St. James Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission will present “Crisis at the Border: A Christian Response,” at 7 p.m., Nov. 16 at St. James Episcopal Church, 96 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles.
The panel will feature the Rev. Stephen Bouman, co-author of “They Are Us: Lutherans and Immigration;” local activists Jim McKeever, journalist and co-founder of senseofdecency.com; and Nina Wickett, former bookkeeper for the Syracuse Peace Council.
The panel will also feature Pie Manirarora, refugee reception and placement manager for the Center for New Americans at Interfaith Works, Syracuse.
The panel discussion is free and open to the public.
Since 2019, McKeever and Wickett have volunteered with non-profit organizations that are providing humanitarian assistance to migrants at the U.S. Southern Border.
They recently returned from a two-week trip to Tijuana, Mexicali and southern San Diego.
The trip was one of several they have taken to the front lines of the crisis.
McKeever was a staff writer for The Post-Standard in Syracuse for more than 20 years.
In his blog, Border Humanity, borderhumanity.substack.com/, he shares the stories of asylum seekers, migrants and humanitarian volunteers he has met in Mexico, California and Texas.
Wickett spent most of her career in finance and accounting.
She was the Syracuse Peace Council bookkeeper for 10 years and travels with McKeever to the U.S. Southern Border. Bouman served as a parish pastor in New York City and New Jersey, as bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), as executive director of domestic mission for the ELCA, and on the board of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (lirs.org/).
He is currently serving as the interim lead pastor at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, Il.
Manirarora came to the U.S. from Rwanda in 2018. He holds a B.S. degree in computer engineering and information technology from the University of Rwanda College of Science and Technology and is a candidate for a master of public administration degree from Syracuse University.
He previously worked as a technical vocational education and training schools administration monitor in the eastern province of Rwanda.
