This is the first time I have done something like this. The months leading up to the Camino, I was excited to get the chance to use this time and space to do some reflection and real soul searching. This summer I am in transition and taking time off and walking for 150 miles seemed like the right thing to do. But oh how far off I was with these expectations.
It’s Day 4 and I am starting to get used to the pace and rhythm. Slowly my body is beginning to recover faster for the day to come. This doesn’t take away from the pain I endure during the walk. But I discovered a way to make these long walks a more pleasant one.
Epiphany: The Best way to walk is with another.
Being somewhat of an introvert I would occasionally wander of by myself to practice being present and contemplative of what I was doing. Trying to meditate and figure things out as I am left with my thoughts and emotions. This was helpful but only to a certain degree. Eventually I would think too much, especially about my legs and calves and feet. But the more I decided to intentionally walk with someone else and begin to talking, the less my mind had time to think about myself and more on actively listening and making sure that I was present and attuned.
It didn’t take long for me to like this new approach to walking long distances. As a timid extrovert I began to love hearing about the stories of the people I was accompanying. And the more I listened carefully the better I can share in their joy of why the are walking in the Camino.
This was life giving. To joining some else else’s path as I made my own was like a lightbulb that turned on. After that experience, I never want to walk alone. Much more I have new friends and partners in Gods kingdom.
Today was a tough day for most, if not all, of us walkers. Today was the first of many days in which we would walk 16 miles. It took about 6 hours before the first walkers arrived at the finish line.
This means a lot because one of the important factors that motivates people to stand for immigration reform is the cause to keep loved ones together and not tear them apart.
In 2013, the picture above was taken by Pastor Wilfredo de Jesus. He says in his caption “In Texas ministering to 420 women waiting to be deported. May God forgive us and have grace on these families.”
This picture struck me intimately because if this was my mom, sister, or aunt, I wouldn’t know how to begin to process the agonizing and painful separation of my own relatives being taken away from me. And not having the chance to say goodbye.
No woman wants to go through that. As Chrstians, if we truly believe in the family as a holy institution, then why are we so silent and inactive for these families? What would life be without your loved ones? Do these women deserve this?
These thoughts ran through my head as we came face to face with our Mexican brothers and sisters, but only could distinguish them through small holes large enough to fit your fingertip.
This was a sobering experience and what brought many of us to tears was seeing a family, mainly women, weeping on the other side of the wall only to touch the fingertips of their loved one on the other side of that metal gate. I heard familiar words that my mom would say to me when she would express her sadness when she missed me. Seeing that impels me to proclaim; THIS IS NOT OF GOD.
Thus, today was a special day. I am privileged to do something like this and most importantly share it with my beautiful bride. Familia matters. It’s what makes us stronger. The more we tear apart families, the more we tear apart what is dear and close to Gods heart.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for thousands of immigrants that cannot have the same privileges I have. I’m one of the lucky ones. I have my mom, my sister, my aunts, and more of my loved ones here with me.
La Familia is one of God’s best expression of love he can offer to us. They come in all colors, shapes, and backgrounds. I am thankful to get to know and love a new family with CCDA and El Camino. I feel welcomed and cared for by such a great group of people that I get to call my friends.
Let us not separate what the Lord has brought together. His bride, the Church, unto himself. We are meant to be together and we cannot stand silent anymore. The walk is for all the families that continue to hold on to hope of one day reuniting with loved ones in peace and enfamilia.
An ancient prayer that has led many Christians towards God for ages. “The Jesus Prayer” goes back even to the early fourth century recommended by John Cassian in North Africa.
Today, was day one and we started our journey with collective prayers at Border Field State Park. Prayers for the 11,000 lives lost since the wall was built. Prayers for refugees that lose their lives almost 300-400 at a time in the sea. A prayer for the families that have been torn apart by an unjust and broken immigration system. But above all we prayed for God to be with us as we go and journey forth.
Prayer centers and stills our restless souls into a peace that surpassing all understanding. A peace that is only from Christ. His peace. Perfect peace. Shalom.
Tonight as I rest, I want to leave you with a prayer that I hold very dear to my heart to bless you wherever you are:
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you; may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm; may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you; may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors. Common Prayer
Tomorrow I will begin a journey like no other. Over the next 11 days I, and a hundred others, will migrate from the US/MEX border to Downtown Los Angeles.
