Note: Phil Steiner is the son of Dan and Barb Steiner of rural Bluffton. Phil andand his wife, Mindy, live in Tijuana, Mexico. They started an organization called Be2Live. It offers service trips to Mexico for U.S. high school students. More details on the program are at the bottom of this story.
Mindy shared the following story recently on her Facebook. It tells of one family’s attempting to gain entrance into the United States:
In a sea of 6,000 faces how would I find four?
These faces have awakened me at night.
Has their number been called? Are they separated from each other on the other side? Have they found warmth and food enough to nourish their young boys and the growing baby in her womb? A family who has faced so much, yet exuding such humility, joy, and tenderness. How can this be?
This is Cristina, Jose, and their two boys.
They joined the migrant caravan in Nicaragua after they heard about it on the news.
My friend Heidi and I met them a week ago when we visited the outskirts of the camp.
From Heidi’s post:
“They are fleeing for their lives as the guerillas have taken over. The soldiers come into their kid’s schools and have abducted young boys to train them to be soldiers. They constantly lived in fear and decided to join the caravan.
•They recounted that they have been walking for over a month. Some days starting at 3 a.m. and then stopping to rest at 6 p.m., 70 kilometers a day.
•They have arrived in TJ (Tijuana), living in a baseball field where the government has set up a temporary shelter, sleeping outside on the ground with a small blanket.
•They wait 4-5 hours to take showers outside in front of everyone.
•They wait hours in long lines to eat and sometimes get to the front and there is no more food.
•But they still have a smile on their face for a hope of a better safer life.
– Heidi E.
I wanted to print out their picture in case I saw them again. We’ve heard the stories of kids separated from parents as they wait their status. What if this was the last family picture they receive?
We fed nearly 800 on Tuesday until the food ran out. Long lines of migrants, hungry, kind, patient. Faces filled with hope and despair, but not one that looked familiar.
Packing up a quick scan of the area and there they stood! Tired, but well. Smiling, their beautiful smiles of hope not waned. Their number, not yet called.
Seeing the two young boys and mama pregnant with child, the pastor offered them shelter. A roof over their heads and concrete floor that won’t turn to mud in the pending rain. In a moment they had to make a decision, trust the kindness of a stranger?
With all their earthly belongings on his back, they loaded into the van. They will go to check their number Monday. Risk, hope, wait, pray. Their cycle of life. Please pray for this family. What a story to tell that baby once it is born, the journey he/she has already taken!”
About Be2Live
Be2Livetakes high school students on service and learning trips since 2010. We have facilitated trips for over 2,000 students, adult and families.
We partner with local organizations and ministries that are doing the hard work of serving the community. Our goal is to work with them, under their leadership, to help further their vision and mission in caring for their community.
We are not the saviors, just the humble servants willing to do what needs to be done and to learn more about faith, life, and this world from those we serve with on our trips.
Our partners in Mexico and Ghana work with the poor, the orphaned, and freed slaves. Join us for an upcoming service and learning trip to Mexico or Ghana.
