I continue to answer the why in “why I wanted to go on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico” in my not-so-brief background leading up to the trip.

After growing up in rural Pennsylvania, where my surroundings were predominantly White, my military career exposed me to diverse cultures and expanded my perspectives. When Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath thrust my family into racial and socio-economic disparities and challenged our preconceptions, I delved into understanding systemic issues. Retiring in Central Texas, my ministry shifted, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning in embracing diversity and addressing societal challenges.

The first in the Reynosa, Mexico blog series can be found HERE

In Texas, as my youngest son finished high school and my husband used his military benefits to attend college, I returned to my lifelong passion of writing. Writing groups, workshops, instructional books on the craft of writing, and conferences filled my hours as much as our church activities and bible studies. Prayer also worked its way into one of my top passions and I discovered I loved teaching about prayer and Scripture as much as I loved learning and writing. Which meant, of course, that I started reading and seeking the mysterious and sometimes elusive concept of prayer.

You can find a list of the books HERE.

As the years flew by, we remained caught up in a whirlwind of the retired, empty-nester life filled with graduations, weddings, grandbabies, travel, and aging parents. I so appreciated time to write, develop new friendships, serve in and with the church, and love my neighbors. But somewhere within the depths of my heart, I missed the other two: loving one’s enemies and caring for the least of these.

Every so often I’d think a door was opening, a connection or relationship was happening that would engage me once again. But often it passed by or dissipated. One of the connections occurred when I was involved with Moms in Prayer, an international organization that prays for our children and their schools. An acquaintance was interested in starting a prayer group for moms in the nearby women’s correctional facility, which piqued my interest because prisoners are one of the-least-of-these mentioned in Scripture. But it was a slow going effort, COVID happened, and we eventually lost touch. (Verses below are taken from the NIV)

• The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1)
• “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.”(Psalm 102:19-20)
• He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. (Psalm 146:7-8)
• I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.(Matthew 25:36)

During this time I discovered podcasts and they became a huge part of my learning experience. I was introduced to Marty and Brent on Bema Discipleship, Tim and John on the Bible Project, and Phil, Skye, Christian and Kaitlyn on the Holy Post. Other podcasts sprung from links and recommendations: Jen Hatmaker and For the Love and Jordyn Rayner and Mere Christians.

Then the world started going a little more crazy than it already was. Elections and politics began impacting relationships with family, friends, neighbors. The border wall and immigration became a hot topic. I found myself disheartened by the evangelical church’s reaction. There had to be a better way. These (migrants, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers) were people. People with names and stories, hopes and dreams, needs and desires. People loved by God. I expanded my list of the-least-of-these to include the foreigner that Scripture so often calls us to also care for. (Verses below are taken from the NIV)

• “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Exodus 22:21)
• “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. (Exodus 23:9.12)
• Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:10)
• The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. (Psalm 146:9)
• This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. (Jeremiah 22:3)

In 2019, Jon had the opportunity to go to Haiti on a mission trip with our church and he went again with our youngest in March of 2020. I loved that he went because it was an amazing experience for him, but I did not feel prompted to go. Instead, my eye was still on the border and the immigration issues, controversy. and quandary. But what could I do? We had moved in 2017 further from San Antonio and further from the hub of immigrants coming into the country. I didn’t know what or who to believe about the matter, what was fact, what was fear, what was truth, what was political distortion. I didn’t come across many people with attitudes, opinions, and beliefs aligned with how Jesus calls us to love like he loves. And I didn’t speak Spanish.

But I knew I wanted to do something.