Fellowship Southwest enjoyed being in person at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, for the first time since 2019. There were many wonderful experiences during the week, but a highlight was surely a quick afternoon gathering of supporters in a hotel suite.

Two of the pastors who serve on the U.S.-Mexico border attended CBF and shared with the group about how their ministries are affected by the support of Fellowship Southwest.

Lorenzo Ortiz, who lives in Laredo, Texas, and operates migrant shelters in Nuevo Laredo and elsewhere in Mexico, spoke about his recent kidnapping by the cartels and how he saw God at work through that experience because of our prayers.

Rosalio Sosa, who lives in El Paso, Texas, and operates the Migrant Shelter Network in Chihuahua, Mexico, shared how Fellowship Southwest has faithfully supported him financially and spiritually since he first began receiving migrants.

Stephen Reeves, executive director of FSW, emphasized that our organization is committed to continuing our work with pastors like Lorenzo and Rosalio, who truly love and care for migrants, and would never leave them to die in a tractor-trailer like the 51 found this week in San Antonio.

Some other highlights from the week include sponsoring tables at luncheons and dinners for our partners with the most inspiring programs and speakers:

• Baptist Women in Ministry luncheon and worship, where Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart preached and had the whole congregation on their feet.

• Emmanuel McCall Racial Justice Trailblazer Award Luncheon, honoring Friendship-West and Wilshire Baptist Churches, where Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III preached a memorable and moving sermon in the form of an open letter to John MacArthur (we hope he gets a recording!).

• Together for Hope’s 20th Anniversary Banquet, where community leaders from the areas the organization serves spoke about the transformative work of Together for Hope.

• BJC Luncheon with a panel moderated by Mitch Randall of Good Faith Media, where indigenous scholars explained the interconnectedness of the harm our country’s policies have placed on native people and land, particularly women.

• Baptist News Global dinner where authors Anthea Butler and Beth Allison Barr spoke about the persistent patriarchal structures in America today and in history and how we can overcome them.

We also led or participated in several workshop sessions:

• Save Our Schools: How Individuals and Churches Can Advocate for Public Education, led by Sharon Felton, Rachel Gunter Shapard and Cameron Vickrey. You can read about it in this report by Marv Knox for Baptist News Global.

• Diversity, Racial Justice and CBF’s Way Forward, led by Kasey Jones and Stephen Reeves.

• Thinking Biblically about Immigration, led by Brenda Kirk, Lorenzo Ortiz and Elket Rodríguez.

• Ministries of Advocacy—What Churches Can and Should Do, led by Stephen Reeves, John Mark Boes and Chrissy Tatum Williamson.

It was a pleasure to participate in Elket Rodríguez’s commissioning as field personnel during worship on Thursday evening. Stephen Reeves was one of the few people Elket chose to lay hands on him. You can read more about that here.

And of course, it’s always just good to be together and especially after a long hiatus. Visiting with people in the lobby and passing out Fellowship Southwest flashlights and cups and other swag is not something we take for granted.