The Family Who Crosses

The Family Who Crosses

Border Wall with handprints from people who have climbed over to the US side

Recently, I was at a Migrant Resource Center in Agua Prieta, Mexico sharing a meal with a migrant family.  I was there as a part of an intense study of border issues and ministries on the Douglas, Arizona/ Agua Prieta, Sonora area.  Although, I had spent the whole week with a large group of Young Adult Volunteers from the Tucson and Denver, this moment was all about the family sitting across from me.

As we ate our pasta and sipped our sugar-infused juice, we began to talk about where we came from and why we were here in the dusty border town of Agua Prieta.  The father of the family, Ronald*, was charismatic and friendly.  His big green eyes glittered as he excitedly told me that he and his family of four were going to cross the border in the upcoming week.  His glee was uncontainable.  Ronald and his wife, Maria*, animatedly walked me through the details of their itinerary.   

When their coyote (human smuggler or guide depending on your perspective) contacted them, they would drive out into the desert where they would climb over the border wall using a ladder.  Then, they would walk through the harsh terrain, in the dark to the closest American town, Bisbee.  When they assured me it was only a ten-hour hike, I began to get uncomfortable.  This would be a fast-paced hike.  Ronald described how they would have to follow the exact footsteps of their guide to avoid alerting Border Patrol motion detectors or heat sensors.  After arriving in Bisbee, they planned on taking a van to Phoenix, then Las Vegas, and finally Indianapolis to meet his sister.  I wondered how they would do this, as there are Border Patrol checkpoints on the only road out of Bisbee where the guards check for identification.  Maybe they’ll take a dirt road.  Maybe they’ll hide in the trunk or under the floorboards of the car as some migrants do…

By now my heart was racing. I was worried for their safety and worried that their coyote had mislead them so I asked, “Is it worth it for you to endure this dangerous trip?” Ronald replied with an absolute, “Yes.”  Even though he is leaving a good job as a nuclear electrician and his eldest son is leaving college, he believes he can have a better life in the United States.  This family lived in Veracruz, one of the most violent states in Mexico.  Ronald and Maria said they live in constant fear of the cartels.  Ronald confidently said, “I would rather be captured by Border Patrol than the cartels any day.”  Having a good job in Veracruz actually makes him a liability, as the cartels are most likely to extort money from him.  It is a paradoxical situation with little hope of changing any time soon.

After we finished dinner, I thanked Ronald and his family for their honest conversation and wished them the best on their journey.  But saying, “Safe travels” did not suffice.  I kept thinking about them, worrying about them, and praying for them.

“Dear God,

Please let Ronald, Maria, and their two sons find a peaceful, dignified life.  Please help them find their way through the desert.  May they be protected from abuse from their guide or Border Patrol.  God, everyone deserves a dignified life and an opportunity to raise their family without fearing for their lives.  Please protect this family and help them safely reach their destination.”

And what happens if they make it to their final destination?  If they find jobs they will forever work in the shadow class, afraid of deportation.  Will the son who was in University in Mexico, be able to get an American education or will he be resigned to minimum wage labor for the rest of his life?

Even if this family fears deportation and works hard for low wages, this is probably better than living under the reign of a violent cartel.  Due to my privileged and limited perspective, I did not realize that what may seem horrible to me may be a relief to another person who has suffered far greater challenges than I have.

This is blind privilege is one of the many reasons why we do not know how to “secure” our border.  In the 90s, Operation Gatekeeper and other similar policies were enacted to reduce illegal immigration.  The Border Patrol focused its resources on securing metropolitan areas, while leaving the unpopulated desert areas less patrolled.  The official plan was “attrition through deterrence” as Homeland Security thought that the desert would be a natural and obvious boundary for migrants.  This thought process makes sense when coming from a privileged American who is unaware of the conditions of poverty and violence in parts of Mexico.  Yes, desperate hardworking people who cannot find jobs or fear their lives will cross, even if it means risking their lives.  In fact, many people like Ronald see the cacti-laden desert to be a small challenge compared to their daily lives back home.

We will not be able to create just, holistic immigration reform until American politicians are aware of the root causes of immigration to the US, the current socio-political climate in Mexico and Central America, and what people are willing to give up.  Ronald sacrificed his job, home, and son’s college education to climb a wall, walk in the dark, and work minimum wage jobs in hopes of a safer, more dignified future.

Ephesians 2: 11-22

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

“Therefore, remember that formerly you are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human hands)- remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.  His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.  He came and preached peace to you who were near.  For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostle and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God live by his Spirit.

·      *For the privacy of these individuals, I have changed their names.

Reflecting at the wall with my roommate Hanbyeol during our border delegation

Jesus Christ Superstar

Musings by Jim Burklo

My placement supervisor, Brandon, recently presented this sermon, which was originally written by Jim Burklo, at a Young Adult Volunteers fundraiser.  I found it to be humorous, beautiful, and reflective of my faith.

