IDEA Corps Intern: Jamal Oakman

Communication is omnipresent in our society, whether it is verbal or non-verbal. Personally, the part of my week that stands out the most is the importance of communication. Not being able to have a conversation with asylum seekers and their children was difficult. 

It was the part that I constantly go back to when thinking about my week. It makes me wish that I could have kept up with my Spanish or started earlier on in my life. I wanted to be able to flawlessly communicate with the kids that I was taking care of. Capitol Hill United Methodist did an amazing job of hosting the asylum seekers, but it felt like I did not do a great job myself. 

I will strive to do better at speaking in Spanish and create other opportunities for people in more creative ways the next time I go back. Look out for an update on that front. It was amazing touring Salem United Methodist Church. I loved to see a community come together with minimal resources. A huge heart and a commitment to community development solved many problems that stood in the way. 

Meeting stakeholders in the community and seeing their generosity to the people who were around was great. I am glad that I was a part of meeting people in the community, even if it was just for a day. I am grateful every day that the country I live in is in a decent enough shape that my family is not forced to leave and seek asylum elsewhere. I pray to God that more people find their way out of dangerous and unhealthy situations. God showed themselves this week through all the interactions I had, and I hope that they will continue to show themselves moving forward. 

Communication might’ve been last week's word, but this week confidence is the new word. After a long week of similar movements and nonstop action, I was glad to gain some confidence this week. At the end of last week, I didn’t know that I needed confidence. I was proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and using my Spanish regularly this week.

While at Hughes United Methodist Church this week, I was blessed to help provide food for the community. This place had one of the most sophisticated and rewarding food pantries I have ever been involved with. It was like a warehouse full of food for people to come and pick up and the people that were helping run the food pantry seemed like well-oiled machines. I was proud to be the caboose of that machine. My job this week at Hughes United Methodist was to hand out lettuce, cucumbers and corn. I was the last person that people came to before they left the food pantry. It was so rewarding seeing people be so grateful and happy that they were leaving with fresh produce.

Instead of being scared and hesitant with my Spanish, I used it to the best of my ability this week. While at Hughes Memorial United Methodist, a lot of the volunteers were Spanish-speaking. So, I tried to hold conversations with them in Spanish and if I messed up, I asked them to repeat what they were saying. Even more, I spoke to the community members in Spanish as well. Many of them weren’t shocked by my ability to speak to them in their native tongue and a lot of them even welcomed it without hesitation. I always felt that when I spoke Spanish, people could clearly tell that I was an amateur. This week I didn’t feel like an amateur and I can thank God for that.

God gave me the confidence to use what abilities I already had and, not to mention the fact that those abilities were given to eat the kingdom of God. I’m glad I was able to help out this week and, hopefully, next week it will be the same.

I had a chance to work next to a man who barely spoke English this week. We were about a table away from each other and it felt more like a room. He was responsible for keeping canned goods like green beans, mixed veggies and tomato sauce stocked, as well as assorted pastas. At my table, I was responsible for rice and beans.

There was white and brown rice, lentils, black and pinto beans. 

I found it easier to open the boxes with a knife instead of trying to rip them open. I went over to his table often and said the word knife in Spanish while simultaneously motioning a cutting motion with my hand. He gave me the knife and I went along with my business. Soon after, once I started walking over to him, he already had the knife waiting and we smiled. Eventually, I reciprocated by breaking down some of his boxes. It did not take long for us to create a working system between our two tables without even speaking a word to each other. Our room of separation became smaller and smaller until we were working together. 

Once we were done with our work for the day, we introduced ourselves and shook hands. I learned that the simplest things like mutual respect and similar circumstances in a moment allow for us to create relationships with other people. No matter where we were coming from, we were both helping affect meaningful change in the community. The food pantry at Hughes United Methodist Church helps so many people. I hope that my contributions during my internship will help this food pantry become a sustainable source of food for people in that community.

