MIGRATION IN THE BIBLE: THE ALIEN AND THE STRANGER

Migration is not a new concept in the Bible, with, for example, the Old Testament narrating numerous stories of migration, both forced and voluntary. It implicitly began with Cain after he murdered his brother Abel (Gen 4:8). God cursed him and commanded that he would be a “…fugitive and a wanderer of the earth” (Gen 4:11-12). The story of Cain marks the first forced migration story and the first murder story in the Bible;

however, though Cain has wronged him, God does not say migration is a punishment.

Rather, God curses Cain when he tells him that the ground will no longer yield any crops for him. As a wanderer and fugitive God says he will protect him from any harm.

A second story of forced migration in the Bible sees Joseph being sold as a slave by his brothers to the Egyptians. Though a foreigner and a slave, Joseph‟s wisdom and intelligence became his passport to a better life and he managed to save both Egypt and his family from famine (Gen 37:27; 41; 45:16 ff). A third story of forced migration is that of Moses, who fled persecution after murdering an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, Moses‟ fellow brother. When Pharaoh heard about it he sought to kill him (Ex 2:11-15) but Moses had already fled.

Forced migration, as painful and frightening as it may be, can become a phase of success, triumph and liberation, bringing excitement and hope of a new life (Lee 2010:160). For example, Joseph rose from slavery, being a stranger and alien to a hero and saviour of the Egyptians and his family including his brothers who sold him (Gen 41:37ff; 42:1ff;

45:1ff.). Moses went from being a foreigner, stranger and a prisoner on the run to a hero

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and an advocate of liberation when God used him to lead the people of Israel out of oppression (Ex 12:1-51). For Hasson and Whitaker, foreigners have gifts and talents, as well as hopes and fears (2010:9), and can be agents of change as well as liberators. They can fulfil their ambitions if society allows them to use the gift and talents.

According to Lee (2010), many migrants look forward and are excited about the possibilities of a better life. At the same time, “the act of migration forces the immigrant to experience a dimension of looking backwards. Immigration may involve pain and loss, as people struggle with a severing of family ties, secure jobs, friendship and even pets” (Lee 2010:160). The issue of migration threatens the ontological security³¹ of migrants and may force them to accept control, manipulation exploitation and psychological exploitation (Groody 2009:3). Lee (2010) writes that migration brings outer change first, but in the long run inner change, and believes that outer change of the environment without inner adjustment will result in conflicts, pain and grief, because so much of human identity as individuals is related to external roles and social context (Lee 2010:165). For instance, URMs‟ migration is not different from that of adults because both are migrants who lose something and gain something out of their migration. Therefore, migration of URMs becomes bad when no one is available to protect or guide them. URMs‟ migration is more than just voluntary, it carries both the characteristics of voluntary migration and those of forced migration, making the terms problematic. People may choose to disconnect from their genealogical connections because someone or something has pushed them to do so, and/or because they wish to.

Voluntary migration in the Bible happened on many occasions. Abraham was called by God to move from his land to a new land. He volunteered and listened to God, so one cannot say he was forced to leave because God said to him “leave your country, your people and your father‟s household and go to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

There was no language of force in what God said, but rather it was a matter of obedience and Abraham‟s faith in God. The Bible does not disclose whether he resisted or not, but he would have missed his family and there was a genealogical discontinuity in his life.

31 According to Giddens 1991 Ontological security “stems from a sense of order and continuity to life which in turn gives life meaning. Meaning is derived through stability and predictability in our experiences.”

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Ruth‟s migration parallels that of Abraham, because she voluntarily migrated to her mother-in-law‟s native land, determined to join her wherever she went (Ruth 1:14-22). The parallel of Ruth‟s story with that of Abraham is that both choose to leave their genealogical connections, homes and friends through obedience, love and loyalty. Neither explicitly mourned this discontinuity, but as human beings they could have grieved internally. The difference between Ruth and Abraham‟s migration was that Ruth was not invited or commanded, but willing. Maybe she felt obliged to follow her mother-in-law because when she was with her she felt closer to her late husband, or since she was married she felt her mother-in-law‟s home is her home (Ruth 1:16-17).

Voluntary migration, like forced migration, presents challenges to the migrant. It also involves many changes, outer and inner, and the ontological security of the migrant is threatened by the loss of relationships, status, religion, language and customs. Thus, Lee posits that “one way of understanding the immigration experience is as a psychosocial transition involving a variety of losses” (2010:162). Migration in the Bible involved adults, but not unaccompanied children. Children, though not specifically mentioned in the Biblical narratives, migrated with their families and probably the extended family, but they are not mentioned. Therefore, as pastoral care caregivers, guided by the Bible to love our neighbour and care for the stranger (Mat 22:39), we should condemn unaccompanied children‟s migration as something that is not normal, but meanwhile provide pastoral care and counselling to children who have already migrated unaccompanied by adults.

The key theme that is found in the Hebrew Scriptures is that of the requirement of Israelites to love and care for the stranger, travellers, foreigners and fugitives, a theme that also acts as a metaphor for understanding the relationship Israelites had with God, as God‟s chosen race, sojourners and as migrants. On the other hand, this theme also helps in understanding Israelites in their history and their relationship with foreigners and strangers (Woodward 2009). Some in the Bible migrated as children, for example Joseph when he was sold by his brothers to the Egyptians by his brothers (Gen 41:37ff; 42:1ff; 45:1ff.).

Cain and Moses were in their youth or adolescent years, so according to the current legislation of children‟s rights they were minors. Though these adolescents were in crisis, as research has indicated, they did not receive any form of counselling beyond God‟s intervention on their behalf.

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4.6 PASTORAL CARE METHODS AND STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN IN