By Grayson Hester

To care for mothers is to care for humanity. Michelle Norman and Elisabet Roca do their work in this sacred “Magnificat” tradition of Mary, mother of God.

“We started a program called Mamáventura,” explained Michelle. “It’s a ministry to immigrant moms and their children.”

Stationed in Catalonia, Spain, CBF field personnel Michelle and Matt Norman partner with myriad locals and institutions to enact the kind of presence-focused, equity-driven mission work that CBF endorses.

Elisabet “Eli” Roca is one such person. Eli, at 30 years old, may not have lived as much life as some of the people with whom she ministers. But her experiences, from growing up on the Mediterranean island of Menorca, to moving to England and studying theology, to returning to Spain (Sabadell, to be exact) and now working as the program director for Mamáventura—all have more than equipped her for the hard yet holy work of ministering to immigrant mothers.

Having recently become a mother—or, in her words, a “mum”—herself, it is a labor with which she resonates deeply and spiritually. “God is already at work in the life of each person, mother or child, before they come here,” she said.

Despite Spain ranking among the world’s top economies, poverty and need persist within its borders. Few people feel this as directly as the immigrant mothers who simply want to build a better life for their children. Inasmuch as they are truly the least of these, they are most worthy of attention. Indeed, Mary was not only a mother, but a political refugee at that. In this work, in an area where money and nationality erect walls, justice and Kingdom citizenship construct doors.

“The parenting groups here in Spain are all private, charging a lot of money, and that is not realistic for immigrants,” Eli noted. “The mothers come for three hours, twice a week. And together, we give them a home and a community, providing them with some sense of stability.”

Making the mothers’ situations more precarious—and Eli’s work more crucial—is the prevalence of the abuse they suffer. “We have found with our most recent groups that the large majority of these women suffer in abusive relationships,” Michelle said. They experience political abuse at the hands of callous structures, but also suffer domestic abuse at the hands of misogynistic partners.

These women carry with them children; they also carry trauma. Both situations must be addressed. And, in these circumstances, healing, as made plain by Celie in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, sometimes begins with a curse.

Fighting against the systems and the people who have harmed these women begins with community. It begins with a fostering of inner strength; a fomenting of dignity and inviolable beloved-ness lying latent within each of them.

“The strength that was already deep inside them has begun to bubble up,” Michelle said. “We’ve seen women be able to file police charges against their spouses and leave abusive situations and begin to live life on their own.”

Eli expounded, “Mothers who have been suffering abuse from their partners for years finally realize that they had to change things. And, together with the social services and support they have felt from us, they have dared to take that step.”

To mother is to embody a ministry of relentless presence. As a just means by which to do ministry, CBF too venerates mothers as models, as exemplars. Or, in other words, as people from whom we can learn much. And such learning cannot happen unless relationships are built. It’s what activists call “asset-based community development.” It’s what, arguably, Jesus calls the Gospel.

“All of that is based just on relationships, on walking alongside,” Michelle said. “We’re not giving things. We’re not giving money. We’re pointing out the strengths that these women already have within them and encouraging them.”

After all, the point of the Gospel is not mere charity. It is the business of justice. It is the relentless pursuit of wholeness within each person and among every community. It is expressed in something as simple as a hand held or a moment shared, an utterance of “you matter; you’re not alone.”

Eli might be the one providing this care, but she is cared for, too, by Michelle and Matt. “It impacted me to understand that someone appreciated us, that someone understood us, that the realization of our dreams was really possible and that our dreams were not nonsense, but really came from God,” Eli said. “To be in community, to feel that we are with people who support us, who love us, who understand us and, at the same time, to be able to give to others and to be a part this is a feeling of dynamic giving and receiving.”

And just as Mary revealed to the world the presence of Christ, caring for mothers—whether in Bethlehem or Barcelona, Nazareth or northeastern Spain—demonstrates the kind of world God seeks to build.

“God is most revealed in diversity, and diversity is in community,” Eli said. “A place where everyone is welcome.”

This article first appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of fellowship! magazine. Check out the issue and subscribe for free at www.cbf.net/fellowship.