Responding to Foreigners as Scripture Instructs
“COMO NACIDO ENTRE NOSOTROS” (CNEN; “as born among us” in English), a network of Christian communities that responds to the migrant situation held its Encuentro (meeting) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from January 30 to February 2, 2024.
In 2018, the network began bringing together churches that provide help to displaced Venezuelans in South American countries. The issue was addressed in Bogota ’19, after the growing migration to the north, and the Encuentro was held in Panama ’22, right outside the Darien jungle through which displaced people crossed. At that time the network included Central and South America. It now also includes Mexico and the southern U.S. border where Christian communities of the region help those in shelters on both sides of the border.
Responding to foreigners as Scripture instructs
CJ’24 included more than 70 Christian leaders from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the United States. MCC had representatives from Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the U.S. EMC was represented by Angel Infantes who is involved in providing food and the gospel to displaced people travelling along the train tracks in Guadalajara. Authorities from the government of Mexico were present at the Encuentro, and members from the UN as well.
The workshops included: violence towards migrants and promoting peace, migrant rights, digital tools for migrant incidents, international standards for the protection of migrants, care for migrant children, self-care, and vicarious trauma. In addition, participants visited three shelters which are housed in the facilities of Christian churches that have responded to the migratory emergency since 2018, when thousands of people were stranded outdoors on the streets of the city. Testimonies included a miraculous provision to feed thousands of people, unity among the many churches, the spiritual awakening of believers, and conversion and baptism of the believers displaced.
On Wednesday, a service and communion were held on the wall together with believers from both sides of the border. It was a profound moment of sharing the elements between the bars of the wall.
Among the stories of the leaders is one of a woman from central Mexico who found more than 200 migrants in the garbage dump, fed them, and accompanied them to take the train; another man from Celaya mentioned that he began to study laws for him to advocate for migrant rights; a pastor from Mexico City feels like the widow of Zarephath because the little food he has does not run out and he can feed dozens of migrants who live temporarily in his house.
The Latin American church is responding to vulnerable migrants. They read in the Scriptures and find that among the widows and orphans, there are the foreigners, and you must love them as if “they were born among us” (paraphrase of Leviticus 19:34).
Angel Infantes, with his wife Blanca and their four children, serves with EMC Missions in Guadalajara; as a family, they seek to reach people with the gospel by living for Jesus in their local community.
