For this year's Refugee Shabbat, we're pleased to welcome Rev. Elizabeth Estes, Senior Minister of Old Dutch Church of Kingston, NY. Pastor Liz serves as the clergy spokesperson for Ulster Immigrant Defense Network, a non-profit, mostly volunteer, secular network that has grown organically to support 800 undocumented immigrant families in Ulster County, NY. Her previous work supporting a large, undocumented community in Central New Jersey led to her book, Global Grace Café: A Love Story about Battles Lost and Won to Keep Families Together in America’s War on Immigrants, a primer on immigration policies, laws, and federal tactics that affect people who reside in the US without federal authorization. It is a gripping true story of undocumented Christians who fled persecution in their homeland only to be caught in systems of asylum, detention, and deportation in the United States. With love, purpose, and determination, undocumented people joined with their U.S. citizen neighbors to beat the odds and keep families together.  

The book can be purchased online HERE. Or you may purchase it in advance for $20 on Venmo @Elizabeth-Estes-20, and Pastor Liz will bring your copy to the event.

Pastor Liz will discuss her personal experience with providing sanctuary, visits to Elizabeth Detention Center, the devastation left behind in the wake of ICE raids, and efforts to build a rapid response team. 

If you're unable to join  us, you may watch the service via Oheb's livestream page.