We are helping to provide for physical needs in Jesus’ Name as we assist our ministry partners serving migrant families on both sides of the border.
Many migrants are exhausted from travel in the heat, and they arrive at the Texas-Mexico border in need of rest, a shower, clean clothes, and a hot meal. Many have traveled for days or weeks from South America and even from as far away as West Africa.
Migrant families given entrance by Border Patrol spend a few hours with our partner ministries before beginning the rest of their journey.
Both our North American Ministries staff and volunteers and our Disaster Assistance Response Teams are helping with critical needs in Jesus’ Name as we work through partners on both sides of the border. On the Texas side we are assisting migrants who have been allowed legal entrance into the United States to pursue asylum. In Mexico’s border towns we are helping meet migrants’ needs as they await the next legal steps of their journey.
Todd Taylor, manager of U.S. Disaster Relief for Samaritan’s Purse, says this is a unique opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ with these families.
“They’re released from border patrol to these locations where they’re greeted with the smiling faces of people who just love them as the creations that God placed on this earth,” said Todd Taylor, one of our staff members serving at the border. “We’re just able to show them God’s love.”
A father and daughter who recently arrived in Laredo were able to clean up, rest, and enjoy a hot meal with our teams at Good Samaritan Migrant, one of our partners at the border.
Samaritan’s Purse is providing food, bedding supplies, hygiene kits, and other essentials to help ease their transition as they continue their journey to a pre-appointed host city. These few hours of respite allow migrants and their families to clean up, eat a meal, and hear words of encouragement from God’s people.
We are also assisting partner shelters with any needed repairs or renovations through U.S. Disaster Relief volunteer teams. Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains are on hand to provide spiritual care to hurting families. And we have provided Bibles to hundreds of migrants and their families.
“God just gave us opportunity to be here,” said Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz who runs Good Samaritan Migrant respite center in Laredo, Texas. “They arrive desperate, frustrated, they want to get to their destination cities as soon as they can. But after we feed them, talk to them, call their relatives, provide the hygiene kits, their attitudes start changing, the little ones give you hugs.”
Please pray that the migrants who continue to arrive at the border would find true peace and rest in Jesus Christ. Pray that many would turn to Him during this difficult time.
A young girl takes a moment to rest and read at Good Samaritan Migrant respite center before she and her family begin the next leg of their journey to a host.
