Sarah Amador’s time in Nicaragua — and her family’s sudden departure amid government violence — deepened her empathy for those who leave home under duress. As their church in the United States has walked alongside her family, the congregation has gained a more honest picture of what many immigrants face.

Proximity softens hearts and shifts rhetoric. As Sarah notes, it’s easy to fall into abstract debates and harsh language when you haven’t listened to the stories of those who have lived these realities. Watch the video to see how relationships can reshape our understanding of immigration.

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This video is part of the “This Is My Immigrant Neighbor” series, which invites us to see immigration not as an issue, but as a human story.

Video Transcript:

My name is Sarah Amador. I lived in Nicaragua for 10 years. I went in 2008 with the Peace Corps and then stayed on working for a Christian school down there. My husband and I got married in 2009, and in 2018, when we had to come back quickly, we saw thousands and thousands of people marching in the streets who were being shot at.

There was this very chaotic time where things just kind of collapsed. My husband felt very strongly that we needed to leave. The embassy had been shutting down, and so we left within 24 hours of that decision.

I felt like I had lost everything. But God was faithful in allowing me to continue to work with those schools. I was supported as a missionary down there, and they allowed me to transition to being a stateside consultant.

I think what maybe we don’t understand is that no one chooses to leave their home country unless they absolutely have to. My husband and I experienced that — having to leave very quickly in 2018. People don’t want to do that, especially with their young children. You see these families coming, and there’s a reason; they’re not doing it just because it sounds like fun.

One of the benefits I’ve seen within my church of seeing my Nicaraguan family members come in is that it has invited my fellow church members to think about the process that people go through. So often we are comfortable. We’re not even aware of the immigration situation because it doesn’t affect us directly.

And so for us to hear the stories of these people — what they’ve lived through, what they’re coming to — to see them come in and realize this is my brother in Christ, someone who shares faith with me, who has worked really hard to get here, it has caused some people to open their eyes and ask, “Wait a minute, what’s going on here?”

I think especially because there is so much dehumanizing rhetoric that we hear in the media and even in some of our common spaces. You can very easily slip into that without realizing it. By having someone who is flesh and blood, whose story you’re hearing, it really does cause people to reflect.

My Nicaraguan brothers and sisters showed me over and over that you don’t have to have abundant resources to be generous. You don’t have to have everything in order or be perfect at everything to enjoy and facilitate community.

By having these immigrants in our midst, it’s not just about us helping them. They bring a spirit that I think we desperately need.

I would love for us to stop using rhetoric to get what we want and stop using people as stepping stools to get it. We need to be honest about the benefits of immigration and the hardships of immigration.

We need to acknowledge, for example, that there are criminal immigrants here. We know there are people who have been convicted, deported, come back, and are causing problems in our communities. That is real. So we need to ask what needs to happen in that process to make sure that can’t continue — without punishing everyone else who has nothing to do with that.

A lot of people say, “Why do they all have to come here? Why can’t they go other places?” And it’s not that they’re not going to other places — it’s just that sometimes you don’t have anywhere else to go.

It’s really upsetting to see not only the way immigrants are being spoken about, but also how that impacts my family, my husband, and how it could impact my children.

As the church, we are called to be good neighbors. And if we allow ourselves to be impacted by rhetoric that turns our hearts against our neighbors, that is very concerning. We need to be aware of that.

And so I would encourage those who are fearful: It’s not that your fear is invalid. It’s just — let’s look at what’s happening and be part of the solution, not just sit in the problem.