Daniel and his friends

GUADALAJARA

From inside our car, we saw four young men sitting quietly under a tree. Their belongings were on the ground. We decided to approach them, to hear their stories.

One young man, Daniel, told us they were from Guatemala, and headed north toward a “four-seasons country.” There is great suffering where they are from, not only the pandemic, but also violence. According to the UN Refugee Agency, last year 90 million people were displaced by force.

Daniel and his friends told us they had been robbed (money, extra clothing and documents) and abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Following some lights, at midnight they reached a little town where a Christian woman (as they called her) provided food, coats, and a place for them to sleep.

Thousands of people cross into Mexico; some get lost on the road (they die or are kidnapped). The majority who arrive at the northern border must return, deflated, defeated, or roam the cities of the north, because only a few could cross.

In Coahuila, Mexico, a group of migrants of Central American origin waits on the railway line to get on a container train, known as “The Beast,” to go to the border of the United States and Mexico, between the states of Coahuila (Mexico) and Texas (USA). (iStock)

These four young men did not ask for help, but we offered it, copying the “Christian woman” who followed the compassion of her teacher Jesus. We had a phone they could use to communicate with their family. There were tears as they told them they were going back to their country. Then it was time to mobilize compassionate hearts, first to look for a place for them to sleep and to get them a ride back to Guatemala.

Just a few weeks earlier, I (Angel) was in Guatemala for doctoral classes. So, I shared with them where I visited; we talked about the food. Then I passed them a 10-quetzal bill (less than two Canadian dollars) for them to use in their country. There is a lot of violence in Guatemala. I was housed in zone 3 of the city; hosts warned us of the risks of leaving the building, and local students told us many stories of robberies and attacks they had experienced personally.

The next day we bought bus tickets for the young men, after getting the money together with the help of the Guatemalans’ family and the local church. At the bus station, Daniel and his friends were more relaxed. We talked and prayed together, and I shared the gospel message.

“Do you know that the Bible talks about migrants?” I asked them. “Daniel and his friends were forced to move to Babylon. Even though they were encouraged to embrace the local customs they remained faithful to God.”

“You remember when Naomi fled from hunger, then when she felt unprotected by the loss of her husband and children, she returned to Bethlehem (bread house) when she heard that there was bread again in the city.”

This modern-day Daniel and his friends returned to Guatemala; his mother called to tell us they arrived safe and sound. This is a story with a happy ending, but most of the displaced people do not end this way.