COVID-19 forces church ministries to asylum-seekers to adjust

Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville transitioned its Golán ministry for immigrants to serve lower-income and the homeless population of Brownsville. While many churches in the city have suspended most of their operations, Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville partnered with organizations in order to serve the city. (Photo provided by Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville)

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Social restrictions continue changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for immigrants seeking asylum in the United States, those changes add more instability to their situation.

Churches in Texas with ministries for asylum seekers have been forced to make adjustments, said Jorge Zapata, coordinator of missions and Hispanic ministries at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Texas and founder of Hearts4Kids.

“Many of us have increased our ministries to neighborhoods of lower-income Hispanic families in the Valley,” Zapata said.

Limited border crossing

Several weeks ago, the United States began limiting travel across its borders to essential travel. More recently, Mexico also began limiting travel from its border with the United States.

Immigrants seeking asylum, who already had to wait in Mexico while their cases were resolved under the Migrant Protection Protocol, also were able to cross the border until recently, Zapata explained.

Jorge Zapata

Now they also must remain in Mexico, which shifts more responsibility to churches in Mexico that until recently shared the ministry with churches in the United States once immigrants were able to cross.

“Right now, we are supporting churches in Mexico who can minister to immigrants,” Zapata said.

Zapata’s connections with pastors and churches around several border towns that go from the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas to California have all experienced changes. All of them continue their ministry with immigrants exclusively through churches in Mexico, he noted.

Some U.S. churches still send funds to churches in Mexico; others have found immigrant families in the United States who are being affected by COVID-19 and support them in some way.


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Stress increases for immigrants

Stay-at-home orders from county officials vary from place to place, but the police are stopping some, asking them to explain why they are out of their homes.

“I know of some cases where individuals have been pulled over by officers three times while they were out in their cars,” Zapata said. “For many immigrants in the area, that can be really stressful.”

Families who need to go out to get food from church pantries—and even those who receive food from churches delivered to their doorsteps—fear that by stepping outside their homes, they could face legal problems with the local government or immigration agents, he noted.

Hispanic immigrant families also form an essential part of the service industry, which makes them vulnerable. Their need for income forces them into continued interaction with other people at a time when they should limit those interactions.

“People live day by day, week by week and paycheck by paycheck,” Zapata said.

Access to healthcare also is limited, so any unnecessary exposure to the outside seems almost out of the question for them­—and more so when law enforcement is involved, Zapata added.

He noted—and immigration lawyers confirmed—that immigrants who show symptoms of COVID-19 safely can seek medical attention without fear of deportation.

Directing support to families and churches in need

The ministries Zapata is a part of are directing funds toward helping families, pastors and churches who need some assistance while everything else is shut down.

Churches that minister to low-income families also are experiencing more hardships now due to a significant drop in offerings, he noted.

“Everyone is in need right now,” Zapata said.

Churches in Mexico have accepted responsibility for ministry to immigrants, but they also must follow limited interaction with asylum seekers in Mexico according to guidelines from the Mexican government, he said.

“If a church has food or any other item they want to provide to a shelter of asylum seekers, then they need to go drop those items outside of their shelter and have someone come outside to pick them up,” he added.

Difficulty in receiving financial support

But the responsibility increases when many pastors and churches in Mexico begin feeling pressure from the lack of resources coming in every week.

Churches and ministries from the United States that provided food, clothing, healthcare items or construction materials now are limited to sending funds. But many churches in Mexico lack bank accounts or credit cards, so that makes it difficult for churches to receive them.

Pastors across the border from California who work with asylum seekers ran out of funds recently. When Zapata and Fellowship Southwest asked how they could support them, the pastors said the only food they would buy for themselves would be rice and beans. The rest of the money would be exclusively used for asylum seekers.

“Everything is on hold, except the ministry in the lives of immigrants” Zapata said. “For churches who had planned a mission trip to the Valley or across the border, then we ask they still use those funds to help the ministry of the ones who remain working here.”

Worship suspended but ministry continues

At Iglesia Bautista West Browsnville, where Carlos Navarro is pastor, the church’s ministry to immigrants—Golán—closed its doors about three weeks ago in order to follow the recommendations of the city.

Like other churches in the area, Navarro also traveled to Mexico up until less than three weeks ago to minister to migrants there, before Mexico also limited travel across its border.

Because of the networks Navarro built in the past years with government officials, he knew which decisions would be made regarding the city’s response to COVID-19, he said.

Work done to serve immigrants transitioned to feeding the homeless population in downtown Brownsville.

“There are close to 30 homeless people in the area, among them we know there are two or three immigrants who could not leave because everything else began shutting down,” Navarro said.

The church takes clothing, food and hygiene items twice a day for people in downtown Brownsville, he said.

Helping during crisis

With extensions in Southwestern Spain and Southern Mexico, Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville keeps a deep connection with areas where COVID-19 had already upended the economy and the healthcare capabilities of other nations, Navarro confirmed.

