Take a Border Trip
The best way to understand what’s going on at the border is to go. Meet people. Hear stories. Join us!
May 2024
A group from First Baptist Church of Austin in Piedras Negras.
Join an open invitation trip
Occasionally, FSW will open an invitation for individuals for a vision border trip. Goals for these trips:
Allow leaders to come to the border, see what God is doing, and discern how their organization/church can partner with FSW to continue serving immigrants/migrants at the border.
Visit and do some light volunteer work with different border partners.
We charge a fee of $550 per person. This includes lodging, meals, and on the ground transportation during the trip.
As for all of our trips, this does not include travel to the destination. You need to make your own arrangements to get to and from the site.
FSW provides pre-trip orientation and resources for post-trip advocacy.
A FSW staff will accompany you on this trip.
These trips are typically Wednesday through Saturday.
Fellowship Southwest wants you to come and see the lived experience of migrants on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. We can organize a trip for your church group, your family, or suggest that you join one of a few open invitation trips we host each year.
Contact Anyra Cano for questions and more information.
anyra@fellowshipsouthwest.org
Take a trip with your group
These are not turnkey mission trips. FSW will help you:
Discern the best place for you to serve on the border.
Discern the type of trip and the work you will be doing.
Schedule your trip with our partners.
Provide guidance and tips about trip logistics. FSW does not plan logistics for these types of trips.
Serve as a liaison between you and our border partners.
Facilitate pre-trip orientation and provide resources for post-trip advocacy.
Organization/Church is responsible for all costs associated with travel and coordination for this trip. There is no additional fee to FSW or partners.
FSW can help provide financial support if needed.
A FSW staff will not accompany you on this trip, but you will get to be with our wonderful ministry partners.
FAQ
Where do we go?
RGV. The most popular border trip we organize is to the Rio Grande Valley. The Harlingen airport is easily accessible, and you get a full experience of migrant ministries. In the RGV there are several ways to experience working with migrants that include:
Visit and volunteer at a churches' respite center in Brownsville.
Serve alongside a pastor in Reynosa whose ministry is in migrant camps and shelters in Mexico.
Volunteer with ministries in rural colonias (rural suburbs).
Piedras Negras. By far the most family-friendly border experience is Piedras Negras, Mexico, which is considered the safest border town in Mexico, across from Eagle Pass, Texas. Piedras Negras is about a 2.5-hour drive from San Antonio. You’ll work with a church that has a downtown shelter for migrants as well as a suburban campus. You can stay for one night, a weekend, or an entire week.
We can also organize trips to El Paso/Juarez and Tijuana.
Is it safe?
Safety is never guaranteed, anywhere you travel. But your safety is our top priority when we enter Mexico, as well as anywhere on the U.S. side of the border. We will explain border-specific safety tips in your pre-trip orientation.