Texas Border Trip
Sunday, April 28 - Thursday, May 2, 2024
$450 + Meals
We went to the Texas Border to learn first-hand what is going on.
From May 2024
We are going to the Texas Border to learn first-hand what is going on with immigration. I went on this trip last March and it changed my perspective. It is easy to see just by reading and watching the news that the US Immigration System is broken. Both sides of the aisle are not doing what is best for immigrants or US citizens. Both seem to be using immigrants for political gain and I have huge problems with that. They don’t seem to remember that we are talking about people, human beings, who think, feel, act, and relate. Our immigration system is broken and it has been for a very long time.
My trip to the border last year really opened my eyes. I heard from two border patrol agents how they have PTSD from the things they’ve seen. They are human with feelings and emotions. I heard a young couple from Venezuela share about their traumatic journey through the Darién Gap. I saw respite centers provide for migrants gently and lovingly. I saw the city of Brownsville do all it could to help migrants alongside nonprofits and churches.
I now have a more informed view of immigration that has given me greater compassion for migrants, border patrol, and nonprofit workers.
I would love for you to join me on this wonderful experience.
Lance Mayes
Associate Pastor of Community Engagement
Woodland Church, San Antonio
Our goals for the trip
To understand the border context: Experience the realities of border communities and learn to dispel border myths.
To witness God’s work at the border: Witness welcoming communities serving migrants biblically and steadfastly.
To advocate for immigration reform: Discern how to practice impactful welcoming and advocacy.
With Elket Rodriguez, CBF Field Personnel, we will:
Go to Harlingen, McAllen, & Brownsville
Talk with Border Patrol
Learn from the South Texas Human Rights Center
Visit Respite Centers
Visit the Border Wall
John Whisler wrote about his experience on our March 2023 Texas Border Trip. Click here to read about John Whisler’s experience.
From May 6, 2024 (Did You Know)
We have two South Texas Experiences.
Texas Border Trip. We learn about what is happening at the border with migrants in Harlingen, McAllen, and Brownsville.
Serve with West Brownsville Baptist Church. We do whatever they need us to do. It can include sorting and folding t-shirts, putting together and counting hygiene kits, serving homeless migrants, and making sandwiches at the Welcome Center.
Last week, Glen Yale, Alexy Soto, and Lance Mayes went on the Texas Border Trip and we connected with our guide, Elket Rodriguez, CBF Field Personnel.
On Monday, we went to Catholic Charities RGV Respite Center in McAllen. We met a family (mom, dad, son) from Central America who recently had their son kidnapped and threatened with a machete at his neck with a demand for money or his death. Alexy visited with them as he staffed the desk with over-the-counter meds, backpacks, and clothing. Elket, Glen, and I squeezed grapefruits, strained the juice, and put it in gallon-size baggies. We then went to the South Texas Human Rights Center in Falfurrias. They provide water stations for migrants where migrants can get one-gallon bottles of water. They help find missing migrants. They believe every person has a right to a name, so they help identify deceased migrants and inform their families. They also advocate for migrants.
On Tuesday, we visited with a couple of Border Patrol agents in Harlingen and learned what is happening at the border from their perspective and what they do. Most migrants are documented; the ones who are not documented are detained and sent back to their home country. We looked at the river in Mission (it was a little past the levy wall. It was interesting to see Border Patrol Agents sitting in a truck and a Texas Highway Patrol boat patrolling the water. At La Lomita Mission, we observed communion with water and crackers (often what migrants have to drink and eat). We visited a newer colonia in Donna with our friend Cali. They have paved streets, street lights, and dumpsters. All of Hildago County has broadband, including the colonias. However, they are extremely poor and are taken advantage of since many are undocumented and don’t feel they can report it. Cali works to help them receive the services and information they need.
On Wednesday, we went to Brownsville. We went to see the border barriers -- the border wall and a fence with razor wire to keep people out. And our visit would not be complete without seeing Pastor Carlos and George at Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville. We helped restock some of them with a two-week supply of Gatorade and a week’s supply of Sunny D and Nutrigrain bars. We organized a storage room and took two sweet families from Venezuela to lunch. Both have children who need medical care that they can now receive in the US.
IBWB is very low on many supplies (see a list of needs below). We learned that some larger churches in Texas have accused them of helping undocumented migrants (not the word they used) and are pulling funding. All of the migrants that IBWB serves are documented; the accusations are untrue. In addition, the supplies they receive from the Salvation Army are seasonal, and it is now hurricane season, so they have that loss of donations right now as well.
This trip is a great experience. You learn how to better pray, advocate, serve, vote, and so much more. We will go back; will you join us?
IBWB/Golán Ministry Urgent Needs
small, medium, and large t-shirts (not red or black)
Gatorade
Nutrigrain bars
Pre-Trip Work
We will have some things to read and do before we go. Here are two articles and a book that we read for our March 2023 trip.
Please read if you can get a copy of the book Christians at the Border by M. Daniel Carroll R. (it is no longer in print). I found a used copy at Amazon. You can get a digital copy through Apple Books.
I highly recommend the movie Cabrini. This story about the first canonized saint in the United States parallels our current issues with immigration. Mother Cabrini was an Italian immigrant in the late 1800s. Watch a sneak peek below (it is not available for streaming, yet).
Find lots of resources about the Texas Border here.
Itinerary for the 2024 Texas Border Trip
Sunday, April 28, 2024
2:00 pm Leave Woodland
6:30 pm Dinner in Harlingen
7:30 pm Check into hotel — Holiday Inn Express
Monday, April 29
7:30 am Breakfast at hotel, border context, and rules
8:30 am Drive to McAllen
9:30 am Catholic Charities Respite Center (volunteer in the largest respite center for released asylum seekers)
11:30 am To Lunch at Taco Palenque
12:30 pm To South Texas Human Rights Center (Learn about locating and recovering the remains of migrants who have perished during their journey, while offering life-saving water stations)
4:00 pm To Hotel (debrief)
6:00 pm Dinner at Frankie Flave’s Craft Burgers
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
7:30 am Breakfast at hotel, asylum law, and rules
8:30 am To CBP Station (Customs & Border Patrol visit)
11:00 am To lunch at Dave’s BBQ
12:10 pm To La Lomita Mission (see border wall/levee and communion
2:30 pm To Colonia and visit with Cali Fernández (witness where many undocumented migrants live in south Texas colonial)
4:30 pm To hotel (debrief)
6:00 pm Dinner at Cracker Barrel
Wednesday, Mat 1, 2024
7:30 am Breakfast at hotel, border policies, and rules
8:30 am To Brownsville
9:00 am Alice Wilson Hope Park (information on border wall)
9:30 am Gateway International Bridge (information on the U.S.-Mexico border)
10:30 am Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville (witness the Respite Center, homeless migrants, and bus station)
1:00 pm Xeriscape Park (invite migrants to eat lunch)
1:15 pm Lunch at La Vaquita
2:30 pm Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville (listen to the stories of migrants)
4:00 pm To Hotel
5:30 pm to Valley Baptist Missions & Education Center (witness unaccompanied migrant children in custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement)
7:00 pm Dinner at Los Asados
7:45 pm To hotel
Thursday, May 2, 2024
7:30 am Breakfast at hotel and final debrief
8:30 am Check out and head to Woodland
1:00 pm Arrive at Woodland Church