Love follows need: Migrants receive care in the Harlingen airport

By Marv Knox

A simple question launched a ministry that touched more than 100 refugees in a single week and promises to serve thousands of lonely, vulnerable people in the months to come.

An immigrant named Karina approached Eddie Bernal, a worker helping travelers at a gate at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, at the southern tip of Texas, just miles from Mexico.

“The lady spoke no English and asked for help understanding when her plane would board,” explained Bernal, a member of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Harlingen. “I started to help her, and then she told me her child was hungry, and she only had 100 Mexican pesos, which the restaurant would not accept.

“Later, when I mentioned her to my co-workers, a lot of them said they had experienced something like this lately,” he added. Some, like Bernal, gave immigrants money out of their own pockets. Some helped reschedule flights. Some even put immigrants who had been dropped off at the wrong airport in their own cars and drove them to the airport in nearby Brownsville.

The woman’s plight reflects a new trend at the airport, Bernal said. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun releasing immigrants who have been bottled up at the border with Mexico. Some, who have been impacted by the government’s “remain in Mexico” policy, have languished in tent camps and shelters up to two years. Others have arrived more recently and provided credible evidence their lives are in danger in their homelands. All are seeking asylum in the United States.

The flood of immigrants has posed a challenge for nonprofit organizations and volunteers seeking to help them. The pace is grueling, and the situation keeps changing.

Bernal noticed government officials started to drop immigrants off at the Harlingen airport several times a day—and as early as 5 a.m. Although they have plane tickets, most cannot read English. Many have little, if any, money. Most arrive with only their immigration papers and a small bag. Almost all have small children in tow.

So, Bernal and his wife, Elizabeth, launched a ministry, The House of Love and Justice, to share the love of Christ—and to provide practical help—to immigrants far from home and often confused.

“We started contacting people from our church and friends,” Eddie Bernal said. “We put goodie bags together, to provide the migrants with basic necessities as they board these planes to meet up with their sponsors.”

They schedule volunteers to work shifts from 5 to 7 a.m., 10 a.m. to noon and 3 to 5 p.m. The schedule mirrors the times authorities bring the immigrants to the airport, served by four airlines.

The volunteers, who work outside the secured portion of the airport, help the travelers understand how to navigate the Harlingen airport, as well as the Dallas and Houston airports, where they will change planes. They also make sure the immigrants understand their boarding passes.

And they provide comfort. “Some of the women are really stressed,” Bernal said. “Elizabeth comforts them and provides scriptural, biblical counseling. Otherwise, they will be breaking down. They’re afraid; they’ve already been through a lot.” 

Most immigrants are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Some come from Mexico and Latin America. Most are heading to live with family, friends or other sponsors in Los Angeles, New Jersey, Florida and Louisiana. 

Two key leaders in Fellowship Southwest’s immigrant relief network helped the Bernals set up their new ministry—Jorge Zapata, associate coordinator of CBF Texas and founder of a nonprofit, Hearts4Kids, and Elket Rodríguez, immigrant and refugee advocacy and missions specialist for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest.

The ministry is vital, Rodríguez noted. 

“Many migrant families—particularly children with their moms—are arriving hungry and disoriented at the Harlingen airport,” he said. “Eddie has a big heart to serve the migrants and the Lord. He realized he could do something to meet the guidance, food, translation, personal care and direction needs of these migrants once they arrived at the airport.  

“This ministry is important because the number of migrants arriving at the Harlingen airport is expected to grow in the upcoming weeks. Many immigration officials at the Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Reynosa and Del Rio ports of entry are allowing more migrant families to enter the country, based on humanitarian reasons.”

This ministry wouldn’t have come about except for the Bernals’ compassionate hearts, Rodríguez stressed. 

“God had been leading Eddie and Elizabeth to this ministry,” he explained. “God had been creating in them the heart, the compassion and the love necessary to work with migrants and those in need. 

“In the weeks leading up to the launch of this ministry, Eddie was delving into Deuteronomy 23:3-4, where God rebukes Moabites for not assisting the Israelites after they fled Egypt. This isn’t Moab, and migrants today aren’t Israelites, but Eddie’s and Elizabeth’s ministry is true to the Bible.”

Fellowship Southwest is supporting The House of Love and Justice as part of its immigrant relief ministry all along the U.S.-Mexico border. If you would like to support this ministry, as well as pastors serving migrants elsewhere on the border, click here.

Marv Knox is coordinator of Fellowship Southwest.