After waiting for several months, I finally got my religious worker (R-1) visa. I must admit that returning to the United States with a missionary visa has given me more confidence to move around, especially here in the borderlands. And being allowed to cross the bridge to serve in Juarez, Mexico, is a blessing because it allows me to maximise my presence in the border ministry.
I continue serving in the migrant ministry based in Annunciation House, El Paso, four days a week and two days a week in Juarez. Crossing the bridge every week gives me a weird feeling (in the want of a better word) because I am working with people who find it hard to get out of Juarez. I was on a flight back to the Philippines last March to finalise my visa application. While on that long-haul flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, I was seated beside a “kababayan” (fellow Filipino). As we chatted, she asked the inevitable question, “What is your work?” I replied that I was a Catholic Columban Missionary. Excitedly, she exclaimed, “I am a missionary too.” She was unstoppable in sharing what she did and where she came from. I learned that she was from one of the Evangelical groups and a preacher. Then she asked, “How about you?” I said, “I serve in a refugee shelter in El Paso, Texas.” She replied, “But that’s a dangerous place. A lot of them are coming to the US and are involved in the drug trade. Most of them are criminals with tattoos all over their bodies.”
Hearing the preacher’s judgment, I was speechless. I just sighed … for a moment. This was such a common perception. Then I responded, “I have been at the border for over a year but have not encountered nor experienced anything so bad. Every day, the people knocking at the door of the shelter are mothers, fathers and children. They are people like us who have stories of struggles and challenges. Yes, some of them have tattoos, but we cannot use the amount of ink on their skin to gauge whether they are good or bad. If the people who are crossing the borders are dangerous, they need us so we can put the words we preach into deeds.” She looked at me. Then I handed her my mobile number with an open invitation to visit me at the border so she could experience the ministry there. She needs to see for herself.
Recently, the Columban Mission Centre in El Paso, Texas, hosted a group from the Mercy Sisters of the Americas, joined by their Investment Community. The invited speaker, Mr Ruben Garcia (Director of Annunciation House), said, “The problem of migration is not the people trying to cross the borders, but our neighbours.” He explained further, “Our neighbours, even families, relatives, and friends, are the ones electing political leaders who are responsible for promulgating laws that affect the whole nation, especially the poor who are entering the country.” He added that instead of putting our trust in God, humans are acting like gods. They want to be in control by constructing high fences, installing barbed wire, and detailing hundreds of armed men in the name of securing the borders. “We no longer trust God,” Ruben said. “With His help, we can welcome and meet the needs of however many refugees and migrants might come.”
He challenged the group by saying, “After this experience, go home and talk to your neighbours; ask their opinion of the migrant situation and then tell them what you have seen and heard.” The gap between the rich and the poor and the powerful and the powerless is widening. Reflecting on my own journey here as a migrant, I can relate to some of the challenges of leaving home and trying to secure a space in this part of the country. As I listen, I reserve a space in my heart for their stories to keep me inspired to speak and advocate for them. As Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love!”
Columban lay missionary Lilibeth Sabado lives and works at the US/Mexico border.
Listen to "Words and deeds"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - January/February 2025
Women and children and small acts of kindness
