A wall and a walk
Bread for the World is collaborating with the Christian Community Development Association, World Vision, World Relief, and others to stage a pilgrimage walk in Southern California to raise the issue of immigration during the election season.
El Camino del Inmigrante (The Path of the Immigrant) began on Saturday, Aug. 20 at the U.S.-Mexico border at Tijuana and will culminate in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 30. On the days between, the walk is snaking through the southernmost counties of California. The pilgrimage demonstrates Bread’s solidarity with undocumented immigrants, many of whom face hunger and other perils every day.
Thanks to some reporting from East Central Ministries, another organization that’s taking part in the event, here is what happened on the first day of the event:
The day started “with a powerful prayer service and send-off at Friendship Park in the Border Fields State Park.
“Friendship Park is located right where the U.S.-Mexico border meets the Pacific Ocean. It's walled off in between two fences, in what looks from the outside like a no-man's-land...The park is only opened on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when people on the U.S. side are able to approach the wall and say hello to loved ones on the Mexico side. The fence is a checkerboard of vertical and horizontal bars, with space only large enough to stick a finger through.
“Our prayer service began this morning outside Friendship Park. Enrique Morones, Founder and Director of Border Angels, shared with us some tragic facts about this section of the border. Since the wall's construction in 1994, 11,000 people have died trying to cross it. The number one reason people cross is to feed their families, and the number two reason is to reunite with family members. And while it's easy to say that people should just get in line and get their visas, there often is no line to get into. Enrique then led us in a litany of remembrance, reading the names of some of those who had died in the crossing. We were all given a cross, which we carried in remembrance of those lives lost, and in solidarity with all those struggling through dangerous journeys to new lands today.
“When the prayer concluded, Border Patrol opened up Friendship Park earlier than planned, so we could greet those on the other side. We learned that there was a family there who were waiting to see relatives whom they hadn't seen in 15 years, and whom they wouldn't even be able to hug…
“We will leave you tonight with this excerpt from the prayer of lament we prayed this morning:
Lord Jesus, help us to recognize you in the face of the stranger and welcome your presence among us. You have graced us with the gifts of many cultures and nations. Free us from the fear of those of other lands. Teach us to share our gifts with newcomers in return, so that you may say, 'I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.'"
Follow Bread’s participation on Facebook (English) and (Spanish) and Twitter (English) or (Spanish) and Bread Blog.
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