This walk is a Journey in Remeberance of the over 11 Million immigrants that have sacrificed their lives to make this place home. In solidarity, Christians from all over the nation, have sensed the call to experience a sliver of what migrants endure as they make their journey.
It is late and I am on the floor of a church in San Diego getting ready to go to sleep. I look up at stain glass windows and tall wooden beams. Snuggled between the pews I lay my head and try and rest.
Yet my true rest, that eases my anxieties, is knowing that God is my Refuge and my Strength, a very present help in trouble (Ps. 46). He is here, right now. He empowers and keeps me still. God is here! God is strength! God is my refuge!
Thus, if God is my refuge, then I am his refugee. Without my Refuge, I succomb to the violence, hate and darkeness that rules this world. A lot like Omran Daqneesh. Once I was lost but now I am found. And once found, am now in Refuge.
God of peace, may you always be my refuge and strength today. Amen
This is not a translation. Kingdom is not translated to the word “incarnation”. The Spanish word for kingdom is reino. As I have been working among many urban church pastors and community developers, the word “incarnational” has been tossed around like a Frisbee. And what makes this worse is that I keep thinking about Jack Black serenading himself about the love he has for a Mexican nun named “Encarnación” in the movie Nacho Libre.
This popular term has become more relevant in today’s ecclesiastic circles than ever before. The word comes from a fundamental theological principle known as The Incarnation: the mystery of the Word made flesh.
‘He became what we are that we might become what he is.’ Athanasius (ca. 296-373) on Christ’s Incarnation.
As I hear more about being incarnational, I also hear more about the Kingdom of God. And when I think about the Kingdom, I see people of all spheres of life coming together becoming “what we are that we might become what he is”.
This week, as a part of my practicum with Barclay College, I witnessed a group of local community leaders, pastors, and a councilman come together for lunch to encourage and activate their plans for the city of Santa Ana for God’s Kingdom.
Santa Ana is the second largest city in Orange County, CA with a population of over 320,000 people, with about 9% being of white ethnicity, 10% Asian, and slightly over 78%being Hispanic. This city is titled the 11th largest city in California and was designated the County Seat. This is also the city that I grew up in and the place that I have learned to love Jesus and the Church.
My family and I have our migration story steeped in Santa Ana. Both my siblings were born there. Most of my siblings and my education were there. Our ministry started as a Home-Church. And most of the people that I know in my life are from Santa Ana. I can assure you that I do not need any GPS or map to get around town. Santa Ana is a beautiful, vibrant, diverse, and exciting place to live. God has his hand on Santa Ana.
We met with this group of leaders and pastors in Downtown Santa at a local church called Christian Tabernacle. Inside a classic early 1900’s building, the Church, came together to talk about what is happening in the city and what can be done for His name’s sake. From church planting, prayers from local moms, and even fitness training offered for the growing health concerns in Santa Ana, people were communicating the ways that people can be more like Jesus to the people in our city.
Glen and I were asked to share what God is doing, now, with immigration to lead people to Christ. Again, the topic of the Kingdom and “being incarnational” came up.
What does it look like for those in our neighborhoods to do as Jesus did and “love our neighbor”. The message that World Relief shares is simple:
How can the church be most relevant in the lives of immigrants?
This query lends itself to the discussion of what it means to be living, in the flesh, among your neighbors and especially those in need. I am not talking about a special, one-day, event of charity or “outreach”. Nor, am I referring to you coming in once or twice a week, programming your activities and taking pictures with kids and posting it on social media.
It is more like Luke 10: 30-34.
It is more like, how can we show compassion?
It is more like, who is my neighbor?
It is more like, love.
The funny thing for me is that living like Jesus lived, or being incarnational, has always been how I have viewed church. And it is not because I have always been aware of this methodology, but it is because I grew up in tiny churches, ministering with immigrants and those with a very low income, ministering with those who were more than happy to open up their homes for a church service, with those who were not afraid to share the little food they had with everyone, and with those who needed daily prayer and encouragement because of fear of being deported or not having enough money to pay the rent.
I am nothing special. This is just how I grew up in the church. Being incarnational is being Christ at all times in all places. And that is why a city like Santa Ana, with the majority of the people being Latinos and a good chunk of them being immigrants, means the world to me. Because it is with them that I have seen Jesus in the flesh.
