December 2002

¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!

And the Word became flesh and lived among us...
John 1:14

Dear Family and Friends,

I pray that you have had a wonderful Advent and Christmas season celebrating the coming of Emmanuel and that you may experience the reality of Emmanuel-God with us-throughout this season and through the joys and sorrows of the year to come!

One of the first things I did when I arrived at the border four and a half years ago was to participate in a home Bible study. Pastor Chuy Gallegos drove me through the dust clouds of the dirt roads of Agua Prieta out to a colonia on the outskirts of town. Pedro Maldonado, one of the leaders of the Lily of the Valley Church, warmly invited me into his home for an evening that would shape much of my subsequent ministry.

In the intimacy of the family's sitting room, which also doubled as their bedroom and dining room, about ten of us gathered to read Scripture and listen for the Word of God to us. The Scripture was John 1. As it turned out, none of us were from Agua Prieta. I was from South Carolina and the rest, including Hermano Pedro, were from Chiapas, a southern state of Mexico that borders Guatemala. What I was to learn was that the brothers and sisters had left there land of Chiapas because of economic and political reasons. One brother said, "To leave our land is to suffer."

As the Scripture was read, the Holy Spirit began to move among us. The discussion came to center on the first part of verse 1: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us."

One man made the observation that "God had left 'his land' to live among us."

"Yes," responded a sister, "God knows what it means to be far from home."

"I believe that importance of this passage is that God is not distant from us. God knows us. God knows our suffering and knows our joys," added Hermano Pedro.

As I reflect back on my four years on the border, this first Bible study continues to form how I understand my calling, our mission as Christians and as a border ministry. Whereas, it is more comfortable to keep our distance from the hurts and pains of the world (and we even at times try to keep our distance from our own hurts and pains), God shows us a different path. We are to follow God who enters into the joys and suffering of a broken world to be in relationship with us and witness to God's love, justice, and peace.

The biggest sorrow that I continue to experience is the division that is so evident here on the border and the way in which we as a government are pouring millions and millions of dollars into "stopping the flow of migrants" on the border while our economy in the interior of the States is still "asking" them to come. We have a two-faced policy as a nation and it is painful and frustrating to feel so overwhelmed.

During this year, I have had the terrible privilege of being with dozens of migrants who have risked their lives in our deserts only to be returned to Agua Prieta: without having accomplished their goal. I want to share a few of their stories:

Roberto Bernal from Veracruz gave witness to God's provision in his time of despair. After three days walking in the desert, three hours of vomiting on the side of the highway waiting for someone to stop to help him, and countless cars passing him by, including our border patrol, Roberto prayed to God thanking God for his life and asking God to take care of his family. A few minutes later a Good Samaritan stopped and provided care and a ride to Roberto. Roberto found his way to the Lily of the Valley church and was nursed back to health and provided bus fare for him to return to his family who he never thought he would see again. Roberto gave thanks to God because he had saved his life again and because people cared enough to put "flesh on the gospel" in his time of distress.

Miguel Angel a young man from the Mexican state of Puebla arrived desperate at the Lily of the Valley Church building searching for his two brothers. They had come to Agua Prieta a month earlier to cross the border to arrive at construction jobs that awaited them in Atlanta, Georgia. They had called home before crossing but have not been heard from since.

Miguel Angel showed up at the Lily of the Valley Church because his two brothers were Presbyterians from Puebla and he hoped that they had sought refuge in the church. After talking with the Mexican consulate, checking all the migrant shelters in Agua Prieta, Miguel cried in the praying arms of members of the church and cried out: "If only they would return their bodies! That would be better than nothing. What is my mother going to do?" In his time of distress, he found a caring church that wept together with him.

Maria Concepcion was returned on a cold, rainy night last December with four other women and five young men. They had been lost in the desert for four days. Many in the group feared for their lives, but Maria invited them to trust in God. She witnessed to them in the midst of their distress to God's provision. Upon being released they were met at the border by Healing Our Borders/Sanando Nuestras Fronteras, a bi-national, ecumenical group that I and Frontera de Cristo belong to. We provide blankets and something hot to drink to migrants who are being returned by our border patrol, and we provide information on where they can find a warm and dry place to stay in Agua Prieta. Maria's group did not even know what city they were being returned to and said they needed a place to stay. A couple from our group opened up their homes and hearts to them. Maria came to me and said: "Ustedes son angeles. Yo sabia que Dios iba a proveer. La mayoria de nosotros somos cristianos y sabemos que en la vida y en la muerte somos de Dios, pero los dos muchachos alli, Maria y Ismael, han rechazado a Dios, pero ahora estan pidiendo que los leemos la Biblia y compartir con ellos mas de la Palabra de Dios"

("Y'all are angels. I knew God would provide. The majority of us are Christians and know that in life and death we belong to God. Those two young folks over their, Maria and Ismael, had rejected God, but now they are asking us to read them the Bible and share with them the Word of God,")

Despite the cold, the rain, the tiredness, the injuries, and the unrealized dreams, we celebrated that night because God in His mystery had brought family together and had witnessed to His provision to two folks who had rejected Him.

I have been privileged to see with my own eyes and experience with my whole being a church that enters into the joys and sufferings of the world. Only in entering into the joys and sufferings can we "put flesh on the gospel."

A record number of human beings have been found dead in the Arizona deserts this year. More people have been known to die migrating in the United States in the last 12 months than people have died in the suicide bombings in Israel in the last 20 months. Our worst fear is that Miguel's brothers have died in our deserts and will never be found-along with countless other human beings.

There is a silent massacre occuring on our border. I continue to give thanks to God for my position with Frontera de Cristo, and I am particularly grateful to be in a position which can help the border ministry, the larger church, and our community grapple with the realities of the crisis here on the border and confront the brokenness with the love and justice of Jesus Christ.

Please pray for us as we seek to be faithful. Please pray that we will find a better way.

May God grant us eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to serve, feet to follow, and hearts to trust Emmanuel throughout this year!

Mark Adams