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Cultivating Relationships
and Understanding
Across Borders
| | A student delegation from the University of Arizona's School of Public Health gather for a barbeque on the patio at Café Justo y Más. Photo by Leslie Hawthorne Klingler | | |
"The trip made a lasting impression on everyone—seeing the border with a different lens; so impressed with the long term commitment of so many folks to social justice and building and strengthening a healthy and vibrant community; the passion of art in expressing emotions, ideas, and feelings; and the wonderful spirit of the Douglas/Agua Prieta area. En fin, as always, we so appreciate and are inspired by all that everyone is doing, as well as the willingness and enthusiasm that Frontera de Cristo always offers to our public health students and faculty." ―Jill Guernsey de Zapien, Program Director, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona.
View the photo album of the U of A's trip to the border on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15w6LgBfCc/?mibextid=wwXIfr
and on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGlqawGv4RF/?igsh=M2U2ZXRmanM5YWlj
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A Letter from the Frontera de Cristo Board of Directors
Dear friends,
Earlier this month, we received a letter from the Presbyterian Church (USA) informing us that they are changing their model of international engagement and will no longer be sending Mission Co-workers to serve with partners throughout the world. Therefore, as of March 22, Miriam and Mark will no longer serve as PCUSA Mission Co-workers.
Frontera de Cristo was birthed as a partnership of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico (INPM) and the PCUSA as a new way to be in ministry together. We are grateful for the 40 years of partnership of the PCUSA sending Mission Co-workers to serve with us. While we are surprised and disheartened by this change in relationship, we are confident that God will strengthen our ministry and open new doors.
Our board has met and are planning for ways to adapt to our new reality and continue our vital ministry of cultivating relationships and understanding across borders, responding in faith to the realities of migration, and responding in faith to the realities of the drug culture. We are praying that God makes a way for Miriam and Mark to continue serving with us.
We will be planning a virtual prayer service to be held in March to mark the end of this era of our ministry, to celebrate the ministry of all the Mission Co-workers who have served with us, and to pray together even as we work toward the bright future that God has for us. We will send an e-invite once details are confirmed.
Peace,
Rene Espinoza, President; Maky Hernandez, Vice President; Jean Tsuya, Secretary; Jeff Krongaard, Treasurer; Jenn Soule-Hill, Mara Salazar, Jeni O'Callaghan
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Our Time As PCUSA Mission Co-workers Serving With Frontera de Cristo Is Coming to an End
by Miriam Maldonado and Mark Adams
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AS A PART OF THE REORGANIZATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA), the Interim Unified Agency is eliminating all Mission Co-worker positions and is developing a new model of engagement in global ministry.
We have cherished the opportunity to serve with Frontera de Cristo as PCUSA Mission Co-workers. We have understood our forty plus years of combined service as a tremendous honor, privilege, and responsibility and are grateful.
While we’ll be ending service as Mission Co-workers, we are grateful for the tremendous encouragement of the board of Frontera de Cristo and their desire that a way be found for us to continue serving with them. We are also grateful to the national church who is providing us with continued support in this transition period as we discern how God is continuing to call us to serve here on the border or wherever God may call us to be. We invite you to continue supporting us, the leadership of PC(USA), and the ministry of Frontera de Cristo through your prayers as we each discern our futures.
For more information about the changes, read Talking Points and Frequently Asked Questions provided by the leadership team of the Interim Unified Agency.
| | First Presbyterian Church Capital Campaign Update | | |
The Long Arm of the Law?
Churches Push Back Against New Immigration Rulings
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ONE OF OUR PARTNER CHURCHES IN THE MIDWEST IS TAKING LESSONS THEY learned on the border and applying them in their own context.
They were asked by the immigration attorney for PC(USA) to document the actual harm they had experienced in the practice of their faith as a result of the Department of Homeland Security policy change that allows for ICE* and CBP** enforcement actions in churches. Their church (and ours) believes that the practice of our faith includes offering hospitality to our Spanish-speaking immigrant neighbors. The practice of our faith is being obstructed by this new policy. You can read the specific details in the documents linked below.
