FSW relief ministry expands to include pastors imperiled by pandemic

Sometimes, caregivers need care, and Fellowship Southwest has expanded its Immigrant Relief Ministry to support them.

Two stalwarts in FSW’s ministry to asylum seekers on the U.S.-Mexico border—Juvenal González in Tijuana and Rosalio Sosa in Juarez—recently reported an alarming result of the COVID-19 pandemic: Pastors in their local networks don’t have enough money to feed their families. 

Pastors in Baja California, Mexico, receiving food for their families.

In Baja California, the Mexican state immediately south of San Diego, about 20 pastors who work with González to start congregations received a crippling financial blow when the pandemic set in on the region, he explained. Many of the pastors have worked alongside González to help feed and care for asylum seekers clustered in camps and shelters since the first caravan of refugees arrived in 2018.

Members of Tijuana churches had jobs in San Diego and crossed the border to work on tourist visas. When the U.S. and Mexican governments tightened border security, they couldn’t get to work and lost their jobs. Many of the pastors worked in the maquiladoras—huge factories near the border. But they either lost their jobs or saw their hours cut back substantially. 

González reached out to Fellowship Southwest and requested funds to provide rice, beans, cooking oil and eggs for all the pastors, as well as support for paying some of their utilities.

Food distribution to pastors in Chihuahua

In the state of Chihuahua, south of El Paso, more than 40 pastors and their families need help with basic food necessities, Sosa reported. 

Many of these pastors served their churches without pay, but when their daily jobs began falling to the economic force of the pandemic, they also needed help, Sosa said. And as with the Baja California pastors, many in Chihuahua also helped with feeding and sheltering asylum seekers.

Fellowship Southwest has provided about $5,000 for its Immigrant Relief Fund to help secure the well-being of Mexican pastors. If you would like to support this ministry, click here.