TIJUANA – Night after night time for 6 weeks, Erika Hernández knelt out of doors her house in central Mexico and prayed: “Please, God, don’t let my son turn into a criminal.”
“I prayed a lot. I fasted. My faith was huge,” stated the 46-year-old girl, fearing her son can be forcibly recruited via a prison group.
It didn’t take lengthy for God to pay attention, Hernández stated. By early June, after being abducted via contributors of the Familia Michoacana drug cartel close to Mexico City, her son escaped and the circle of relatives fled north hoping to go in the United States.
For many migrants like Hernández, their faith has been crucial for dealing with their difficult cases.
Hernández and 10 of her family spent 3 months hopping on buses, taxis and strolling till they reached the Movimiento Juventud refuge in Tijuana, in northern Mexico, the place they’re waiting for a possibility to discover a more secure house in America.
Before her son’s kidnapping, the concept of migrating to the United States had by no means crossed Hernández’s thoughts. Her circle of relatives owned farm animals and several other tracts of farmland. They had a just right lifestyles.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated in early October that about 10,000 migrants according to day have been heading to the U.S. border. Waves of folks using atop railway automobiles forced Mexico’s largest railroad to suspend dozens of freight trains.
While many puts in Mexico supply refuge for Venezuelans, Haitians and Central Americans, some shelters in Tijuana have observed an inflow of Mexicans fleeing violence, extortion and threats via arranged crime.
José Guadalupe Torres reached out to God once he left his house in the central state of Guanajuato. His motives reflected Hernandez’s: His circle of relatives was once threatened via a drug cartel. “We parted ways to be safe,” the 62-year-old stated. “But God has always been with us.”
Now he prays for an appointment that can permit him to input the United States.
Early this 12 months, the Biden management introduced a web based appointment device as a beneficial manner for migrants to request asylum, despite the fact that hundreds go the border illegally on a daily basis.
“This is the precise time to preach the word of God,” stated pastor Albert Rivera, an evangelical who these days supplies a roof and religious steering for just about 400 migrants in Agape, a close-by refuge.
According to Rivera, many migrants noticed their youngsters being murdered, suffered via the kidnapping of a circle of relatives member, or misplaced the whole thing to pay prison extortion calls for.
“We have received women married to hitmen whose enemies have shot their homes and said: ‘I’ll kill you and your children,’” the pastor stated.
His steering supplies convenience for some who really feel hopeless whilst looking forward to a greater lifestyles.
Mariana Flores fled Guerrero, a Pacific Coast state, along with her husband and 3-year-old son after arranged criminals abducted her husband briefly. She introduced her faith along with her, however stated being at Agape has renewed it.
“God did a miracle for us,” the 25-year-old stated. “So even if we feel sad from time to time, attending services helps us forget and we can keep trying to move on.”
Miguel Rayo, 47, traveled from the identical Mexican state with only some possessions, however helps to keep a Bible on his telephone. “I read it when I’m cold, when I’m in need. We want to be renewed and remain close to God,” Rayo said.
Agape welcomes migrants of any faith or ideology, but everyone is encouraged to attend services on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Migrants also pray in small groups several days per week in their dormitories.
A few miles away, Casa del Migrante provides spiritual comfort in addition to a temporary home, daily meals, legal advice and mentorships that help migrants find jobs and schools for their kids. The shelter was established by the Catholic Scalabrinian Missionaries in 1987.
Every Wednesday afternoon, during one of the Masses celebrated by the Rev. Pat Murphy, an American priest, migrants are invited to participate by sharing their thoughts, petitions and concerns.
“It’s a lovely Mass, a time to gather and share,” stated Alma Ramírez, who got to work as a volunteer a 12 months in the past and lately become a full-time employee at Casa Migrante.
The shelter used to receive only deported men from the U.S. but since 2019, when the surge of migrants increased, entire families and members from the LGBTQ+ community have been welcomed as well.
“We currently have internally displaced people, Mexicans who left states in the South because they faced violence mainly from drug trafficking,” Ramírez said.
Across the shelter’s entrance, a portrait depicting the Virgin Mary greets the newcomers.
“There are migrants who approach the door and once we tell them, ‘You can enter,’ they reply: I knew, since the moment I saw the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, that all would be fine,’” Ramírez said.
Both at Casa del Migrante and Agape, some migrants ask Murphy and Rivera to baptize them. Others request their company to pray for blessings. Many fear for the family members they left behind. Others hope for a good ending on their journey to the United States.
“Open the doors for me, Lord, so that I can cross,” Rivera suggests they say in prayer.
“Imagine the experience of faith,” Rivera said. “Arriving at a place feeling broken, but then you pray to God, fill out your application, you get an appointment and that’s how you arrive in the United States.”
“That’s something they’ll never forget.”
——
Associated Press faith protection receives enhance via the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with investment from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is simply chargeable for this content material.