Capernaum embodies the gospel in Matamoros

Iglesia Bautista Capernaum delivers bread and the Bread of Life to asylum seekers in the campgrounds of Matamoros.

At least two days a week, the small congregation brings lunch to immigrants waiting out the asylum process in tent villages amassed just south of the U.S.-Mexico border. 

But Pastor Rogelio Pérez is sure to feed their souls as well as their stomachs. Each visit to the campgrounds includes a worship service, in which Pérez invites the refugees to accept ultimate asylum in the love and grace of Jesus.

Rogelio Perez, right

“We had more than 140 people who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,” Pérez reported near the end of the first week of March.

“Now, all immigrants are on the river border and are sectioned by countries—Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia,” he said.

Early this month, Elket Rodríguez (pictured above), the CBF/Fellowship Southwest advocacy coordinator based in Harlingen, Texas, accompanied Pérez on visits to the immigrant campgrounds. In addition to helping strengthen CBF’s immigration advocacy endeavors, Rodríguez helps refugees complete their asylum applications correctly, increasing their slim hopes of immigrating to the United States.

Fellowship Southwest provides financial support for the immigrant ministry of Iglesia Bautista Capernaum and Pastor Pérez. If you would like to contribute to this effort, click here.