn.
STORIES
Georgia Student Detained After Mistaken Traffic Stop
I am praying for the release of University of Georgia student, Ximena Arias-Cristobal and her father who have been told to "self-deport." The truck that she was driving was mistaken for one that had made an illegal turn. And though authorities have admitted they had no reason to stop her, they are now asking her to leave the country. Her father was stopped for speeding while picking up supplies for a client and now they are both held in a detention center awaiting proceedings. Thousands like Ximena and her family have lives, families and futures here. We pray that all of them are able to continue the lives they have lived in Georgia and elsewhere.
NYU Withholds Diploma from Valedictorian Who Protests Genocide
This is the speech that Logan Rozos, the 2025 Valedictorian for the Gallatin School gave at NYU on behalf of those suffering under genocidal bombardment, unlawful occupation and apartheid conditions in Palestine. And for it, they are withholding his diploma. Isaiah 1:17 calls us to “learn to do right, plead the case of the orphan, widow, and the fatherless and to correct oppression”. And with a calm, measured call to attention, Rozos did just that. I pray he receives his degree and join him and so many others in the chorus of voices clamoring for an end to the violence in the Holy Land.
A Call to Join the Conversation
Since January, I have been writing this newsletter and for years our team has been working to see Jesus and His kingdom reflected fully at the intersection of faith, politics and education. We would love to see you join the conversation! Post in the chat things that you think we should be talking about, comment on posts to create solid conversations, DM me the sermons and podcasts that are shaping your walk with God. And of course, join vision calls on June 11, 12, or 13 to hear what’s happening with the Crux outside of InterVarsity and political discipleship within our organization.
This unattributed reflection helped me to stay grounded in Christ when I felt shaken this week. I pray its words hold you close to Our Father’s heart too.helped me to stay grounded in Christ when I felt shaken this week. I pray its words hold you close to Our Father’s heart too.
" Brothers, sisters…
I speak to you, especially to those who no longer believe, no longer hope, no longer pray, because they think God has left.
To those who are fed up with scandals, with misused power, with the silence of a Church that sometimes seems more like a palace than a home.
I, too, was angry with God.
I, too, saw good people die, children suffer, grandparents cry without medicine.
And yes… there were days when I prayed and only felt an echo.
But then I discovered something:
God doesn't shout. God whispers.
And sometimes He whispers from the mud, from pain, from a grandmother who feeds you without having anything.
I don't come to offer you perfect faith.
I come to tell you that faith is a walk with stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.
I'm not asking you to believe in everything.
I'm asking you not to close the door. Give a chance to the God who waits for you without judgment.
I'm just a priest who saw God in the smile of a woman who lost her son... and yet she cooked for others.
That changed me.
So if you're broken, if you don't believe, if you're tired of the lies...
come anyway. With your anger, your doubt, your dirty backpack.
No one here will ask you for a VIP card.
Because this Church, as long as I breathe, will be a home for the homeless, and a rest for the weary.
God doesn't need soldiers.
He needs brothers.
And you, yes, you...
are one of them."
In Christ and for His Glory,
jonathan
PS. Pre-order your copy of “Beauty and Resistance: Spiritual Rhythms for Formation and Repair” to be released on November 11, 2025.
