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Cultivating Relationships
and Understanding
Across Borders
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"Dan buenas clases y eso me gusta. Me gusta venir para estudiar. Me dan comida y puedo hacer lectura." -- Nadia, Paul, Iain, Oscar, y Julian | |
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Dear friends,
September marks a time of new beginnings in the life of Frontera de Cristo. Our Children's Enrichment Ministry team has begun a new school cycle in four different sites in the city: the New Hope Community Center, DouglaPrieta Trabaja, Iglesia Presbiteriana Lirio de los Valles, and in Casa Pepito.
The Children's Enrichment Ministry provides safe places for children who are at risk of dropping out of school. There we provide opportunities for the children to cultivate their talents and abilities. Join us in giving thanks to God and pray for our committed educational team, our partner organizations, and the children and families of the ministry.
We are also excited to welcome Yadamy and Lesly, two Young Adult Volunteers, who will be serving with us for this coming year, continuing to cultivate the gifts that God has given them for leadership within the life of the church and broader community.
Thank you for partnering with us as we continue building relationships and understanding across borders, responding in faith to the realities of migration, and responding in faith to the realities of the drug culture.
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Peace,
Joca Gallegos and Mark Adams
Coordinators
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Looking Beyond the Rusted Wall
by Rev. James Martin, Coordinator, Tucson Borderlands Young Adult Volunteers
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"Looking Beyond the Rusted Wall" was published in PC(USA)'s Mission Crossroads Magazine, Spring 2023. James Martin served as a Young Adult Volunteer with Frontera de Cristo in 2014-2015. He stayed in the Agua Prieta/Douglas community for 4 years teaching high school, and then entered and later graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, TX. In addition to serving as the Coordinator of the Tucson Borderlands YAV program, James provides pastoral leadership at FPC Douglas and was ordained by Presbytery de Cristo at the Lirio de los Valles Presbyterian Church sanctuary in Agua Prieta, Sonora, on August 13. | |
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WHEN I FIRST CAME TO THE BORDER COMMUNITIES of Douglas/Agua Prieta, I specifically remember mission co-worker Mark Adams asking our group how old we thought the border wall was. Looking at the border wall for the first time, it seemed to me like it had been there forever; it had a rusted red color, is if it had seen significant weathering. I was very surprised then to learn that this wall was actually a recent addition to the border ...
Continue reading the article in Mission Connections magazine
See more photos from the ordination service
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Ordination of James Paul Martin, on Sunday, August 13, 2023,
at La Iglesia Presbiteriana Lirio de los Valles in Agua Prieta, Sonora
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Migrant Resource Center Provides Welcome
in a Climate of Exploitation and Rejection
a National Public Radio Broadcast on Arizona Public Media, September 5, 2023
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The Migrant Resource Center (MRC) in Agua Prieta is a partnership of Frontera de Cristo and CAME. Adalberto (Betto) Ramos is the director of the MRC; Bridich Saragos is the Assistant Director; and many Frontera de Cristo staff members and volunteers work countless hours around the clock welcoming migrants with a friendly smile, a cup of coffee, a meal, first aid, and a change of clothing. This article from National Public Radio aired on September 5th. | |
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RENE UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TO CROSS INTO THE U.S. four times in recent months, after fleeing an organized crime group in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, where he’s from and was a farm worker.
“An organized crime group showed up, telling the town where we’re from that we had to join them or else people would start to disappear,” he said in Spanish.
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Rene asked to just be identified by his first name out of fear for his life. He has an uncle who disappeared and another uncle and a cousin who were killed.
Now he owes the equivalent of about $3,500 to criminal organizations that he doesn’t know how he could possibly pay.
Continue reading the article or listen to the broadcast on NPR
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Border Patrol processes migrants near Lukeville, Arizona, on May 10, 2023 | |
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Empty Your Hands
by Rev. Sam Pendergrast, FDC Volunteer
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Pastor Sam Pendergrast and his wife, Cynthia, came to Agua Prieta from New York State for a one-year mission/service commitment in Agua Prieta, Sonora with Frontera de Cristo and our partners, following Sam's retirement as a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). They spend their days working at the Migrant Resource Center in Agua Prieta welcoming migrants who have been repatriated to Mexico from the US. On their blog, https://ayearontheborder.com/posts/, they share their experiences. The following article is one of their posts. | | |
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ON WEDNESDAY, WE HAD OUR WEEKLY Frontera de Cristo staff meeting. As usual, we read a psalm, sang some songs, and then read the gospel text for the week. After we read the gospel we had a time of quiet for reflection. Then everyone was invited to share their thoughts on the text.
The connection between the text and US border policy and the border wall seemed simple and clear. The text was from Matthew, chapter 16, verses 21-28. The central idea was verses 24-26—
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Fire Recovery Fund for FPC Douglas | |
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ON MAY 22ND, JUST A HALF BLOCK FROM OUR OFFICE, an arsonist set fire to the sanctuaries of First Presbyterian and St. Stephen’s Episcopal churches. Fortunately, no one was injured. If you would like to help First Presbyterian Church rebuild, checks may be made payable to First Presbyterian Church and mailed directly to them at:
PO Box 410
Douglas, Arizona, 85708
Or you may donate online via our website fronteradecristo.org where there’s a dedicated link (at the bottom of the home page) for fire recovery donations. Thank you to those who have already donated!
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First Presbyterian Church (left) and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (right), two of four churches built on one city block at the beginning of the 20th century by the Phelps Dodge Corporation for its mining community of Douglas, Arizona. | |
Coming Soon: Café Justo 20th Anniversary Photo Book | | |
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ORDER THE NEW CAFÉ JUSTO 20th anniversary photo book now. Just $20, shipping included. See how your coffee grows from seed to cup and how this amazing coffee co-op grew from just a few coffee farming families to the wide-reaching co-op that ships delicious organic coffee all across this country today. Anticipated publication date: mid- to late-Fall 2023. | |
Love Mercy, Do Justice, Order Coffee | |
FRONTERA DE CRISTO AND CAFÉ JUSTO CREATED the "Love Mercy, Do Justice" initiative to provide coffee for migrant shelters across the southern border. Thousands of women and men each week are greeted with a cup of coffee, a meal, and vital medical attention when they are repatriated into Mexico. You can help support this effort with a donation to Love Mercy, Do Justice. | |
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In the mean time, why not order some coffee for yourself today? You will enjoy delicious 100% organic coffee cultivated, roasted, and shipped by the Café Justo cooperative. To order by mail instead of online, just download this form. | |
A Week in the Borderlands | | | | |
