My guest for The Happy Hour #380 is Bri Stensrud. Bri is the director of Women of Welcome, a Christian community that pursues Christ-like welcome to immigrants. Bri has so much experience in many different human justice and advocacy spaces. From protecting the unborn to adoption to holistic pro-life views and immigration, Bri is someone who leads with compassion. 

Bri is a dear friend and someone I admire so much for the work she is doing for vulnerable populations. I love getting to talk with her as she challenges me to look at things harder and longer, and it always shows me that there is more than meets the eye. In today’s episode, we talk about her expanded view of pro-life and what it means to act as different parts of the body of Christ. Bri also touches on some of the criticism and loneliness of having a holistic pro-life view, and the strains it can cause in relationships, churches and families. The holistic pro-life view tends to be criticized because of a political gap – people who advocate for social justice generally tend not to advocate for the unborn and vice versa. But Bri teaches us that it can truly be both/and. I love so much when she says “You’re going to confront people in your family, people in your church, people in your community who are not going to understand what the love of God compels you to do. But you should do it anyway.” Wow. Jesus gives us passions for a reason, He designs each of us to act at a specific part in the body of Christ. Sometimes stepping into that role has a cost and people don’t understand, but our obedience to Him is everything, even if we lose it all. I am unbelievably thankful for Bri’s passion in this space, and her commitment to following Christ’s calling.

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