Several years ago, the ELCA’s Rocky Mountain Synod planned its Annual Assembly for El Paso…but COVID had other plans. The pandemic pushed the event (which is most often held along the Front Range in Colorado) to 2023, which coincidentally, occurred within days of Title 42* expiring. This, combined with a continuing war in Ukraine and instability in Venezuela and other Central and South American countries, has created what some are calling a “border crisis” where 12-14,000 migrants are reaching the US-Mexico border every day.

While this year’s Synod Assembly on May 16-18 included the usual voting, a presentation from the ELCA churchwide staff and other business, the event’s worship services, a four-part Bible study and speakers focused specifically on human migration and how that impacts ministry along the border region. Most significantly, all assembly participants had an opportunity to go on a “mini-immersion” that Wednesday to visit with ministry leaders and migrants.

From Pastor Mike…

After arriving late at night, a friend and I found a restaurant that proved to be the beginning of an eye-opening experience of hospitality and people trying to find hope in a destabilized world. The kitchen had just closed. About to leave and no doubt looking dejected, the manager told us to sit down anyway. What came out of the kitchen was some of the best beef and chicken nachos we had ever had.

Wednesday was our border immersion experience day. I went to the Mustard Seed Cafe in El Paso where they serve a daily free meal in a homey space. The staff and volunteers also work to help people make good connections and teach them how to grow and make sustainable food. My group heard many stories from people who worked there and visited there.

The evening worship was exceptionally moving for me. Many of us shared what we experienced that day with the assembly. At the end, we held hands and prayed. I saw the spirit of those who shared. I saw the Spirit.

Thursday was the end of the Synod Assembly, the legislative and elections day. The assembly approved the budget, made good changes to the constitution and I lost an election for RMS Council Secretary by a landslide. I truly believe the Holy Spirit speaks to me in landslides. Maybe you’ll hear more about that in a future sermon.

After my time in El Paso, I am confident Christ’s church is called to find ways to care for people being displaced by violence, the drug trade, climate change, extreme inflation and other destabilizing issues. I plan to communicate with our legislators, not in a partisan way but as a follower of Jesus Christ who believes in the best of what our nation can be. I will also be living into my call as your pastor to help you discern how you might be called to respond. I’m looking forward to co-hosting a six-part Bible study on the first three chapters of Exodus provided by the RMS in the coming months.

From Sara Lancaster...

This was my first Synod Assembly. While I served as a voting member for StPLC, I was most interested in participating in this year's Crusando Fronteras event to visit the shared US-Mexico border. I only know a little about immigration and asylum processes and am overwhelmed by what I hear in the news. I felt a trip to the border would be informational and help me see what I could do to support those seeking a safe life in the United States.

In my 48 hours of visiting, I did not see any mobs of people trying to force their way over the border. Though, I did see news cameras and a short line of people waiting outside a church to receive services. I felt safe everywhere I went. Downtown El Paso, where we stayed and attended conference sessions, appeared to be a quaint, walkable city. I was surprised to see the port of entry was right there in the middle of things!

El Paso and Jaurez are sister cities that feel like one big city together. In fact, while waiting at the port of entry to and from my group’s mini-immersion, I witnessed many people walking back and forth over the bridge to get to work and likely shop, visit friends, make doctors’ appointments and so forth. I learned life on the border does not mean division. It means living and working together.

There were many powerful moments and much that I plan to learn more about, but likely my most impactful moment came at the border wall where I saw just how close parts of the wall are to peoples' homes. My group stood there in a circle and prayed for all those trying to be reunited with family and trying to live a life where they can work and live peacefully. I plan to return for a longer immersion, probably with my family when the kids are older and can participate in a service project there.

From Jeanne Maloney…

The keynote speaker, Rueben Garcia (Director of the Annunciation House), told us that he hoped we were in El Paso to witness the “consequences of our policies” at the border. By “our,” he meant the United States. Folks often comment that immigrants should just follow the laws of the US. This certainly seems reasonable AND it seems reasonable to expect that those laws are just. I believe the Bible would say, “just means morally right and fair, treating all people with dignity and concern for their well-being.”

One of my recent favorite quotes is by Cornell West, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” I am not confident that immigration policies are going to become more just any time soon, but I witnessed a whole lot of love in El Paso and across the border in Juarez and Anapra.

Sara and I were selected to cross the border into Mexico during our mini-immersion. It was pretty cool to be back in Anapra where I went with a group of youth from Saint Peter in 2018 to build a house with Casa por Cristo. In Mexico, we witnessed some tough living conditions both for the people that lived there and for the migrants we saw at Esperanza Para Todos Shelter. We met three women who have completely dedicated their lives to serve right in their own community. They take care of the poor that live in Anapra and offer hospitality to the migrants that are passing through. Witnessing their love was inspiring.

