Pastors and churches deliver holiday love along the U.S.-Mexico border
By Elket Rodríguez
Hundreds of families along the U.S.-Mexico border felt loved by Christians during this holiday season, thanks to Fellowship Southwest and its partners. They spread the joy of Christ in Mexican migrant shelters and refugee camps, as well as South Texas colonias, putting smiles on the faces of some of the most vulnerable people in North America.
In Matamoros, Mexico—across the border from Brownsville, Texas—250 immigrant children received toys in celebration of the Epiphany or the Three Kings Day, a traditional Christian holiday with strong roots in Latin America. Pastor Eleuterio González and his church, Iglesia Valle de Beraca, coordinated the effort for children living in tents on the banks of the Rio Grande and other children whose parents have settled elsewhere in the city.
"In the times we are living, it is difficult to get a smile, but today, we put a smile in the hearts of 250 children,” González said. “It gives me hope to be able to grant the wishes of many children on this important day. They longed for a toy in celebration of this tradition."
For months, González and the church have fed, housed, transported, healed and advocated for immigrants in Matamoros. They have operated an immigrant shelter, provided health and sanitation services, used their church as an emergency shelter when hurricanes approached, and served thousands of immigrants scattered throughout the city.
“I’ve participated in their tears, their laughter and their victories,” he confessed. “They miss their families and feel the loneliness of not having their loved ones by their side in this season.”
Meanwhile, in Donna, Texas—54 miles northwest of Matamoros—more than 2,000 children and 700 families received toys, winter clothes and food boxes on Christmas Day through Hearts4Kids, a nonprofit organization that serves the poorest communities in the Rio Grande Valley.
“We are very proud to be able to help so many families and so many children,” said H4K Executive Director Jorge Zapata. "The food that was distributed was a huge blessing. Many people told us they did not have money to buy food."
Likewise, Zapata reported many parents thanked him because their children did not have winter clothes and didn’t receive any Christmas gifts. "There is a lot of unemployment," particularly because of the impact of COVID-19, he said. "Many parents told us that if we had not delivered the toys to their children, they would not have received anything for Christmas."
About 790 miles northwest from Donna—just south of El Paso, Texas, in Ciudad Juarez—more than 150 immigrants celebrated Christmas Eve and welcomed the new year by celebrating according to respective customs and traditions. With the support of the CBF Latino Network, more than 40 Cuban, Venezuelan, Honduran and Guatemalan families shared their traditional holiday dishes with others in the immigrant shelters.
“At the Mexico 68 shelter in Juarez ,they cooked stuffed turkey and chicken,” reported Rosalío Sosa, coordinator of the Red de Albergues de Migrantes (Migrant Shelter Network), a collection of shelters in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, most of them in Ciudad Juarez, but also as far as 100 miles west in the desert, in the village of Palomas.
"In the Palomas shelter a Venezuelan migrant cooked fritters and a bread stuffed with ham and cheese, while Hondurans and Guatemalans prepared their version of tamales with banana leaves,” he said.
Immigrants in the Mexico 68 and Palomas shelters, mainly Cubans, roasted a pork, a traditional way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. In addition to assisting immigrants with their customary celebrations, Sosa distributed gifts for shelter residents.
Fellowship Southwest also presented a Christmas surprise to border pastors who comprise its immigrant relief ministry. Sometime this winter or spring, each pastor and his spouse will get away from their ministry field and spend a couple of days in a nice hotel, focusing on each other and not the pressing needs of immigrants they serve year ’round.
“These pastors in our network are some of the most faithful, sacrificial Christian servants anywhere,” FSW Coordinator Marv Knox said. “Most of them haven’t taken a day off in months. And through their labors and absences, their wives also serve sacrificially. We’re grateful to the FSW churches that made these getaways possible for these dear friends and fellow-laborers.”
The pastors’ getaways were covered by gifts designated for that purpose. No money contributed to FSW’s Immigrant Relief Fund were used for this purpose. Congregations that made the pastors’ gifts possible are First United Methodist Church, Dallas; Second Baptist Church, Lubbock, Texas; South Main Baptist Church, Pasadena, Texas; Trinity Baptist Church, San Antonio; Woodland Baptist Church, San Antonio; plus a gift from an individual.
Fellowship Southwest provides ongoing financial support pastors who minister all along the U.S.-Mexico border. You can support these pastors and their ministries by donating to the Fellowship Southwest Immigrant Relief Ministry by clicking here.
Elket Rodríguez is the immigrant and refugee advocacy and missions specialist for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest.
