About us
Christian Migrant Network is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation dedicated to assisting immigrants in transition within legal limits.
This is accomplished by 1) helping families left behind when a loved one has been deported; 2) providing guidance and education regarding the pros and cons of self-deportation; and 3) providing relocation services when returning to their native country is not an option.
Christian Migrant Network aims to attract donors and provide resources that include legal guidance.
We are committed to providing all these services within the parameters of the law.
Scriptural Authority
Jesus gave only two commandments when asked what the most important commandment was (Matt. 22:36-40), namely, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (NIV, emphasis added).
As His disciples, our daily lives can be no greater testament of our faith and trust in Him than joyfully following His instruction. And Jesus made no distinction between a neighbor of a different race, gender, nationality, or immigration status. Notably, the Bible repeatedly makes it clear that immigrants, frequently referred to as sojourners, strangers, aliens, and foreigners, are to be treated as our neighbors.
Some of the scriptures, both Old Testament and New, that the leadership of this Ministry finds compelling in this regard are the following:
Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision in 1950, wrote in his Bible while in Korea, “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”
We simply pray that those who view this webpage and read the scriptural mandate laid out in part above will join our appeal to “Let our hearts be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”
Board of Directors
At the Christian Migrant Network, we are dedicated to empowering migrants by providing essential support in navigating their legal options. Our team is committed to ensuring that every individual receives the guidance they to make informed decisions. Together, we strive to create a welcoming where every migrant feels valued and understood. Let us help you on your journey to a future.
Historical Context
Many have asked how the CMN came about, and accordingly, what follows is a brief explanation of the events culminating in the ministry as it exists as of November 25, 2025.
In 2015, the founder, Steve Trost, and his wife, Jennifer, unexpectedly left Tucson, where they were residing, and Steve was pastoring the Good News Community Church, and returned to Salt Lake City to assist their daughter in securing her second kidney transplant.
After months of seeking the Lord’s direction for what type of service He might bless Steve with in Salt Lake, Steve founded the Good News Legal Clinic (GNLC), a nonprofit, 501(c)3 Utah corporation designed to provide legal services for no or greatly reduced fees based on income and in a Christian context.
Steve practiced primarily in the area of immigration law and was troubled by being limited to providing a legal course of action for only approximately 50% of those seeking a pathway to citizenship in the US. Sadly, the others simply had no legal remedy available. The GNLC paused its operations in 2019 for various reasons but was resurrected in 2024 when a group of Christian church planters approached Steve with the intention of launching a new church, with a non-profit legal clinic as a ministry, in a suburb of Salt Lake with an extensive Venezuelan refugee/asylum-seeking population. While enthusiastically working toward this goal, it became clear that the Clinic should launch independently of the proposed church since the need for legal services was great and immediate, while the church was building its membership base at the normal pace.
Thus, under new leadership and staff, the GNLC began accepting clients once again in 2024. Steve assisted in the launch and startup phase by interviewing and assisting prospective immigration clients, only to find once again that only about 50% of those presenting had a viable legal remedy affording the possibility of a visa, green card, or citizenship. This cold, cruel fact caused Steve to continually ask the Lord what about the other 50%.
Then one night the Spirit clearly told him that the church, the entire body of Christ, without regard to denominational or non-denominational affiliation, should be mobilized in a network (a group uniting for a purpose, not including doctrinal or organizational unity), not to resist what the Trump Administration is undertaking, but rather to minister to:
1) the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social needs of the families left behind when a loved one was deported, estimated between 11 and 20 million current residents of the US,
2) advise and assist those undocumented residents seeking “self-deportation” via the Department of Homeland Security’s Project Homecoming on the pros and cons of the program, and
3) Create a database to assist those being deported, and their families, in choosing a new country to relocate to that would welcome them and provide an atmosphere where they would be safe and have the ability to thrive.
Since receiving that clear, albeit overwhelming, direction that night, Steve has been diligently praying for guidance as he went about, fully committed to founding the CMN, building the leadership, infrastructure, network, and database.
Legal and Scriptural Context for CMN
Biblically, Christians are instructed to respect and submit to secular authorities and the laws and policies promulgated by these authorities because God has established them for His very own purposes and glory. See for example, 1 Peter 2:11-25 and Romans 13:1-7.
Guided by these principles of respect and submission to authority, the CMN leadership fully recognizes the color of law that empowers President Trump to promulgate administrative rules, executive orders, and advocate for changes to existing immigration laws to effectuate its goal of deporting eleven to twenty million undocumented residents estimated to be currently residing in the US after existing immigration laws.
Of course, any such administrative rule, executive order, and legislation is subject to judicial review, as has frequently been the case when other administrations have tested the boundaries of authority prescribed by the Constitution to the executive branch. In fact, there is an entire body of law that began developing from the earliest days of the US Constitution, sorting out the relative authority of each of the three branches of government with respect to each other (see, for example, the US Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison (1803)). Thus, from the very beginning, our democracy has struggled with the tension among the three branches of government.
In addition to the tension between the three branches of government, equally challenging to navigate is the tension between the Christian ethic taught by Jesus and the devastating impact on the family members left behind when a loved one is deported.
When asked, Jesus unequivocally responded that the most important commandment is first, to love God, and then He quickly added, The second is like it, "Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:38, 39 NIV). This second commandment (not a mere suggestion, but a “command”) occurs 296 times in the Old Testament (often as “mercy”) and is specifically demonstrated by Jesus or otherwise called for 43 times in the New Testament by its various authors. (See the section on this website under the tab “Scriptural Authority” for a sampling.)
Therefore, there can be a tension between the secular government rightfully exercising its authority to deport millions and the Christian ethic to love our neighbor, depending on the facts. And accordingly, each Christian may be faced with resolving this tension at some point in their life, and undoubtedly, they will search the scriptures and pray for the Spirit’s guidance and wisdom in choosing the correct course of conduct.
However, the founder and leadership of the CMN feel no such tension between the Administration and CMN because the purpose of the ministry is not to oppose the Administration but rather to minister to those who incur collateral injuries and damage as a result of new executive orders, administrative rules, and legislation dealing with immigration. That refers to spouses, children, and grandchildren of someone being deported upon whom they are dependent.
