You may think that your ancestry belongs to one nation, but the truth is most of us have a story of immigration somewhere in our family. That migrant blood runs through your veins. Whether through political exile, economic necessity or in the pure pursuit of happiness, migration has been a fact of your history. It's no small thing to up-sticks and leave everything you know and everyone you love, in order to move to an alien culture, full of hope but fearing the worst. The immigrant story is your story. Immigrants all through history have been pioneers, working for a better life for their children, fleeing persecution or just hoping that a new land will offer a new life. The Christian story is that of the refugee in search of a new life; the Christian soul has never found peace on earth, we have always found our refuge in God. He welcomes us into His family, His Kingdom and treats us as sons and daughters. We are adopted royalty in His country.

We are faced with a tragic amnesia when it comes to our own lineage. We need desperately to relearn our history, to retrace our spiritual ancestry. We are adopted into God's family, into the line of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, Daniel, Ruth, David and Jesus. Into the story of the Jewish people, whose very origins were as economic migrants in Egypt.  Into the line of David through Jesus; that is a line of refugee's. From Abraham, who was an economic migrant to Egypt, right the way through to Jesus who sought political asylum in that same land. The Christian family is an immigrant family, our God has the heart of a refugee.

As long as we separate our political and personal identities we live with a foot in two kingdoms. While we prioritise our allegiance to Queen or Country, we make idols of ethnicity or nationality. We must begin to live again in the light of our adoption into His family, the original immigrant clan. We may respect, even love and cherish certain things about our nation and our respective people groups and cultures, but in light of our adoption into His family we must choose allegiance to His Kingdom first. Don't you know that you are a prince, a princess in the court of the King who brought all things into existence, you are royalty in this Kingdom without subjects or borders. I do not wait for the day after judgement when I will live in His glory in some sort of ethereal city in the clouds, because my Christ proclaimed that His Kingdom is at hand and I have already started to make that Kingdom of Heaven my home.

By Patrick & Jana