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

After moving to Texas following our retirement, I focused my time to writing, church and community involvement, and learning about prayer. Despite the whirlwind pursuits, interests, and activities, I missed not being involved with the least fortunate. A potential opportunity arose with a prayer group for mothers in a women’s correctional facility, but unfortunately nothing materialized. Podcasts became another source of learning and my interests expanded to include migrants and immigrants amid divisive political issues. I  desired to make a difference with some sort of meaningful action.

Then 2020 happened. Between the election, the pandemic, and racial violence, our country seemed like it lost its mind. My husband went to Haiti again—this time our youngest went with him—and when they returned the world was shutting down. As people fought over masks, business closings, and eventually vaccines, I couldn’t help but wonder, aren’t we supposed to care for the least of these? Aren’t the elderly, the sick, and minimum wage workers among them as well?

Having never learned or seen conflict dealt with in a healthy way, I tend to retreat when it happens, and I try to avoid confrontations if I can. It’s not a very productive way to live, but I prefer it to the attacks, hostility, and violence that conflict often lead to.  Instead, as I processed the insanity around me, I tried to listen and learn from those who looked different, lived differently, and thought differently than me. To my delight, I discovered followers of Jesus, readers of Scriptures who wrestle with the same thing I do: are we really concerned with the least of these like Jesus tells us to be?

A few things followed. my husband and I attended a Tres Dias weekend, an adult ecumenical weekend which concentrates on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. The experience brought some amazing healing and restoration that neither one of us knew we needed. We were introduced to a diverse community of believers working and serving together in a beautiful way. We immediately signed up to serve the following spring.

At Tres Dias, I met a family from the San Antonio Mennonite Church. Not long after, I listened to a podcast by a young friend of mine (with whom I was honored to sit and grieve with over the Black Lives Matter backlash and participate with the Pray on MLK event). As the host of Returning to Joy, she interviewed the pastor of the Mennonite Church which, unbeknownst to me, has been ministering to immigrants and refugees in downtown San Antonio.

Then I discovered Women of Welcome, a Christian community pursuing compassion and extending Christ-like welcome toward immigrants, refuges, and asylum seekers. The organization focuses on dispelling myths and fears about this group of the least of these. They provide instructive, reliable, and effective information about the immigration situation with the goal to educate people and impact positive, dignifying solutions. Finally, a group of women exploring the questions I had been asking. What about the least of these, the foreigners coming to our country?

These are the many reasons of why I wanted to go to the border and brings me to 2023.