Church of the Nazarene helping in Tijuana

[Sandy]

A medical team from the Church of the Nazarene is helping with the caravan members in Tijuana, Mexico. Apparently, the denomination is also assisting with the temporary shelter. I wouldn't be surprised to see Catholic Charities there, though so far I can't find any mention of them, nor of other denominationally related relief agencies. Scanning some of the Baptist press stories about disaster relief, the focus is still on Panama City and North Carolina. But I'll keep looking for a picture somewhere of an SBC disaster relief food preparation unit and the laundry and shower units somewhere along the border where they should be.

[Dave Roberts]

CBF is moving some Hispanic personnel to the area, coordinated by Jorge Zapta, Associate Coordinator in Texas. Not many details have been released.

[Tim Bonney]

American Baptists have a strong presence in Tijuana through a ministry called "Deborah's House." I made a couple of work trips there while at FBC Des Moines.

I've not had opportunity to see what the UMC might be doing there. I know there is a Mexican Methodist Church.

[Sandy]

Years ago when I was a teenager, our church youth group used to help conduct a VBS at a new church plant in Nogales, Arizona, a border town. Nogales is a city with narrow, hilly streets on both sides of the border, and one of the streets ran parallel to the border fence. At the top of the hill there was a hole in the fence and kids would crawl through from the Mexican side of the border to go to VBS, then we'd take them back and they'd go home. That was a different time.

That same church, an SBC congregation, is helping with some of the members of the caravan who have arrived there. So far they are not overwhelmed and they've been able to get the goods they need across the border. Most of the help they are getting is local. They have a partner church on the Mexican side of the border that has found temporary housing. They expect they might have as many as 800 refugees to care for during the several months it will take for asylum applications to be processed. From what I've heard, most of those waiting to get in are young families. Most of the men are looking to work to earn the money they need to get the rest of their family out and a lot of them are women and children. I don't know what kind of response the churches will get appealing to their denominational brethren for assistance when they need it.

There's been a lot of discussion and commendation of the young missionary who crossed a border illegally to preach the gospel. But a mother who tries to cross the border to save her children gets tear gassed and branded as a criminal.

[Haruo]