Are you or your church interested in sponsoring refugees but need financial assistance? Now is the perfect time to act.

The administration invited a group of faith leaders, including Elket Rodriguez (CBF Global Migration Advocate) and Jennifer Hawks (CBF Director of Advocacy) to a meeting in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House. On August 1, they gathered to mobilize the faith-based community to boost participation in the Welcome Corps in the coming months.

We should all unequivocally denounce political violence. In doing so, it is tempting to claim that killing political leaders is un-American, to believe we are beyond such atrocities more common in developing nations and young democracies. History teaches this is not the case.

On Monday, July 1st, Fellowship Southwest joined the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas for its 2024 Annual Gathering and sponsored the Young Latino Track of its program.

This week our country observes and celebrates Juneteenth National Independence Day as a federal holiday for the third time. Of course, many in our country have been celebrating Juneteenth for over 150 years. 

On June 19, 1865, news of Emancipation finally reached Galveston, Texas. The legal status of enslaved people across the American South was officially changed from “enslaved” to “free” two and a half years prior with President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. But enforcement of the executive order took that long to reach Texas. 

We are excited to announce a formal collaboration with Elket Rodriguez. Elket has been an integral part of our program for many years, and now we are pleased to make him an official part of Fellowship Southwest. He will continue serving as field personnel in the Rio Grande Valley for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, while also serving with Fellowship Southwest as our immigration policy specialist. 

Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott exercised his power for popularity, and by doing so, made racially motivated political violence not just acceptable under the law, but not even answerable to it. The governor interfered with the justice system by influencing the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to issue a pardon to Daniel Perry, who was tried and convicted by a jury and sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of Garrett Foster.

Yesterday, in a 7-2 decision the Supreme Court told payday lenders to take a hike.

Ok, maybe not exactly, but that’s what it felt like. After working for reform for almost 15 years such clear victories have been few and far between and yesterday, for me, was a day for celebration.

A solid majority of the court ruled that the way Congress chose to fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not unconstitutional. That means the CFPB can continue their mission of looking out for American consumers and regulating folks like predatory lenders.

Fellowship Southwest is proud to welcome Zion Williams to the staff. Zion will be FSW’s Media Manager, a new position for the organization. Zion will be responsible for many communications tasks, like creating and sending email newsletters, social media, videos and graphics. She will be the main point of contact for news media as well, and help us get our messages out to new audiences.

A commentary by Cameron Vickrey for San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 9, 2024

The deadline looms. Every public school district in Texas has been given until March 1 to choose between what seems to be two options for the role of chaplains in their  schools. 

But many are finding their way forward with a third way. This third way might at first seem like a people-pleasing, nondecision that avoids conflict and ignores the issue, but there’s wisdom in it.

Announcing! Fellowship Southwest is ready to host interns this summer at the border. Our partners in Brownsville and Piedras Negras practice ministry to migrants every day. Interns will be serving alongside our experienced partners and learning about migrant ministry and immigration policy and advocacy. This opportunity is best suited for college juniors and seniors or graduate students. More details will be shared soon, so stay tuned! If you or someone you know is interested, please contact anyra@fellowshipsouthwest.org.

Sojo Action, la división de defensoría de Sojourners, invitó a Anyra Cano a unirse en Washington, D.C. a principios de esta semana, con un grupo de líderes religiosos latinos para compartir sobre y abogar por sus comunidades de inmigrantes. Anyra es directora de programas y alcance de Fellowship Southwest y ha organizado docenas de viajes para iglesias e individuos en la frontera este año, a los que les siguen acciones de defensoría. Una de esas actividades recientes de defensoría fue una postal navideña que los niños de dos iglesias del área de Dallas-Fort Worth colorearon y completaron para ser entregadas al Congreso durante esta semana de defensoría de Sojo.

Sojo Action, the advocacy division of Sojourners, invited Anyra Cano to join a group of Latino faith leaders for advocacy in Washington, D.C. early this week, to share about their immigrant communities. Anyra is the Fellowship Southwest director of programs and outreach and has organized dozens of trips for churches and individuals at the border this year, which are followed up by advocacy actions. One such recent advocacy activity was a Christmas postcard which children at two DFW churches colored and filled out to be delivered to Congress during this Sojo advocacy week.

A few weeks ago, I was honored to meet over 350 remarkable women from 22 Latin American countries in Bolivia. I joined my friend and mentor, Rev. Alicia Zorzoli, at a quinquennia gathering of Baptist Women in All of America (UFBAL--an auxiliary of the Baptist World Alliance).

I remember when I heard the news that migrants were being pushed into the Rio Grande and getting trapped in razor wire. I’ve never felt such horror and shame, and I know you felt that too.

Last week, I engaged in four different types of advocacy. I have experience in advocacy, but this was a rare week for me. One thing I did wasn’t more important than another. And one kind of advocacy isn’t more impactful than the others. All are needed. And all of us can do one of these things.

Today is “Meet the Teachers” at my daughter’s school, so let’s go ahead and “Meet the Preachers” for our upcoming conference today too!

Both days of the Friday-Saturday conference, Sept. 8-9, will conclude with a brief worship session. The preacher for Friday’s worship is Zach W. Lambert, and the preacher for Saturday’s worship is Rev. Victoria Robb Powers.

At the annual luncheon for the Baptist Joint Committee, a group of six women in BJC leadership were asked this question: How do you want to expand our understanding of religious freedom with a broader justice lens?

With less than two weeks left in the 88th Texas Legislative session, much remains up in the air. The recent passing of critical deadlines means several bills of concern are officially dead. Unfortunately, some good proposals died as well. In other cases bad bills have been resurrected as amendments to legislation not killed by calendar deadlines. 

The Fellowship Southwest Board of Directors held their semi-annual meeting May 4-5 in Dallas. We began our time together at the Dallas National Prayer Luncheon organized by Thanks-Giving Foundation. Andy Stoker, one of our board members, is the chief engagement officer at the Thanks-Giving Foundation, and he invited us to attend. Following the luncheon, we visited with Rev. Danielle Ayers at Friendship-West Baptist Church. She gave the board a tour of their amazing facilities, and then we had time to talk with her about her work as the minister of justice and how we can partner together.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is already celebrating the gains for what he calls religious freedom in the state's 88th Legislature. The Texas Tribune quoted him as saying, “I believe that you cannot change the culture of the country until you change the culture of mankind. Bringing the Ten Commandments and prayer back to our public schools will enable our students to become better Texans.”