For our part, we had the opportunity to work with up to a dozen volunteers at one time at one of the four sites of this ministry. Ours was in an old motel in which 3/4 of the property was used for housing volunteers and refugees and for our first week there we would see perhaps 100 new refugees a day who had been already in detention but were now released with papers to petition “asylum” to their family contacts in the United States and with the order to report to a certain court on a certain date. In our experience, we saw individuals and family units who were fleeing from various forms of violence and intimidation as well as grinding poverty. It was for all of us an extremely moving experience and, since we each speak Spanish, we were able to interact quite a bit with the refugees in the 24 to 48 hours they would spend with us before their departures.
We each had our own roles and one of mine was to conduct some reflection/religious services a few evenings in which perhaps 30 or more people took part with prayers, songs, and expressions of hope and gratitude. These, naturally, were very emotional moments for many. Also, my wife, Geri, experienced attending to many dehydrated persons and listening to their confidences sometimes moved her to tears. Likewise, my daughter Mariah, 24, and my son Micah 22, were extremely affected in attending to the needs of the refugees and in meals, to the children’s needs, and in helping them prepare for their journeys all over the country.
We all know that our national immigration policies are inconsistent and a moral disaster and the inhumanity to so many refugees – and especially the children that have been separated from their families – enrages all of us and inspires us to greater service, advocacy, and prayer. This following prayer summarizes some of my own heart wishes in our beautiful and moving opportunity to connect with these lovely and often deeply oppressed peoples.
“O Lord, these torrid days are filled with both hope and despair. My family and volunteers from all over greet tired faces exiting government buses with only the clothes on their backs and a few items. These men, women, and children at our southern border are stripped of their shoelaces, hair-ties, medicines and treasured papers. Lord, you knew about being “stripped and scourged.” Some report rough handling, yet, like you, their humanity is preserved despite this stripping.”