You may have noticed the owner of Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has got himself into a spot of bother by saying that immigrants are colonising Britain. He has since apologised for his language. Well, I for one am glad to welcome immigrants, because I’m married to one. She came to the UK to work in the NHS. My children are bi-lingual. And in the church I pastor, I would say roughly half of our congregation is from overseas.
Our congregation has grown remarkably over the last few years. Many of those who have started coming are from other countries. Off the top of my head, in our congregation we have people from Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Peru, Ecuador, Trinidad and Jamaica. I’m probably forgetting a number of other nations (and no doubt those people will tell me about it when they read this). Despite our varied backgrounds, we’ve known a great spirit of unity and harmony in the gospel.
But to my knowledge they have all come into this country legally. And if you want to hear strong opinions about illegal immigration, you should speak to those who have come here by lawful means. When they talk to me about this subject, they don’t hold back and I have to look over my shoulder. They are far more forthright than even Sir Jim may dare to be.