“… in a complicated world of profound injustice, the crisis of the human heart is crucial to social transformation. Changing our world depends on changing hearts: how we ‘perceive’, ‘name’, and ‘act’ in the world. The ways of the heart are reflected in the world daily in how we perceive (see and assess one another), how we name (frame and position one another) and how we act (engage or distance one another). These three are inseparable, simultaneous but distinguishable, and they are a potent force.”
Mark Labberton, “The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor: Seeing Others Through the Eyes of Jesus”
Oh and just to clear things up, ILOVEthis scene in Nacho Libre. enjoy.
Above is an image of Glen Peterson casting a vision to Pastors and Staff of Templo Calvario in Santa Ana, CA. Also in the picture is Dan Kosten, Senior Vice President of U.S. Programs of World Relief Baltimore, visiting the Garden Grove office and luckily we had him participate in these type of meetings.
Assisting Glen has been exciting for me to see! We have visited with many pastors, at many churches, in many different locations around Southern California and the meeting usually takes place like this:
Arrive at location
Meet Pastors/Staff of Church/Organization
Ask them about their story
We saw our story
And then we get into the nitty-gritty..
The question: “How does your church help near-by immigrant communities?”
Most of the time, they are steps ahead of our expectations
Then we dream together of how we can partner contextually
And at times we eat, eat and eat!
Most of the meetings that I have encountered, have been with Pastors that are so engaged in their communities that they have real concrete strategies to help immigrants in their area! I am amazed at how much thought is being put in to the issue of immigration and the compassion of the church to want to extend a hand.
Believe me, there are so many churches that are miles ahead of what Glen and I assume some churches are. And this is only the beginning. As with Templo Calvario and so many other churches nationwide, we as the Latino Church have an opportunity to be an immense influence in our communities like never before.
Now, as a Latino, son of a Pastor, I am accustomed to seeing Spanish Churches all over the place. In fact, I probably know the people that would attend these churches, if they were in my area. We are all connected some way; one of the benefits of being a Hispanic Christian in the United States.
As I read the article, it is though as “all of a sudden” we Latinos popped out of no where and started planting churches. The difference really is in the awareness. Now that Latino’s are in, through politics, media, music, and TV, then we are now seen like a phenomena. I would say that we are not. I wouldn’t want our culture and expression of faith to be watered down to a religious fad that will play out soon. I don’t see the Latino Church in that way and I hope the mainstream American Church does not either.
But, we as Latino Christians, cannot ignore the reason why we are being recognized; and that big spotlight is on “Immigration Reform” and we cannot escape it’s influence on the country.
I believe that the Latino Church has much more to offer and it goes WAY beyond Immigration. The Immigration Comprehensive Reform Bill is a light of hope for so many people, including Latinos, that are needing help to live well in this country but God calls us to a deeper understanding of why there are so many Latino’s in the US and who God is
Nonetheless, when Glen and I talk to these churches, we always come to a sense in the meeting that leaves all of us amazed at how God’s mighty hand is upon every challenge in the lives of our people. Our Father in Heaven loves us so much that he is awakening a New Latino Christian Movement that is standing up to today’s issues and being renewed in the Spirit for the Kingdom.
So the real challenge is, how is the Latino Church responding to the mission field that is around us? How are influencing our neighborhoods with God’s love for his Kingdom? Would we sacrifice our language, culture and traditions for the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
At World Relief I always challenge suburban churches to re-think how they are loving their neighbors as themselves. I think this goes for you too, hermano.
I can assure you that one of the top priorities on the list of many immigrant families, to any country, is the issue of proper documentation.
There are other challenges when entering a new country; like learning a new language, becoming accustomed to the culture, locating a place to live, and finding work; but none as imperative as having legitimate “papers” that can make living in a new country a bit more manageable.
One would say, “The right paperwork has to be done immediately!”. This is, by far, easier said than done; and that is a understatement. In the United States, immigration law is known by surprisingly few legal attorneys at a level of expertise. Most of those that are recognized by the BAR, the highest recognition in law practice, cannot adequately guide an immigrant through the legalization process unless he has had enough experience and can work with those that usually do not speak fluent English or can empathize with the many reasons why people come to the United States.
So, the issue here is adequate help and support for immigrants that desperately need. So desperate that immigrants would spend thousands of dollars overpaying a lawyer for their documentation support or trusting in shady para-legals that would most likely rip them off of there money and ruin their paperwork at the same time.
