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  LAST DAY - DAY 7 - BORDER IMMERSION in EL PASO - February 10, 2023 Terrie and Janet Thompson NOTE: You can contribute to Cristo Rey's Refugee Ministry through ECLC by mailing a check or using this link  and indicating your donation is for Cristo Rey. Donations will be used for food and clothing for refugees both in El Paso and in Juarez. The need is great! When the ten ECLCers set off on our border immersion, we promised ourselves and each other that we would go with open hearts and open minds. This led to a very emotional week! We heard many stories about the difficulties and risks undertaken by those traveling to the US. One woman told us, “We only want good for this country. We want to work hard and provide better opportunities for our children than we ever had.” That was a common theme, along with a strong faith that God was with them as they undertook this journey. Our final day we met with Carol Z, a volunteer working at the Papa Francisco Shelter in El Paso. They speciali
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  DAY 6 - BORDER IMMERSION in EL PASO - February 9, 2023 Steve Obaid Day by day, through exposure to people and places, we are gaining a better understanding of the process and issues surrounding immigration. To help get there we have been guided by Pastora Rose Mary Sanchez-Guzman and Pastor Juan de Dios Lopez.  Their church, Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey, is small in number of members but plays an outsized role in the support of refugees in this part of the country. The mission of the church is first to support and care for refugees and second to educate others about immigration issues. This is done through their Border Immersion Program, in which we are participating, and which is rated one of the best in the country.  We have seen firsthand how Pastora Rose Mary works tirelessly to feed and support refugees. As the director of a refugee center in southern New Mexico told us, "She doesn't know how to say no." She is the embodiment of goodness, as is Pastor Juan.  While o
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 DAY 5 - BORDER IMMERSION in EL PASO - February 8, 2023 Nancy Ott-Pinckaers Puppies and kids. Always endearing images, right? The story behind them is bittersweet and heartbreaking, however. Juarez, Mexico is a large city of 1.5 million people just south of El Paso, Texas, a city of about 700k people. My guess is that everyone reading this has seen pictures of the border between Juarez and El Paso. Today Pastors Juan and Rose Mary took our group in a large van with food and supplies to a refugee shelter in Juarez, Esperanza Todos Cara, meaning hope for all. This privately-owned shelter's 40-year-old director, Grisel, found this space, which previously was a childcare center, rented it and set up a shelter to hold about 100 people. She has had over 250 people at one time. Today census was 187. She has no governmental aid and survives on donations and a 10 dollar a week fee for each family. If they can't pay it, they still can stay. Currently the center is 160k pesos behind on th
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 DAY 4 - BORDER IMMERSION in EL PASO - February 7, 2023 Meredith Davis A day of contrasts and a day of compassion.  In the morning we attended court.  A beautiful building, interpreters, supportive attorneys, an obviously compassionate, caring judge, and yet to what point?  all the time and money spent— for 13 people whose only crime (except for one person), was to try to cross the border to earn money for their families or escape from danger.  And, as on other days, when we asked the person in charge,  for clarification about a process or regulation, the responses were “we don’t know, the rules just change so often…”.          In the afternoon, an uplifting meeting with Border Servant Corps—serving up to 200 asylum seekers daily with food, shelter and medical care—folks just arriving from being processed by border patrol.  Border Servant Corps is led by young,  idealistic leaders and administrators—giving us hope and confidence in the future.  
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 Day 3--BORDER IMMERSION in EL PASO - February 6, 2023 Lisa Novotny Our van was more quiet than usual as we drove away from A. and R.'s home in a Colonia outside of El Paso.  We have been cooking food and serving meals to refugees for the past few days, as well as listening to stories from people about their lives and their journeys to and across the border.  As A. served us her delicious tamales she shared her family's story of hardship and hope, failed border crossings, a family torn apart for years, a fingertip reunion through a hole in the border fence, and the trauma of living with daily fears of capture and deportation and imprisonment.  A. and R. had lived and worked in the U.S. with undocumented status for years, with three young children.  R. returned to Mexico to visit his ill mother and was detained and unable to reunite with his family.  The children did not understand where their father had gone, and thought he had abandoned them.  A. could not sleep for fear of im
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DAY 2 - BORDER IMMERSION in EL PASO - February 5, 2023 Lita Anderson Today we had a conversation with S. who came to El Paso from Chihuahua and found a second family at Cristo Rey. She is also a coordinator for the Border Network for Human Rights. When we asked if she had a message for the ECLC community, S. told us that it's important for all of us to work to dispel the myths about immigration, that the people who come to the US are simply hoping to make a better life for themselves and their children.   We also joined the Sunday service at Cristo Rey where we celebrated the life of Sookie Parra, one of the founders of Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey who passed away in January at the age of 103.  Our final event of the day was preparing and serving a meal to 100 refugees at  Sacred Heart Catholic Church. We're all excited to share our learnings with you when we return. 
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DAY 1 - BORDER IMMERSION in EL PASO - February 4, 2023 Dick Magnus It's only day one! But the stories, the people, the food (made by our group led by a migrant couple). The courage, the determination of those who came. The commitment of the pastoral leadership, Pastor Juan and Pastora Rose Mary. We have so much to learn, and we will have so much to share by the end of the week.   
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