¿Cómo lo hacemos? Esa es la pregunta que se hace el pastor Eleuterio González cada vez que piensa en su ministerio con los migrantes en Matamoros, México –al otro lado del Río Grande con Brownsville, Texas. Durante casi tres años, González y la congregación que pastorea, la Iglesia Valle de Beraca, se han levantado temprano en la mañana para alimentar, albergar, transportar y proteger a los migrantes en la ciudad fronteriza.

How do we do it? That question keeps lingering in Pastor Eleuterio González’s mind every time he thinks about his ministry to migrants in Matamoros, Mexico –across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas. For almost three years, he and the congregation he pastors, Iglesia Valle de Beraca, have woken up early each morning to feed, shelter, transport and protect migrants in the border town.

On Friday June 3, Fellowship Southwest executive director Stephen Reeves received a call from Terry Burton, a leader in the Border Collaboration Network and FSW supporter, with the terrifying news that Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz had been kidnapped. Lorenzo is a dear brother to Fellowship Southwest and a member of our border pastor network. He receives monthly support from the Knox Fund for Immigrant Relief for the three shelters he operates in Nuevo Laredo and one in Monterrey where he shelters, feeds, protects, and safely transport migrants who find themselves with nowhere to go in northern Mexico. A kidnapping like this is something we have always feared, since Nuevo Laredo is known as the most dangerous city in North America because of cartel activity.

I am a gun owner. A Remington 870 pump 12 gauge shotgun to be exact. I bought it while I was in law school in Lubbock close to family land I could hunt on. I enjoy quail and dove hunting. They are part of my family history, culture, and tradition.

For more than two months, Red de Albergues para Migrante (the Migrant Shelter Network or RAM) –an organization that operates 24 shelters in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, primarily in Juarez but as far as 100 miles west in the desert, in the village of Palomas, across the U.S. Mexico border with Columbus, New Mexico– has had an unusual guest: Russian Elena Nazarova.

Ten days before the massacre in our own region, there was Buffalo. Friend and partner to FSW, Starlette Thomas, offers this reflection in Good Faith Media of what transpired at her mom’s local grocery store and the racist conspiracy theory behind the attack.

Last week I wrote about the four words we hope define Fellowship Southwest - faithful, thoughtful, courageous and kind. I hope these characteristics also define our public witness. How do we, as a faith-based organization speak and act in the public square in response to the suffering and injustice we see and hope to help alleviate?

What can we do with so many migrants? This question kept lingering for months in Eleuterio Gonzalez’s mind, while he witnessed the arrival of thousands of migrants in Matamoros, Mexico –across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas and the city where he pastors Iglesia Valle de Beraca. And the answer to that question was simple, but it required a bold commitment: opening the doors of church members’ homes to welcome migrants.

Keen observers of our weekly newsletter might have noticed something a little different last week. The four descriptive words displayed prominently at the top of each addition had changed. For a while now Fellowship Southwest has described ourselves as faithful, agile, ecumenical and kind. We still hope these all describe our ministry. But two of these words seem to describe more of how we want to do our work, rather than the characteristics we hope to embody.

Starting today, Fellowship Southwest is accepting resumes for a full-time director of programs and outreach. This position will enable Fellowship Southwest to focus on expanding its ministry and mission capacity with churches who want to serve our region, as well as fostering new multi-racial and ecumenical relationships.

May 2 and 3 the FSW Board of Directors met for the biannual meeting in El Paso, Texas. While there, the board heard reports from executive director Stephen Reeves and other staff and close ministry partners. They also had the opportunity for a meaningful site visit with migrants in Palomas, Mexico.

St. Ignatius of Loyola has been credited with saying, “Pray with all five senses.” During the post-Easter retreat entitled “Nature as Spiritual Practice,” I had the pleasure of praying alongside fellow travelers from across the southwest in a variety of create ways tied to nature.

Thanks be to God, the state of Texas did NOT execute an innocent Latina mother yesterday.

When the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Melissa Lucio a stay of execution on Monday, they also directed Cameron County District Court to review the new evidence in her case. “It’s a pathbreaking decision,” The Washington Post reports. “It’s not merely a temporary stay of execution, it’s a potential opening to liberty.”

You have likely heard and read all about Melissa Lucio's tragic upcoming execution by the state of Texas, from us, from our partner Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the Innocence Project (screenshot above captured from Instagram @innocenceproject quoting FSW pastor Jesse Rincones), from the media (NPR, CBS, John Oliver, and many others).

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Biden v. Texas next week, April 26. This video is a great explanation about what is at stake. Watch until the very end, and learn how this case could set a dangerous precedent for the relationship between a president and the courts.

Need us to back up a little?

MPP stands for Migrant Protection Protocol, a misnomer if there ever was one. It is commonly referred to as "Remain in Mexico." It is one of the two Trump-era immigration policies that Fellowship Southwest has been outspoken against, along with Title 42.

Do you have a book you can say changed your life? I do. I was a freshman in college when I read “Dead Man Walking” by Sister Helen Prejean. It had a profound impact on what I thought, believed, and ultimately upon the trajectory of my life and career.

Since reading that book over 25 years ago I have been adamantly opposed to the death penalty. I recall this conviction as the first time I came to my own conclusion about an issue apart from what I gleaned from my community, culture, and family. It certainly influenced my decision to pursue law school and once there take an advanced criminal law course on the death penalty in Texas.

On April 1, 2022, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced the termination of Title 42 –the COVID-19 order that authorizes the rapid expulsion of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border– on May 23. The decision caused the COVID-19 relief deal to be blocked in the Senate and a bipartisan group of Senators to call for a delay in its ending. The CDC and Biden Administration made this decision despite that more than half of Americans agree with maintaining immigration restrictions at the border.

Pastor Carlos Navarro is preparing for the arrival of 10,000 migrants and refugees in Brownsville and Matamoros this week. With more and more Ukrainians arriving at the Mexican border to claim asylum, combined with the impending end of Title 42 which restricted asylum claims, he has been told to prepare for a much larger group of people than he has served in recent months. Pastor Carlos is up for the task, as he always is. But his supplies are running low, and he has asked for help with restocking.

After two years of advocates calling for the end of Title 42 and witnessing its harmful effects on the lives of many migrants in northern Mexico, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced the termination of Title 42 – the policy that authorizes rapid expulsion of migrants at the border due to COVID-19.

The images from Ukraine are horrific. The widespread destruction unseen in decades except for that caused by hurricanes or earthquakes. Many folks alive today have never witnessed war at quite this scale. The fact that it seems so unprovoked and unjust makes it even more shocking. The whim of an isolated madman.

The millions of people now fleeing the attacks is also a rare phenomenon …for Europeans.