Bri Stensrud
Promoting a deeper understanding of and proximity to the immigrant experience in the U.S.
As an evangelical Christian, Bri Stensrud noticed divisive and dehumanizing rhetoric concerning immigrants and refugees in her faith community. Yet the fear and lack of compassion felt inconsistent with her understanding and education of the Bible. So when she was invited on a trip to southern Mexico to learn about migrant dynamics, she opted to go. “That’s when I saw with my own eyes a much deeper and more complex story about immigration that my faith community was missing,” she says.
A faith leader with an M.A. from Dallas Theological Seminary, Stensrud set out to shift the conversation. She now leads Women of Welcome, a nonprofit with more than 150,000 members that invites Christian women to engage with Scripture and examine their call to care for immigrant and refugee neighbors. Seeing people as God does is the message that’s also at the heart of Stensrud’s two books, Start with Welcome and The Biggest Best Light.
In a 2016 study exploring evangelical Christians’ beliefs about immigrants and refugees, a fascinating data point became an opportunity for discipleship: while Christian women expressed more compassion than men, they lacked the confidence to put that feeling into action concerning immigrants and refugees. Creating opportunities for women to find fellowship, sound resources, and proximity to the issues that affect immigrants is at the core of Women of Welcome’s work.
As an Emerson Collective Fellow, Stensrud will advance Women of Welcome’s approach by expanding proximity event offerings for Christian women in states across the country. These events will give women the opportunity to meet and connect with immigrants and refugees in their communities—and vice versa. By making an abstract issue personal, Stensrud hopes to inspire women across the country to authentically practice the art of biblical hospitality and to use their voices to confidently advocate for refugees and immigrants in their communities, congregations, and in the halls of Congress.