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For one week in August, a group gathered at the Southern Border for an event hosted by CCDA’s Immigration Network and Abara, a CCDA organizational member. During this immersive and educational experience, participants were invited to listen, learn, and reflect on what they can learn from the border, who they are called to become, and how they can engage closer to home.
This border encounter was a space where practitioners could sit together to learn, listen, ask questions, re-humanize relationships outside the news cycle, and stand in solidarity with those who sojourn over many miles in search of safety.
We asked some of the participants about their experience at the Southern Border. Here are their reflections.
Being an immigrant from Mexico and facing racism in my hometown of Seattle since I was a child, standing at the memorial of the mass shooting in El Paso hit me hard. It reminds me how important it is to share my story of migration to the US with all the uncomfortable details so that I can help change the narrative of who migrants are. We are not all criminals and drug smugglers, but fathers, brothers, mothers, coaches, and friends. We are people, loved by God, just like everyone else, and not worthy of senseless violence or discrimination.
The Border Encounter with Abara opened my eyes to the current struggles of our fellow sisters and brothers at the Southern Border like no other experience has. As an immigrant from a border town, I am reminded that God is at work continually and requires the Saints to be involved.
The Border Encounter was highly effective for me. I feel better prepared to work with immigrant families and now feel compelled to share information with others.
“In the midst of pain and hopelessness, you guys come to bring us some joy and celebration,” a woman in the Juarez shelter shared.
We don’t always comprehend the importance of showing up for the most vulnerable. Being present shows that we care and will do something. That is the body of Christ truly welcoming the foreigner, and we welcome Jesus as we do so.
I was struck by the fact that lament (due to terrible pain and suffering) and celebration (due to great joy) are often so close together in life, and God calls us to both. Both are important and important to share in together.
This past year has been painful in many ways for me and for a woman I met in a shelter in ways I can’t imagine. And yet, I was invited in to celebrate her graduation, and she readily celebrated my recent pregnancy with me.
It feels like there shouldn’t be space for joy in the midst of tragedy or lament in the midst of a joyful occasion. But it seems like that is the path Jesus demonstrated for us and leads us in… together.
Are you looking to connect with others who share a common passion for just and humane immigration reform? Do you want to learn more about how you can serve immigrants in your community? Join CCDA’s Immigration Network.
Learn more about Abara’s Border Encounters and how you can get involved.
