For Episode 19, we're thrilled to have a special guest with us: Salem Afangideh, a friend of the podcast who is bold and brave woman of God, an immigration attorney, and an immigrant herself.
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She currently loves in Montgomery, Alabama, and moved from Nigeria to Alabama when she was 14 years old. In the less than eight years since she arrived in Alabama, Salem graduated early from high school, received a law degree when she was 20 years old, and worked in Washington, D.C. to help victims of human trafficking and domestic violence.

Wow.

In November, she joined forces with other like-minded attorneys to form Afangideh Global, which focuses largely on immigration law.

Some take-away points + quotes from Salem:

• There's a eucharistic nature of humans. We're constantly being poured out and broken.
• "Because I’ve been loved, because I’ve been validated, because I have that Great Love Story, I just want to share that in whatever way possible."
  
• "When you keep hearing a single narrative, it’s easy to keep a shell around yourself."
  
• “Lots of people put up statuses and tend to have an opinion on immigration, but they don’t understand basics of American immigration law."
• People of faith can compassionate listeners when talking about topics that may drudge up fear by asking things in an authentic space, becoming informed, and reaching out preemptively.

Salem's Instagram
Salem's Podcast, Thrive Table
Salem's Fave TED Talk: The Danger of A Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We sincerely hope and pray that this episode is helpful, and particularly so for those of you who are going through your own season of suffering as you listen. Know that you are not alone; the Body of Christ walks beside you and Jesus Himself knows your pain intimately and never forsakes you.

Some of the resources we mention in this episode are:

Scripture:
Hebrews 4:15
​John 11
Isaiah 53:1-6
Isaiah 42:3
James 1:2-4
Romans 5:3-5

New York Times piece:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/25/opinion/sunday/after-great-pain-where-is-god.html?smid=fb-share&referer=http://m.facebook.com

Other things that come to mind:
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/how-suffering-saved-my-faith
written by co-host Shannon about her own experience discovering a theology of suffering
http://velamag.com/superbabies-dont-cry/ 
"We want a SuperRace because we want to eradicate absolutely everything that terrifies us. We want SuperHumans so we can transcend that thing we are: human. But a SuperHuman would lack that crack in everything through which, as Leonard Cohen sang, the light gets in. There’s something in our suffering that we need. We’ve known this for millennia, and we make it clear in the stories we keep telling. The Buddha gave up his palace and meditated beneath a tree for a week. Jesus of Nazareth said yes to a cross. Our ache is our unfortunate, undeniable doorway. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, says the copper lady with the torch. When we walk into our pain, we sometimes find ourselves on the other side, freed of what we once thought we needed to feel free."


Wishing you a Holy Week full of intimacy with Christ and an Easter full of hope,
Shannon