9th July 2025

Why do people migrate? Why DID people migrate?

My family tree in the nineteenth century includes many of the reasons.

There were three sisters plus two husbands who went to the USA as very early Mormons on the ‘Great Trek’ to Salt Lake City enduring persecution (and attacks from Native Americans) and were thought to be very peculiar by their brothers who all stayed here. They were seemingly not to be mentioned back here and two generations later this bit of family history was not mentioned again. Great-great-uncle Roger went to the Australian goldrush but arrived too late, came home and went to Toronto in Canada to work as a wheelwright turned car mechanic. Quite a few emigrated to America when times were hard in the wool/cotton industry in 1850s. One deserted from the Navy and fled to Canada. One, having gone bankrupt, went to Philadelphia in disgrace and made good.

All these find echoes in the Bible; ne’er-do-wells, exiles, the hungry seeking food and employment, those moving to better business opportunities. Paul usually went first to Jewish communities and synagogues at his stops on his missionary journeys – Jews in substantial numbers who had risked all on a better future outside Israel.

The Old Testament has quite a lot to say about how to treat strangers. Clearly the law was poorly observed and it was necessary to spell it out in some detail. We can see from the gospels that ‘outsiders’ were not always welcome or respected.

Fear of strangers seems always to have been a problem in all ages and all places.

Jesus’s “Who is my neighbour?” is still an uncomfortable call to us!

Margaret Clements