By Elket Rodríguez “Look at me,” Jesus whispered every day as I participated in a recent tour of Fellowship Southwest’s immigrant relief network. Many times, I saw him on the U.S.-Mexico border. But I also saw children of God providing ministry for Jesus’ sake. I saw tired Jesuses in pastors Juvenal González, Carlos Navarro, Lorenzo … Continue reading
By Marv Knox On the tails of Hurricane Hanna’s punishing winds, the gentle breeze of God’s Spirit breathed new life into a Rio Grande Valley family. Thanks in part to financial support from Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Disaster Response, CBF Texas has started helping two families rebuild their homes in colonias—poor unincorporated villages—near the U.S.-Mexico border, … Continue reading
By Marv Knox When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many nonprofits in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley to shut down, Hearts4Kids rallied volunteers to take up the slack. And thanks to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship donors, the CBF Coronavirus Emergency Relief Fund fueled the effort for almost a month. “H4K’s mission is to stay committed and focused to … Continue reading
By Marv Knox Through its extensive network of churches, missionaries and nonprofit partners, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship serves thousands of immigrants who live in the United States. They are not government statistics; we know them personally. They are our friends and neighbors—in colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border, Eastern Seaboard cities, and neighborhoods in-between. Because we … Continue reading
By Jennifer Colosimo A story’s most profound message most often comes from the people who lived it. So, in the case of the first Relay of Kindness, hearing it called “a story of collaboration,” transfers the focus of the story from numbers to people, from statistics to hearts and hands. Those words come from Mark … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez Hurricane Hanna left a trail of devastation as it tore through Texas’ Rio Grande Valley near the Gulf of Mexico July 25. Hanna dumped more than 15 inches of rain on the region, severely flooding rural areas and colonias. Hanna’s impetuous winds also wreaked havoc, overturning trailer homes and ripping roofs off … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez COVID-19 not only tests the limits of medical care, economic endurance and society’s willpower, but also congregations’ ability to meet burgeoning needs all around them. Three pastors from Texas’ Rio Grande Valley experience the pandemic’s stress on their churches and communities every day. Ivan De León of Iglesia Vino Nuevo—New Wine Church—in … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez The pastors on the front lines of Fellowship Southwest’s Immigrant Relief Ministry do not labor alone. Their strongest allies—their spouses—support, encourage and fortify them as they fight hunger, deprivation, exploitation, injustice and vulnerability all along the U.S.-Mexico border. These women’s tenacity, commitment and passion is unparalleled. They willingly sacrifice most of their … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez COVID-19 has transformed Fellowship Southwest’s immigrant relief ministries all along the U.S.-Mexico border. Among the pastors who guide the effort, some are reinventing their ministries, others have identified new service opportunities, and still others have suffered losses and obstacles that put their work at risk. Yet they demonstrate resiliency only achieved through … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez A crisis among global immigrants who hope—or who once hoped—to obtain asylum in the United States is playing out in desperation and hunger hundreds of miles from the U.S-Mexico border. Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state, is one of the world’s most important migration corridors. Races, nationalities, hopes and frustrations clash in Chiapas. Northbound … Continue reading
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