God is drawing American churches to the U.S. and Mexico border
Amidst division, the American church is coming together in an unlikely location—the southern border.
"The church is everywhere. And when we see things in the news, we should look beyond our opinions of the headlines and wonder: where is the church in this situation, and how can we support the work of the local church?"
These are the words of Jeff Reams, Missions Pastor at Dunwoody Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Over the past few years, our South Texas team has welcomed four service-learning groups from Jeff's church.
What keeps bringing them—and other churches from across the United States—back to the border?
Propelled by this question, we recently chatted with Jeff and two other missions pastors: Dr. Lynne Ellis-Gray, who oversees global ministries at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, WA, and Jason Pierce, Pastor of Global Ministries of Church Project in The Woodlands, TX.
Members of Dunwoody Baptist Church & Iglesia Misionera Cristo Vive praying during a community outreach and church dedication service on April 9, 2022.
Why God is drawing American churches to the border
Jason says that God used the pandemic to refocus his church's vision. Part of that refocusing was "recognizing what God was doing right here in our own city, in our own state." Jason stumbled upon Border Perspective online. Before long, he'd visited the border three times and taken two teams along with him. “Everybody that I've taken there so far has been left with a lasting impact,” Jason says.
Jeff also approached Border Perspective when looking for ministries to partner with closer to home. Jeff admits that there was some hesitancy as he and his team approached Border Perspective because of how politicized the border is. Pushing through the initial hesitation was worth it, though. "We dipped our toes in the water with some leaders who went on a vision trip, and we let the relationship grow organically." Now Jeff’s church is preparing to send a missionary couple to work with our team on the ground.
When I asked Lynne what drew her and her congregation to Border Perspective, she promptly responded: "A righteous anger for what felt like injustice happening at the border." In just over a year, Overlake Christian Church sent six teams on Border Perspective trips.
What makes Overlake Christian Church keep coming back? Lynne told us: “It was really easy to fall in love with Border Perspective’s team, Yonathan and Jennifer. The storyline of their dad and mom's investment in the community grabbed our hearts. The model of this very under-resourced little church and how many people they're feeding a week was super compelling and challenging to us as a congregation.”
Lynne and other ministry leaders learning about the realities of asylum seekers at migrant camps in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Trading political narratives for encounters with the local church
"Wherever there's a crisis, even ones that look political, there's something God is doing in our midst," Lynne says. "And so there's a call for us to at least pause and look and ask God, how should we show up? Are you calling us to respond as a church?"
If we don't pause and listen to God, Jason believes: "People get clouded by the political conversation and pulled in either on the right side or the left side, and they can't see clearly that God's actually doing something in the middle of all of it."
For these three churches, creating a bridge between their communities and our ministry partners in South Texas was the way to encounter God on the move amid all the political noise.
"Border Perspective was born out of a ministry that has been there for 25 years or more—a family that has served (border communities) day in and day out," Jeff says. "When our teams go, it's not just about the work you do or what you learn. It's about the body of Christ working together."
Pastor Jeff and his daughter serving at a community outreach in San Juan, Texas.
The ripple effect
"What happens on the border impacts our local communities a lot more than people could ever begin to imagine. God calls us to engage with what He is doing both there and here," Jason shares.
Visits to the border have empowered congregants from these three churches to better care for under-resourced immigrants in their own communities. Each pastor shared numerous examples with us.
From encountering newly arrived migrants in public and welcoming them into their homes to leading local school districts to better care for undocumented students, congregants from these churches are driving a ripple effect of care and compassion across the country.
Jason Pierce and members of Church Project on a service-learning trip in South Texas.
Mutual blessings
Building relationships with churches like Dunwoody Baptist Church, Overlake Christian Church, and Church Project and many others has been an incredible blessing for Border Perspective and our local church and ministry partners.
When I read Paul's letters, which both encourage and challenge the communities he writes to, I think of the relationships we've built with each other.
Our strategic partner, Iglesia Misionera Cristo Vive, is one example. The church has been blessed with spiritual and physical care from Border Perspective’s network of church partners. In 2022, the small church received several hundreds of volunteers and five groups of skilled workers from Border Perspective teams. These teams, along with generous donations from our network of churches, have been an essential part of a renovation project for Iglesia Misionera Cristo Vive’s new church home. In addition, the consistent flow of service learning groups enabled the church to distribute food to over 20,000 individuals in the local community over the past year.
For our church partners around the country, our relationships have also been a blessing. Lynne told us: "There's been a mutual blessing that we have experienced that has compelled our faith, and then our faith has compelled their faith, and it's been this back and forth, mutually giving and receiving dynamic relationship."
Leaders and Pastors from Washington State, Texas and Atlanta at Iglesia Misionera Cristo Vive church dedication in April, 2022.
An invitation to the border
We invite churches, groups, and individuals to join us at the U.S. and Mexico border. The local church is ready to welcome you for a transformative service-learning experience.