The association of hotel owners in Sevilla partnered with Golán Internacional so several meals could be distributed in the city.

Through other organizations in Europe, Golán Internacional also has provided ingredients for the preparation of meals which are then distributed to children, families and senior adults, Navarro said.

“Imagine what it would be like to suddenly have absolutely nothing to eat, that is what happened to many people in Spain,” Navarro affirmed. “We’re trying to give them something that will help them as they deal with this crisis.”

Out of all the Hispanic churches in the area, Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville is the only one still open right now, he said.

“This definitely affects most churches who depend on the support they receive from people every week,” he mentioned. “Many pastors and their families do not have income right now.”

Through local and state networks, Navarro said the church provides similar support for families in the area as the ministry they support in Spain.

“Thankfully through these networks God has been preparing us for this during the past two years,” Navarro said. “We see how God has moved around us and we are thankful for that.”

Because of God’s provision and preparation, Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville finds itself in a position to help others during this crisis, stated Navarro.

Moved to Mexico to minister

Other groups and ministries that previously ministered to immigrants have left the area already, both Zapata and Navarro confirmed. So, the need for support increased as the pandemic grew.

As Mexico prepared to limit travel across its border, Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz of El Buen Samaritano went across the border planning to stay until travel restrictions are lifted, said his daughter Ruth Ortiz, who is a missionary for the River Ministry of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz of El Buen Samaritano moved to Mexico after both the United States and Mexico began limiting their borders to only essential travel. Pastor Ortiz will remain in Mexico and minister to more than 170 asylum-seekers until travel restrictions are lifted. (Photo provided by Lorenzo Ortiz)

“He’s responsible for many things regarding some shelters where asylum seeking immigrants stay, so it was impossible for him not to be there during these travel restrictions,” she said.

From Monday to Saturday, Ortiz’ father will travel to Monterrey at least once a day to help migrants in Monterrey get to the border, where they can present themselves. Although asylum cases are postponed, asylum seekers still must present themselves at the border to receive another hearing date.

Sometimes, Lorenzo Ortiz will make the two-and-a-half-hour trip to Monterrey twice a day, his daughter said.

Pastor Ortiz is one of the few ministers in Northeast Mexico who still is allowed by the government to interact with asylum seekers in the country, Zapata noted.

His ministry includes finding a place for immigrants to shelter, finding and providing essential needs, transporting them to and from different locations, and providing pastoral care.

Ortiz provides shelter for immigrants in three locations—two in Nuevo Laredo and one in a ranch called El Derramadero, a few hours away from Saltillo. Iglesia de Dios en Derramadero in El Derramadero, where Ortiz’ aunt Eva Reyes Marquez is pastor, provides shelter to those who came looking for asylum in the United States.

Immigrants staying there go out looking for jobs and eventually pay for their own expenses too, but the church provides for them until they can find employment somewhere, Ruth Ortiz said.

Drug cartels follow and often extort asylum-seeking immigrants in Mexico, she noted.

“Cartel members have posed as police officers and stopped my dad on the road, and they have also gone to visit shelters, but thankfully nothing has escalated yet,” Ruth Ortiz said. “My mom and I are also definitely concerned about my dad because he is exposed to many people who may be carrying COVID-19.”

In Mexico, Pastor Ortiz works with close to 170 people at the shelters, but those numbers often can reach more than 250 people as well, she said.

PTSD common among asylum seekers

Whether asylum seekers flee their home countries because of financial hardships, violence, sex abuse or any other reason, most share a common trait—post-traumatic stress disorder, said Olga Harris, a licensed professional counselor.

“The reasons they come here are very different than those who come for the American dream,” Harris said. “They come here because of fear, because they are running away from a real threat.”

Harris recalled one of her patients who had a transportation business in Central America, which was enough to provide for his family. A gang located him and demanded 60 percent of his profits in exchange for his safety and the safety of his wife and daughter.

“He lived under fear, and every day, he could not tell whether that would be his last day,” Harris said.

The man left home and came to the United States, Harris said. While he was granted asylum, he already had started the petition to bring his wife and daughter before the government put on hold processes because of COVID-19.

Ministry and assistance provided by churches may seem like a drop of water in the desert for the situations most asylum seekers deal with, Harris said, but often that little bit helps them keep going another day.

“Even if it is just a drop, we must keep doing what we are doing because we alone are not it,” Harris said. “The drop of water we provide may add to other support others give them and that drop may fill one cup of water.”

Though asylum seekers in Mexico had the opportunity to return to their country, Zapata said, most decided staying in Mexico was a better option than going back.

“They’ll say: ‘We’re going to stay here, because we are dying in our own country from violence and hunger, and we risked our lives to come to the border. So, we’re not afraid of the coronavirus,’” said Zapata. “They really trust in God, who brought them here and will continue to protect them while they wait.”


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