2008 Woodie Awards
Treat immigrants like real people
Speaker calls on Christians to reach out to immigrants
Tracey Brown, Staff Writer
Issue date: 10/17/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
Reverend Noel Castellanos said Americans should view immigrants as men and women, created in the image of God, whom He has purposefully brought to the United States.
Castellanos, a Mexican American and 1982 Whitworth alumnus, presented his lecture, "The Browning of America: Immigration, Integration and Incarnation" last Wednesday to a nearly full Robinson Teaching Theatre.
"Could it be that the dishwasher washing your dishes or the maid cleaning your room could be here because God wants them to encounter eternal life?" Castellanos said.
He said immigrants will never hear the gospel unless Christians begin treating them like real people.
"If His image is born in every person, how can we say they're just immigrants taking over our nation?" Castellanos said.
He pointed to Matthew 25, which says loving the poor is an expression of authentic faith.
With parents who served as migrant workers for most of their lives, Castellanos understands the difficulty of growing up as a minority.
He recalls living in an apartment above a garage in an all-white neighborhood. Everyday on his way home from school a group of white kids would pin him down and beat him up.
After his father got a job as an assembly line worker, attaching windshield wipers to cars for General Motors, his family was able to move into a new house in a more diverse neighborhood.
Castellanos said that although they have been called dirty, dangerous and disruptive on television, immigrants are usually respectable, hardworking and often desperate people just looking for opportunity.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that immigration will cause the U.S. population to grow from its current around 300 million to more than 400 million people in less than 50 years. The United States admits between 700,000 and 900,000 legal immigrants each year, but an additional 500,000 immigrants enter the country illegaly every year.
Immigration policy in the United States is a source of heated debate. Debate topics include: border security, temporary worker programs, assimilation by promoting the teaching of English and the issue of what to do with illegal immigrants already living in the United States.
Freshman Marco Garcia said it was nice to finally see a Latino speaker at Whitworth. He agrees with Castellanos' advice.
"Get to know people on a personal level rather than by seeing them just by their ethnicity," Garcia said.
Sophomore Jeremiah Sataraka said Castellanos' advice is important, but most people find it hard to follow because it requires getting out of their comfort zones and building relationships with those who are "different" from themselves.
Sataraka said everyone carries a set of stereotypes, but these prejudices should not hinder them from getting to know people.
"We were all created in the image of God and how we interact with people should reflect this fact," Sataraka said.
When asked what Whitworth students should do in response to immigration, Castellanos said, "When you go to McDonald's and see immigrant workers, don't just supersize it, ask them their names."
Castellanos, a Mexican American and 1982 Whitworth alumnus, presented his lecture, "The Browning of America: Immigration, Integration and Incarnation" last Wednesday to a nearly full Robinson Teaching Theatre.
"Could it be that the dishwasher washing your dishes or the maid cleaning your room could be here because God wants them to encounter eternal life?" Castellanos said.
He said immigrants will never hear the gospel unless Christians begin treating them like real people.
"If His image is born in every person, how can we say they're just immigrants taking over our nation?" Castellanos said.
He pointed to Matthew 25, which says loving the poor is an expression of authentic faith.
With parents who served as migrant workers for most of their lives, Castellanos understands the difficulty of growing up as a minority.
He recalls living in an apartment above a garage in an all-white neighborhood. Everyday on his way home from school a group of white kids would pin him down and beat him up.
After his father got a job as an assembly line worker, attaching windshield wipers to cars for General Motors, his family was able to move into a new house in a more diverse neighborhood.
Castellanos said that although they have been called dirty, dangerous and disruptive on television, immigrants are usually respectable, hardworking and often desperate people just looking for opportunity.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that immigration will cause the U.S. population to grow from its current around 300 million to more than 400 million people in less than 50 years. The United States admits between 700,000 and 900,000 legal immigrants each year, but an additional 500,000 immigrants enter the country illegaly every year.
Immigration policy in the United States is a source of heated debate. Debate topics include: border security, temporary worker programs, assimilation by promoting the teaching of English and the issue of what to do with illegal immigrants already living in the United States.
Freshman Marco Garcia said it was nice to finally see a Latino speaker at Whitworth. He agrees with Castellanos' advice.
"Get to know people on a personal level rather than by seeing them just by their ethnicity," Garcia said.
Sophomore Jeremiah Sataraka said Castellanos' advice is important, but most people find it hard to follow because it requires getting out of their comfort zones and building relationships with those who are "different" from themselves.
Sataraka said everyone carries a set of stereotypes, but these prejudices should not hinder them from getting to know people.
"We were all created in the image of God and how we interact with people should reflect this fact," Sataraka said.
When asked what Whitworth students should do in response to immigration, Castellanos said, "When you go to McDonald's and see immigrant workers, don't just supersize it, ask them their names."
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