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 Ashleigh Bugg The COVID-19 crisis has affected Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel around the world. Greg and Sue Smith, who run LUCHA Ministries, Inc., in Fredericksburg, Virginia, say the crisis has caused them to reestablish their original goals. “This has brought us back to the grassroots needs of people,” Sue said. “In more recent … Continue reading
By Blake Tommey In recent years, immigration has become a central and often divisive issue in American public life. Central American migrants, weary of violence and coercion in their home countries, have brought this pressing issue to our nation’s doorstep. To confront this challenge, people of faith across the United States, including Cooperative Baptists, have traveled hundreds … 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
By Elket Rodríguez People of faith are helping provide a buffer of protection between the coronavirus and thousands of immigrants along the United States border, a government leader in north central Mexico reported. “The best (protective) efforts have been working side-by-side with organizations of faith, specifically the evangelical churches,” Enrique Valenzuela said of the government’s efforts to contain … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez Care packages brightened the day for 90 refugees living at Albergue Juventud 2000, a youth shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, early this week. Pastor Juvenal González handed out the little boxes containing high-demand hygiene products that are hard to get in Mexican immigrant shelters. “We gave them boxes with shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, wet wipes, … Continue reading
By John Mark Boes Allow me to say something that should go unsaid: The COVID-19 pandemic that is currently gripping our country is scary. We are at the hands of a silent, invisible plague that seems unshakable. Where is the Gospel hope we so boldly proclaim in the most challenging of times? Now, imagine you … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez Have you ever been in one of those situations where you know that someone is talking to you, but is not doing it directly to you. I’m talking about that annoying moment when you feel like the transmitter of the message is not trusting your emotional ability to receive the message directly. For example, when … Continue reading
By Greg Smith Out of the blue I received a call from a true neighbor. “I know that immigrants are losing their jobs from the coronavirus [COVID-19] and many won’t be receiving government help.” Sadly, I had to agree. “So I want to help. I want to send a contribution to your ministry so you … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez Prompted by COVID-19, desperation is starting to sink into refugee camps on the border. Some immigrants are leaving the camps, others are moving to shelters, but not many are taking buses to Mexico’s southern border to return to their home countries. Worse, some are thinking about sending their children to enter the United States unaccompanied. This is the somber humanitarian tragedy of the … Continue reading
