|
|
 |
| Anton Flores' family welcomed migrants. |
 |
| Arturo & Anton work on community garden. |
 |
| A neighorhood concert on the lawn. |
Mi Casa Es Su Casa
One Family's Hospitality to Latino Migrants
by Anton Flores
In a dilapidated, rat-infested trailer on December 31,2001, our family not only celebrated the advent of a new year, we ceded to the advent of a new calling.After adopting our first son from Guatemala, my wife and I began to attend and serve at a local church comprising primarily non-English speaking migrants from Latin America. We immediately began teaching English classes to these new Georgians. Through this act of ministry we quickly developed a relationship with the Martinez (not their real name) family.Arturo, Norma, and their son, Emmanuel (and now their 3-year-old, American-born son, Gabriel), are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. They typify the latest wave of immigrants who are arriving in Georgia at an astronomical rate: not just men, but families with children.A mentor once told me that relationship must precede ministry. As our relationship with the Martinez family developed into a closer friendship, I became unsettled. Every day I learned more about the difficulties of being an immigrant in a strange place with a strange language and a strange culture. Arturo told me of a pimp who brought prostitutes to the drug-plagued trailer park where they lived. Going door to door, the women offered their services to men, many of whom were separated from their wives thanks to the long journey they had made in search of their slice of the American dream. Emmanuel was missing an excessive number of days at school. He would frequently complain of stomach aches that were probably symptomatic of a difficult adjustment to an elementary school that offered few services to non-English speaking students, and of his protective feelings for his mother, who was home alone all day.How could my wife and I sit back and watch our friends live in this kind of condition? What could we do? No agency exists in our town of 26,000 inhabitants to serve such an undocumented family. Our own income is modest, and we had just finished paying off a home equity loan that we'd secured to pay for the tens of thousands of dollars invested in our son's adoption. What could we do to make a meaningful impact in our new friends' lives? It was when I remembered that our home equity could be used for redemptive purposes, such as our adoption, that I had an epiphany.In the economically and ethnically diverse neighborhood that we had chosen to move into six years prior, a very affordable duplex in excellent condition went on the market. God opened doors at my local bank, where the president gave us an in-house mortgage at a low interest rate. We used the equity from our home to purchase the duplex, and a new ministry was born. The Martinez family was willing to commit to spending at least three years in the house, and we covenanted with them to open up a separate checking account in our name, to keep their rent payments separate from our personal funds, and to charge them (and the family that would eventually rent the attached apartment) no more than the cost of the mortgage, equity loan payments, and repairs. Now four years later, the Martinez clan still enjoys living in a much healthier neighborhood at just a fraction more than what they were paying to live in a trailer park full of despair.After purchasing "Peace House," ideas for ministry began to flow. Over the years we've organized gatherings for neighbors on the front yard of the property. Gospel concerts and cookouts right outside their door allow the Martinez family to experience and participate in the beauty of hospitality. Arturo is the point person for "Peace and Carrots," a community garden located in his side yard. It's a beautiful thing to see him working with white and African-American folks and to see how soil and seed transcend language barriers. My wife, Charlotte, began a tutoring program for neighborhood children, a service that has now outgrown our home. One of her faithful students is Emmanuel. We helped enroll him in a fine arts public school known also for its academic excellence. For the last two years this immigrant child no longer misses any school unless he's truly bedridden, and he has actually received the "Citizen of the Year" award for the last three consecutive years!Of course, life hasn't been all roses for the Martinez family. Since living in the hospitality house, Arturo has been arrested twice for driving without a license. You see, in Georgia an undocumented resident can get a government-issued car tag and insurance, but that same individual is not permitted to obtain a driver's license. Furthermore, our small town offers no public transportation, so if someone like Arturo is arrested for driving his legally registered and insured automobile, he and others like him stand to face a fine of over $700.I've been alongside Norma as she gave birth to Gabriel and went into renal failure during delivery. It was a scary time not knowing how a young, uninsured mother of two without legal residence in the United States would be able to receive life-sustaining dialysis, and we still pray that the services will be kept affordable and accessible to her. I wept with Arturo when his mother died, only to have this loss further complicated by his inability to return to Mexico for the funeral, because to re-enter the United States would be too treacherous and, as the sole income earner, he couldn't afford to leave his family. I've also had to watch the Martinez family face the humiliating experience of being told by our public utilities company that they cannot obtain water, a human right, because they cannot secure a Social Security number. In response to this I have placed their utilities in my name and continue to publicly challenge my city government to change a policy that our city manager states is a "homeland security" measure. This is the reality of the migrant in my town.As I write this article, we are feeling called by God to step out in faith and expand our ministry to the now nearly 5,000 Latinos who reside in our county. Over the years I have served as interpreter, counselor, job referral source, and advocate. The need for Christians committed to seeking justice for our migrant community is as great as the lack of resources and committed allies for this vulnerable population. Aside from three churches, there is no entity providing a holistic outreach to our new Spanish-speaking residents. Our family is praying and working towards launching an intentional community of hospitality in 2006 that reaches out to this underserved community. We believe this community should be based upon the values of Christian hospitality, simplicity, service to the poor, diversity, and nonviolence.Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin envisioned a time when every Christian home would have a "Christ room" and every church would have a house of hospitality. I wonder how the North American church would be transformed if we fully embodied this vision. An alternate reality that provides hospitality to "ambassadors of God;' like these migrants, is possible if we dare to literally love God through our neighbors from the south. I look forward to seeing what new frontiers God calls us to blaze as we take this step of faith. ______________________________Anton Flores is assistant professor and chair of the department of human services and sociology at LaGrange College in Georgia. Last summer he led a Christian Peacemaker team delegation to Colombia and taught at the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary in Guatemala.FIRST PRINTED IN PRISM MAGAZINE. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.
|
|
|
 |
|
Did you enjoy this article?
Would you like to read more like this
one?
With a FREE subscription we send you notifications
on articles or news breaks that are of interest to you.
Find a San Antonio church.
saWorship.com is a Christian Online
Magazine serving the local San Antonio area. Find a church online.
San Antonio churches
have free
listings
on our directory and can be updated at their convenience. Search
by denomination or area of the city.
|
|
| |
|
|
Find a Church in San Antonio
find a san antonio church, san antonio churches, christian magazine, find a church in san antonio, san antonio catholic church, free christian magazine, san antonio nondenominational church, christian woman magazine, san antonio community bible church, christian online, church in san antonio, san antonio baptist church, christian community online, san antonio presbyterian church, christian business online, san antonio lutheran church, san antonio protestant church
|
