Border pastors rest and retreat

Last week Fellowship Southwest brought these four pastors pictured above to Puerta Vallarta for a few days. Left to right, they are Juvenal Gonzalez from San Diego/Tijuana, Israel Rodriguez from Piedras Negras, Carlos Navarro from Brownsville, TX, and Rosalio Sosa from El Paso.

These four are some of the most long term and consistent partners that Fellowship Southwest supports on the U.S.-Mexico border. As FSW seeks to tighten up administrative practices and grow capacity, we brought these partners together for an in-person review of those policies. We are grateful to our friend and former board member Kathy Krey for her expertise in developing the procedures and documents.

One of the three days at the resort was for paperwork and business. But the other full day was pure rest. Anyra Cano led the pastors in a devotional time about the importance of Sabbath rest. One pastor reflected, "My father instilled in me the value of hard work and never stopping to rest. I needed this." Many of them are not in the habit of taking time for themselves, time to restore their spirits.

Their spouses were there as well. It was a rewarding time for them as married couples, and time for them to connect with each other and get to know each other better. The pastors have been in contact with each other over Zoom and Whats App for years now, but have not all been together at once in person. And their spouses have never met each other either. It was wonderful to witness the way they poured into each other, sharing experiences and bonding over their similar ministries.

If you feel led to support their work, you are invited to contribute to Fellowship Southwest's Knox Fund for Immigrant Relief. Your contributions are what make our work with these pastors possible.