I stayed on a few extra days after the Assembly and visited the ELCA Lutheran Church in El Paso, Cristo Rey. Pastora Rose Mary has been the pastor of this congregation for over 25 years. She is originally from Colombia and has committed her ministry to hosting an Immersion Program for groups to experience the border first-hand while considering border issues from a Christian perspective. As Christians, our reality cannot be separated from the lives of our sisters and brothers in Christ. In 2016, Pastora extended her ministry beyond the Immersion Program and opened the doors of her church to provide hospitality to migrants needing a good meal, shelter and a resting place on their journey. Witnessing Pastora’s love and dedication was inspiring.

At Cristo Rey, we heard stories from Venezuelan migrants who sold everything they owned to make the treacherous 3,000-mile trip toward the United States. They shared how life in their country has become economically impossible and the corruption has put their family’s lives at risk. They described how it was their love for their family that motivated them to make this extremely dangerous trip, with a destination unknown, to provide a safer life for their children. Witnessing their stories of love was inspiring.

Reuben Garcia also suggested that we bring our experiences back to our friends. Not to try and change their opinions about immigration reform but to share our stories of what we saw first-hand. There is a lot that needs to be fixed in our immigration policies and it is easy to get frustrated and discouraged. However, the love I witnessed on this trip was inspiring and provided me with the hope that comes from recognizing the humanity in all of God’s people and seeing a sacrificial love that crosses borders to share God’s love with the world. We have a lot of work to do and I remain hopeful that if love leads the way we will continue to take care of our neighbors while we work to create a more just immigration system to protect all of God’s children.

From Allison Summerton…

Like Sara, this was my first Synod Assembly and I was thankful for the opportunity to participate in the gathering and governance and to learn more about El Paso and its residents. As we drove into the city from the airport, the Uber driver pointed out the cities of El Paso, USA, and Cuidad Juárez, Mexico. He explained that the area is really one big metropolitan community where people travel from side to side to visit family, to shop and to work. Sara, Jeanne and I explored El Paso together and found it to be a peaceful city.

The mini-immersion I attended was at Saint Christopher’s Episcopal Church and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Cultural Center in El Paso. The Center partners with Annunciation House and provides temporary shelter for immigrant families seeking asylum in the US. The families arrive from border detention facilities in need of a quiet place to rest and prepare for the next phase of their journey. The Center staff helps the asylum seekers contact relatives and friends in cities throughout the US and help them make arrangements to travel to live with them.

The day I visited the Center, there were three families with children from Venezuela and two Kurdish families from Turkey. Using Google Translate, I spoke with a mother and her three boys from Turkey who plan to travel to New Jersey to live and work with her brother. Although she was relieved to finally find shelter and to make plans to go to New Jersey, she was grieving because she left behind her 19-year-old son, who was recently conscripted to serve in the military in Turkey. It was so very clear that this women would not have left Turkey, without her son, if she had had another option.

The challenges and the solutions are complex and often feel out of reach. However, I too, believe we are called to find ways to love and care for people displaced by violence, the drug trade, climate change and other destabilizing issues. I hope you will join me in the Bible study Pastor Mike mentioned to explore how we are called by God to serve.

Some Of The Organizations We Learned About

Annunciation House - https://annunciationhouse.org/ - Offers hospitality to migrants, immigrants, and refugees in El Paso

Border Servant Corps - https://www.borderservantcorps.org/ - Lutheran ministry providing housing, immersions and more

Cristo Rey’s Border Immersion Program - https://iglesiacristorey.wixsite.com/borderimmersion/about - Encourages participants to spend a week as learners, with the opportunity to serve and to be served at the border.

Manos Amigas KC - https://manosamigaskc.org/ - Volunteers in Anapra/Poleo, Mexico, and Kansas City listening to the needs of the community and gathering resources and support.

The Mustard Seed Cafe - https://mustardseedcafe.org/ - A mission to serve warm delicious meals to those in need

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Cultural Center in El Paso - https://www.ysletadelsurpueblo.org/tourism-hospitality/cultural-center

*US Government issued the Title 42 Health Authority in March 2020 to override immigration law that allowed people to ask for asylum after entering illegally. Title 42 expired on May 11, 2023, Learn more at https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-border-title-42-mexico-asylum-be4e0b15b27adb9bede87b9bbefb798d.