Hermanos

Hermanos

I want to write about two people I have met who came through our camp. I cannot say their names, when they came, how long they stayed, or where they are going. Not because these things are not relevant, but because there are people who may be reading this who would probably try to track them down and arrest and deport them. I will call them Manuel and Fernando.

Manuel and Fernando came to the camp together, after making a brave choice that almost cost them their lives. Like many other migrants, they were traveling with a group of people, and they just crossed the border.

They were led by a “coyote”- a smuggler.

There are differing opinions I have heard NMDers and others working on the border about these guys. Some coyotes are caring people who guide their flock across the border and through trails reaching to destination points where they are picked up. They will slow down as much as is possible for people who are hurt, and do not demand more than was agreed on. Others are predators and oppurtunists, who will raise the price or will cheat people by leading them only a few miles and then keep tell them to keep walking, that they will be in an American city or dropoff centre in a matter of a few hours, whereas the truth is more like several days. Groups of migrants are often attacked by bandits, and the drug cartels like to use them as unwilling smugglers. Manuel’s and Fernando’s group ran into a situation where everyone was told they will be smuggling marijuana across the border. They both refused and as a result were abandoned. Going through the desert is always dangerous, and there is no guarantee that even with a well-meaning guide the journey will be successful. Without a guide, the risks increase substantially.

I met Manuel and Fernandez in the med tent, I dropped by to say hi. One of them noticed I was wearing a cross and a Romero t-shirt and asked me if I am a Christian. I said I am, and they told me they were as well. Manuel is a Catholic and Fernandez an evangelical. They told me how they praise God for being with them on this journey. Fernandez then took out a guitar that was in the med tent and asked me if I wanted to hear some music from his church. He started playing Praise and Worship music, except that it was all in Spanish. I didn’t recognize it, and that made me happy. It wasn’t a Spanish translation of an English song (not that our P&W music isn’t awesome, I think it is), but a song sung in his church in Mexico. I could recognize the words Dios and JesuCristo. Then it hit me. These guys I was sitting with weren’t just fellow human beings created in the image and likeness of God, they were my also my brothers in Christ. I could see them worshipping and praising Him alongside us in Vineyard or Riverwood, or with my Catholic Christian brothers and sisters in St. Andrew Bobola or St. Ignatius. Heck, I could see Fernandez on the worship team at Vineyard.

Jesus said where there are two or more gathered in His name, He is am among them. I was not just sitting with good people and brothers in humanity, but also brothers in Jesus Christ. We talked about Him in the tent (actually, it was mostly them who did the talking, I listened) and it was a humbling experience for me. I have never faced the struggles and pains they go through, and probably will never face what they did in the desert, either that or the poverty that forced them to make such a journey in the first place. They both said they are from farming families in Southern Mexico, but that things were very difficult at home and they came to support their parents. Fernando said he would like to get work on a farm, while Manuel said he doesn’t particularly mind where.

I wish my hermanos all the best, and to all my other brothers and sisters making this journey across the Sonora.