New World Outlook - Summer 2017 - Open - 31

New World Outlook

SUMMER 2017

Life on the Border-El Faro Church
by Venancio Reyes Pacheco

n 2016, I was accepted as a Global
Mission Fellow to serve in Tijuana,
Mexico, as a mission coordinator for
the El Faro ("Lighthouse") frontier
ministries, a project of the Methodist
Church of Mexico. I began working
for the first time with deportees and
other migration issues. At first, being
in a place very different from home

because they have lived all their lives
in the United States. Often, they are
depressed and traumatized by deportation, and many find escape from
their situation by losing themselves
in alcohol or drugs. The program is
primarily focused on helping them reintegrate into Mexican society.
We start with an interview at the

and eventually move into a place of
their own. In all these activities, we
accompany them with spiritual support and work with them through devotionals and Bible studies.
The other part of my job is with
the El Faro church on the border each
Sunday, when a pastor comes "from
the other side," as the Mexicans
refer to those coming from the
US. We organize a binational
worship service at Friendship
Park, where families from both
sides get together to see their
loved ones. We give a message of hope and faith, serve
communion, and offer food for
those who arrive hungry. While
they eat, we share God's word
with them.
Raúl Gonzalez,from Tijuana,
joined our program after he was
deported from the US and his
life hit rock bottom. He'd served
time in jail and had turned to
drugs. All he needed was a
push to get back up. The program helped him each step of
the way. Now he works at the
call center, has moved to his
own apartment, and is active in
El Faro ("Lighthouse") frontier ministries, a project of the Methodist Church of Mexico, conducts a
the border church, becoming a
communion service at the wall, the border between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California.
PHOTO: VENANCIO REYES
witness for others. His is one of
many success stories.
and learning about a different culture El Faro church and an antidrug examiwas hard. But with the help of God nation. Then they are brought to our Venancio Junior Reyes Pacheco, from
and all those around me, I adapted center where they receive psycholog- Barranquilla, Colombia (Advance
ical therapy to help reduce their long- #3022245), serves as a Global Misquickly.
My work in Tijuana is divided into ing to return to the US. If they want to sion Fellow with the Methodist Church
two main activities. The first is a pro- stay in Tijuana, the second step is to of Mexico in Tijuana. Reyes holds a
gram called Assistance Integrating help them obtain official documents. bachelor's degree in languages from
Deportees (AID), created to deal with Since many left Mexico as young Atlantic University (Universidad Del
the issues Tijuana faces in receiv- children, they have no proper docu- Atlántico) in Barranquilla. This article
ing deportees, many of whom do mentation. Finally, we help them find was translated from Spanish by Donald
not feel themselves to be Mexican employment so they can earn money D. Reasoner.

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