FSW immigrant relief spending exceeds $500,000

Fellowship Southwest's immigrant relief ministry has fed, sheltered and protected an estimated 300,000 vulnerable people and committed more than a half-million dollars to the ministry along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The immigrant ministry extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. FSW supports a network of pastors who serve refugees amassed along the U.S.-Mexico border, seeking asylum in the United States.

FSW’s initial immigrant support grant of $5,000 enabled Pastor Juvenal González to build the first showers in the massive El Barretal migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego in 2018. Since then, FSW has allocated $544,120.51 to immigrant relief. That total includes funds committed to five partners and scheduled for monthly distribution through the end of the year.

The FSW immigrant relief ministry has served an estimated 302,000 people, reported Jorge Zapata, associate coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Texas, whose relationships with pastors wove the network together.

FSW’s immigrant relief funds typically purchase food and supplies for feeding programs and pay rent on immigrant shelters. Occasionally, FSW churches have banded together with contributions to purchase passenger vans and a pickup truck used in the ministry. At Christmas 2019, a group of supporters provided enough money to construct an immigrant respite shelter on the campus of Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville in Brownsville, Texas.

“Half a million dollars in less than three years is a remarkable milestone worth celebrating,” said new FSW Executive Director Stephen Reeves, who began a nine-month leadership overlap with FSW Founder Marv Knox in March. “It is a testament to the generosity of our supporters, the commitment and perseverance of these pastors and their church members, and the good work of Jorge and Marv to cultivate this network. I feel fortunate to step into leadership of such an impactful organization. 

“We know the needs will continue and with your help and by the grace of God, our support will not waiver.”

“Over and over, we’ve felt as if we are reliving the experience of the prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath,” Knox said. “You remember their story: They were at the point of starvation, but they trusted God. They remained faithful, and their flour and oil—God’s provision for their lives—never ran out. 

“Fellowship Southwest never has had an ‘immigrant relief ministry’ budget. But our pastors have remained faithful, we have shared their stories, and through generous and compassionate friends, God has supplied for every need. Our ‘flour and oil’ have remained sufficient.”

Unfortunately, those needs are not likely to diminish, Reeves reported. The numbers of asylum seekers remain as high as ever. And the U.S. Supreme Court’s Aug. 25 decision reinstating the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy means even more asylum seekers will be stranded in northern Mexico.

Key outposts in FSW’s immigrant relief network are:

• Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville (West Brownsville Baptist Church) in Brownsville, Texas — provides respite care to immigrants who have received permission to wait with U.S. sponsors for their asylum hearings; feeds homeless immigrants in downtown Brownsville. Carlos Navarro is the pastor.

• Iglesia Valle de Beraca (Beraca Valley Church) in Matamoros, Mexico — provides ongoing feeding to immigrants living in the impoverished colonias—unincorporated villages—ringing the city; offers shelter and access to medical care to immigrants in the city. Eleuterio González is the pastor.

• Hearts4Kids in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas — supports all the pastors and churches in the network; ministers to immigrants living in the colonias in the Valley. Jorge Zapata is the founder.

• El Buen Samaritano Migrante in Laredo, Texas — feeds and protects immigrants in three shelters in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, plus another each in Saltillo, Mexico, and Laredo. Lorenzo Ortiz is the pastor/director.

• Primera Iglesia Bautista (First Baptist Church) in Piedras Negras, Mexico — operates shelters for immigrants in the city, providing food and lodging on the church’s campuses. Israel Rodríguez-Segura is the pastor.

• Red de Albergues para Migrantes (Migrant Shelter Network) in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico — operates about 20 immigrant shelters, mostly in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, but also in the desert village of Palomas. Rosalío Sosa, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Tierra de Oro (Land of Gold Baptist Church) in El Paso, is the director

• Iglesia Bautista de la Calle (Baptist Church of the Street) in Tijuana, Mexico — provides feeding program for hundreds of immigrants in the El Chaparral tent camp in downtown Tijuana, plus supports other shelters in the city. Juvenal González is the pastor.

Fellowship Southwest’s support for its immigrant relief network depends entirely upon designated contributions, Knox said. FSW’s overall budget covers all operational costs, so every donation is allocated exclusively for ministry to immigrants. 

To support the Fellowship Southwest Immigrant Relief Fund, click here.