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The General Board of Church and Society is offering a free online Bible study about immigration titled 'Responding with Faith.' Following is an excerpt from Lesson 1:

Learn: Remember Jesus? parable. ?

Enter a Samaritan. We don?t know his name, only where he came from. We don?t know what he thinks about the person laying on the road. But we know he is called good.

Jesus? listeners knew about Samaritans. Samaritans were from across the border. They took risks to cross over borders. They were taught to be seen as the enemy ? the source of many social and political problems in Israel. Their children don?t play with our children or go to the same schools or go to the same church together.

Even worse: Because Samaritans were seen as a threat across their national borders, Samaritans had less access to good farms and had a difficult time growing food for their families. They had fewer doctors, teachers and jobs.

Jesus asks: 'Who loved their neighbor? Who showed mercy and who did justice?'

If we were to write a sequel to this parable, can we imagine that the good people of Jericho and Jerusalem got together and took control of their situation? They faced those fears that caused them to see each other as enemies and not as welcomed neighbors. They didn?t want this tragedy to happen again so they put more streetlights on the dark Jericho road. They offered clean water and found out why people were walking on the road away from their homes in the first place.

They discovered people were desperate because they needed not just food but work. So they decided to train people for good-paying jobs so that they would not depend on handouts. They walked on the Jericho road night after night and prayed with the people who traveled across the borders. They learned people?s language, music and stories, ate and shared food together. They told newspapers, radio and TV and protested when the needs of the people on the road to Jericho were neglected and intentionally overlooked.

When we really know our neighbors, we?ll know what is really expected of us.

With whom do we most and least identify? How can our Christian response to immigrants mirror the biblical model of offering welcome, mercy and justice? How is this parable living itself out in our nation and our church today as we respond to the needs of immigrants and recognize their assets in our communities?

Act: From the founding of the United States to the present our nation is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants have historically come to the United States with new energy for work, hope for a better life, and holding the shared values that have helped build this country. It is not difficult to say that the vitality and growth of the United States is largely, if not entirely, due to the presence of immigrants. Today, immigrants remain a significant part of this country?s communities, schools, workplaces, and churches. They are our neighbors. Indeed, they are us.

Pray: Lord Jesus Christ, you ask us to love mercy and do justice and to see ourselves and you in our neighbors who cross borders. Help us to be reconciled to our neighbors and find reconciliation in you. Amen.

For information and to download the study, see www.umc-gbcs.org.