That partner church has shared with us the affidavit provided to the court, describing their relationship with the Hispanic immigrant community in their town.
Our partner church is not alone. This article from the Presbyterian News Service describes how religious organizations are challenging ICE for religious freedom: PC(USA) joins religious freedom lawsuit. In addition to a statement from the PC(USA) Stated Clerk, the article cites commitments from the Mennonite Church (USA), The Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Latino Christian National Network. It's a powerful statement.
And for some of us who were cradle Methodists, the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church has published statements opposing mass deportation and another that reminds Christians to focus on holistic reform―on the root causes of migration (where have we heard that before??)―and not immigration enforcement.
“Guided by their call to welcome the stranger and belief in the inherent dignity of all people, PC(USA) actively advocates for and works toward more just immigration laws and processes.”
*Immigration and Customs Enforcement
**Customs and Border Protection
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Three Immersion Opportunities
Save the Dates
| | June 16-18, 2025: Family Immersion Trip to the US-Mexico Border | | October 3-5, 2025: The US-Mexico Border: Toward a More Peaceful Path Forward | | |
October 31-November 8, 2025: Border-to-Border Delegation:
Coffee, Migration, & Faith
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THIS YEAR'S BORDER-TO-BORDER DELEGATION "COFFEE, MIGRATION & FAITH" will be held October 31 through November 8. Travel to the Guatemala border and learn about the Café Justo cooperative. Dates include an introductory visit with all of Frontera de Cristo's ministries.
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Getting to Know Us: Ximena Medina
Social Media/Events Facilitator and Delegation Mission Supporter
| | | | IT WAS DURING A MORNING REFLECTION WITH ONE OF THE many delegations of visitors that Frontera de Cristo receives every year that Ximena, with openhearted words said “For me, giving a voice to the ones that did not have it is beyond meaningful, touching, and reflective.” She was referring to the weekly “Healing Our Borders” Prayer Vigil that Frontera de Cristo and friends of the ministry have held at the border since December 12, 2000. | | |
The vigil is held every Tuesday evening to honor the lives of those brothers and sisters who died in the US desert seeking a better life, and to pray for their families. For Ximena, what is most impressive about these vigils is getting to see that some of the crosses used weekly have the names of people she loves, including her own name on one of the crosses.
Leer en español.
| | Order Your Café Justo Photo Book | | THE CAFÉ JUSTO PHOTO BOOK is still available! Order yours now and learn about the founding families who brought the dream to fruition, and the process of growing coffee from seed to cup. It will give you a new appreciation for your morning cup of coffee! | | | | | Read about the benefits of Café Justo in the community and the unique ways some of their customers sell and serve the coffee. Meet all the coffee farming families. Get a glimpse of the activities that make the Café Justo y Más coffee shop a place for creativity, comfort, and camaraderie in Agua Prieta. And reminisce over photos of the fabulous 20th anniversary celebration. | | The photo book is just $20. Or you can buy a box of 12 for $200. Shipping is included. Just scan the QR code above or click here to order online. Or download this order form to pay by check. | | Love Mercy, Do Justice, Order Coffee | | | | FRONTERA DE CRISTO AND CAFÉ JUSTO CREATED the "Love Mercy, Do Justice" (Amar Misericordia, Hacer Justicia) initiative to provide coffee for migrant shelters across the southern border. Thousands of women and men each week are greeted with a cup of coffee, a meal, and vital medical attention when they are repatriated into Mexico. You can help support this effort with a donation to Love Mercy, Do Justice. | | | | In the mean time, why not order some coffee for yourself today? You will enjoy delicious 100% organic coffee cultivated, freshly roasted, and shipped by the Café Justo cooperative. Online orders placed by Tuesdays at 8:00am Mountain Standard Time will be shipped the same week. To order by mail instead of online, scan the QR code on the left or download this form. | | |
"40 Years of Building Bridges and Tables of Love"
New 2024 video from the Presbyterian Mission Agency
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