So the demand for legitimate immigration workers is high and this is where this training is important for so many churches, non-profits, and individuals that serve immigrant communities.
This past week there was intense training to immigrant workers that sought legitimate help with how to serve immigrants with their paperwork.
IMMIGRANT PATHWAY Institute is a collaboration between Immigrant Hope and World Relief. Immigrant Hope is an affiliate of the Evangelical Free Church of America with a mission to “Provide immigrants with the Hope of the Gospel, Help finding a pathway to legal residency, and a Home in a church that cares for their needs.” World Relief is affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals and has a mission to “Stand for the Vulnerable.”
This training is held about once a year nationally. It is becoming more evident that this training needs to be more available. This particular training was originally suited for 40 participants, but the word spread quick and they extended the seats for 20 more guests. The final admission was 85 because of so much demand and the waiting list that was too long.
This just shows that there is a real movement rising up to help the stranger. What does real help look like for the immigrant?
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Matt. 25:44-45
These past ten days have been an eventful beginning to the 2013 Summer Internship Initiative with World Relief Garden Grove. Above is a shot from a quarterly meeting of Missions Pastors from various churches and on-profit organizations that come together to help each other in an effective collaboration for God’s Kingdom in Southern California and the world. It is called “The Network” and Glen Peterson was asked to talk about what World Relief has been up to and how Immigration has become one of today’s most important social justice issues of our time.
The more I talk to church leaders about Immigration, the more I see a mutual opportunity for both communities to be reconciled in love for God’s glory. The sojourner needs the “locals” as much as the “locals” need the sojourner.
After the presentation, there was a time to talk about considering serving an unreached people such as those in immigrant communities. It surprised me how so many churches are unaware of the people that are near their neighborhoods and the challenges that they face. In our table, the conversation quickly went from political to personal. You cannot talk about Immigration without coming up against the wall of humanity and its effects on families. There is much that has to be done to bring awareness to suburban church in regards to the Undocumented.
At another occasion, we were invited by Church of the Nazarene Apple Valley to see what they were doing with their church and how World Relief could help with resources and guidance. Unlike most churches, this congregation is steps ahead of what a local church can do for the immigrant population.
In short, the area of Apple Valley is traditionally hostile about immigrants and border policy. However, Pastor Tom has been strong with his convictions on how redemption continues to be a part of the church’s hope. The board of the church is split with both Latino and Anglo voices and the Spanish-speaking congregation has been steadily growing in number with their Pastor Noe provided leadership in this different role that most Latino pastors don’t find themselves in.
It has been a good couple of weeks so far and it is only the beginning. We just received some World Relief embroidered shirts, making the interns a little more official, but overall I am most so blessed to be a part of God’s compassion towards the stranger in this land. He is definitely answering prayers. For today’s Evangelical Church has been responding in a new way in many different and new contexts
The first “team pic” of the summer and it looks like a good group!
Yesterday, June 3rd, the gang of interns were gathered for the first time to meet one another and launch World Relief’s vision to empower the Church to be a relevant center for information and support for the Immigrant community in the US.
The team of students are an eclectic bunch. Some are law students, intercultural majors, seminarians, and a Kansas Bible college student. Glen Peterson, shown front and center, started the meeting with Pizza and Eggrolls for lunch. After Lunch Glen shared the context in which World Relief is from and the direction of the internship program.
He began with this video from the recent Justice Conference 2013, sponsored by World Relief:
After watching this captivating video we began to know more about each other in the team and how the the summer is going to look for us. Since there are many different kinds of students with different skill sets, objectives, and responsibilities, the way that the work will be done will be individualized to the student’s time and goal.
My role will be more a public role in which I will be networking with Pastor’s and lay leaders of all different traditions to show them practical steps to reach their immigrant communities in light of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill that is on it’s way to be realized in Washington. There are many factors that will play into my role but it will be public speaking/preaching in Spanish and English or both, gathering church leaders and communicating the vision for the Church to respond and act, and develop a hermeneutic for the “stranger” that I will use to share with these leaders.
So far this is what is going to be a huge part of my time in Southern California this summer. I will keep this blog up to date with recent events and also include personal reflections as I explore serving refugees, working with immigrants that are non-Latino, and observe the general attitude of the Church when it comes to strategically “loving our neighbor”.
David J. Jaimes 