The Sermon on Mount Hollywood

Blessed are the clinically depressed, for they all shall get free first-rate psychiatric care when we establish the kingdom of heaven in Los Angeles.

Blessed are the just plain sad, for they shall be entertained by stand-up comics who are secretly just as sad.

Blessed are the shy, for Hollywood needs them:  it has too many extroverts as it is.

Blessed are those who want to do the right thing when surrounded by opportunities to lie and cheat.

Blessed are truly nice people in a town with so many people who get paid to pretend.

Blessed are the pure in heart, even if that means they get fewer gigs.

Blessed are the gang members who choose peace instead of revenge.

Blessed are those who recommend others for auditions without expectation of getting recommendations from them, for theirs is the kingdom of very good karma.

Blessed are you when people talk smack about you on Facebook and dis you on Yelp;

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they messed up the social media of the prophets who were before you.

You are the salsa of the world.  But if salsa goes stale, its flavor cannot be restored.  It's so bad it would kill the worms in your compost heap.  So be that fresh tub of salsa that’s always ready in the fridge.  Let others savor your flavor!

You are the spotlights of the world.  A city built on Hill Street cannot be hid.  Nobody puts an LED lamp under a laundry basket, but instead you let it shine on the bedstand so you can read the LA Times.  In the same way, let the light within you shine a bright beam into the smog and direct the public toward your good deeds, so that people will say Wooo Hooo to Love, who is God, who inspired you to do them.

You've heard it said that murder is wrong, but I say to you that anger is just as bad.  So take that anger management course at the community center before the court mandates it.  You've heard it said that no good can come from sleeping with your boss's publicist.  But I say that even thinking about it is trouble.  

You've heard it said, a bad review for a bad review.  But I say to you, when you get a bad review, invite the reviewer for drinks at the Dresden in Los Feliz, and pay the tab gladly.  God is what happens when you do that.  God is a rare LA rain falling on jerks and good dudes and dudettes alike. 

You've heard it said that you should love your neighbor and hate your landlord, but I say to you, love your landlord -- yes, even love your condo association president.  What reward do you get for loving people who are like you?   Even paparazzi love each other.  God is what happens when you love the apartment manager who kept your security deposit for no good reason.  

When the guy in the Red Line subway station, the guy with the dreadlocks and the scruffy dog, you know who I mean, that guy in the subway who asks you for money, give it to him.  Give him a lot.  Don't tell him to get a job.  Don't tell him to pull himself up by his nonexistent bootstraps.  Just do it.  Yes, he will buy ganja with it, but so what?  The suits with window offices at Seventh and Figueroa buy ganja, too.  Just give him the money.  And don't tell anybody you did it.  God is the knowledge of the good you do when nobody else is looking. 

When you pray, cut the "we just ask you Jesus", "we just praise you Jesus”, we "just this" and "we just" that.  God hates Christian jive and especially God hates Christian radio.  Enough of the Jesusey talk.  When you pray, you are not talking to me, you are talking to my Dad in heaven.  So put it out there in plain English.  Spanish is cool, too.  Here's how Dad wants you to pray:  "God, you rock.  Whatever you want, I want.  I only want enough so that I can do what you want.  I want you to forgive me for messing up against you, like I want to forgive others for messing up against me.  Please don't make my life any more complicated than it already is.  Don’t let telephone solicitors get my number, and deliver me from email spam, because yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen."

Don't store up treasure in that Self Storage unit under the 101 freeway, where roaches and excessive bills proliferate.  Put your treasure in heaven, where junkies can't rip you off.  Nobody can work for two film directors at the same time.  They will make your schedules conflict just out of spite.  You cannot serve God and Donald Sterling at the same time.

So really, don't worry about whether your Levis are properly distressed, or whether or not the stainless steel spike in your lip is screwed in straight.  God has counted every hair on the coyote that keeps you up at night with its howling in Laurel Canyon.  So much more has God measured exactly how long your fashionable two days' worth of beard has grown. Stop worrying about tomorrow when you’re reading today's Variety Magazine.  Sufficient for today are today's troubles on the Channel 5 Nightly News. 

Don't judge, lest you be judged.  Hello?  How basic is this?  Don't post an ugly picture of somebody on Instagram, lest you be similarly posted.  Why do you whine about the dandruff on your neighbor's eyelash, when you have a gob of spluge on yours?  Don't be a hypocrite.  Get the funk out of your own eye first.

Enter through Fountain Street, for Sunset is a wide road that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.  For the intersection is narrow and the street is full of potholes that leads to life, and there are few who find it, even with GPS.

Beware of false promoters who come in designer poodle's clothing but inwardly are hungry coyotes.  You will know them by their fruits.  Are pomegranates gathered from poison oak, or oranges from greasewood?  A good jacaranda cannot blossom bad flowers. 

Everyone who hears what I'm saying is like a person who builds her house on ten-foot deep reinforced concrete piers.  And everyone who hears my words but doesn't follow them will be like the foolish person who builds his house on top of an earthquake fault.  The earth shakes, the house collapses, the lawyers show up, and great is the fall of that house!