The Social Principles call us to “recognize, embrace and affirm all persons regarding their country of origin.” We are called to recognize them as members of our family of God and go even further to advocate for justice for all, especially for immigrants. It feels like too often the United Methodist Church falls behind even on its own Social Principles. If our church is called to do all the things above, then why don’t we! Why are we always the last ones to step into the forefront and advocate for immigrants? There are plenty of bible teachings that tell us to love thy neighbor and to care for immigrants because at one point our ancestors were immigrants. Those words from the Bible and our Social Principles aren’t ambiguous. They are clear they tell us that our neighbor isn’t literally the person that lives next to us but the people that we share this planet with. We are called to love them and recognize them and share our gifts with them. We are called to understand their struggles and welcome them into our country regardless of their status.

I understand that in a time where the separation of church and state is extremely fluid, that people might not understand what they are called to do and to be. I think it’s simple that our God employs us to love and not only ourselves but people who are struggling and hurting. 

This week I had an eye-opening experience from a migrant from Venezuela. This person's papers from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would’ve been enough to transform my perspective about immigration. The papers were extremely confusing and convoluted, imagine how difficult it is for someone coming from a different country to understand those papers. But what got me was the story behind it all. A person traveling more than three months by themselves, sometimes with shoes and sometimes without them through rainforest and desert-like conditions, seeing crocodiles and dead corpses along the way and barely having enough to eat. It changed my perspective. It’s hard for me to sit by and not want to help especially when my God and church call me to do so.

Over the past few weeks I have been organizing multiple issues. The first being shortage of materials. While helping with refugees coming from the southern border, there is a shortage of all essential supplies. The first few weeks, there was a shortage of socks, backpacks and clothing for the refugees. As a result, I created posters and flyers to make the conference aware of donations that they could give to the refugees. All of these supplies are integral to making travel easier in the United States. Many of the needs changed to more essential hygiene products. Many of the refugees are often asking for deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shaving cream and razors, etc. Additionally, they were looking for coats and light jackets for their travels. In order to organize around these basic needs, it is important to show up and try to provide in the best way possible. 

Over the past few weeks, I have been organizing messaging and social media for the Title 42 media campaign. The challenge with this type of organizing is creating something from scratch with no direction. It was difficult to come up with ideas for the social media campaign. The time to create things took a lot longer than I thought they would. The goal of this campaign is that people in our conference will understand what Title 42 is and how they can influence the end of the policy. 

I have seen God the most in the people that I am working with. The volunteers and workers of the food pantry at Hughes United Methodist, Pastor Cassandra Nunez at Salem United Methodist Church and the volunteers and workers at Capitol Hill United Methodist. All these people have shown me grace personally and to the people who we are in ministry with. They all have flawlessly executed their ministries in a way that shows the love of God. They have all shown a passion for the work they are doing. It makes me want to work harder and care for more people. I hope that one day I find a passion for the ministry and work like they have. It is truly inspiring to see them all go above and beyond for others as God has commanded us to do. 

Throughout this last week of my internship, I want to see some closure to many of the projects that I have been working on. I hope that after this I have found a new passion for helping immigrants. I pray that God gives me the wisdom to feel and sense the presence around me.

I had no idea what to expect out of this internship when I learned I was going to be focusing on immigration. I figured that I would be working with new immigrants to the United States and working on policy to make their lives better. I expected to strengthen my Spanish communication throughout this internship. As it evolved over the last couple of weeks, I came to understand that service of a community is service to immigrants. We are a country of immigrants and we should treat everyone with the same respect as we would any other person. We are commanded to live, welcome and fight for justice by both our God and our church.

To the members and volunteers at Hughes United Methodist, thank you for welcoming me into your community, it was truly and honor to serve next to you. It is my hope that I will go back a few times a month to continue service. To Pastor Cassandra Nunez, thank you for being a role model for an inclusive community. You welcomed me into your community and gave me opportunities to fellowship with you. To Emma Escobar, thank you for being a great guide and mentor for this internship. Through you I have learned the importance of a story and how powerful people can be with their words.

I pray that this is only the beginning of the service I hope to bring to many immigrant communities.