2022: A Year of Celebrations

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Dear friends,

What do you get when you cross a coffee co-op addressing root causes of migration, a drug rehab center providing opportunities for a new life for persons gripped by addiction, and a bi-national ministry cultivating relationships and understanding across borders and responding in faith to the realities of immigration and the drug culture?

Well, a coffee shop, of course!

On June 4, we celebrated the sixth anniversary of Café Justo y Mas with dance, both folklore and modern, incredible music from the youth of the community, a bouncing castle for the kids, tamales, and of course delicious coffee. We celebrated because:

• Café Justo y Mas has become the number one purchaser of Café Justo in the universe—over 30,000 pounds—helping families thrive.
• Café Justo y Mas has supported dozens of persons in recovery from addictions by providing them training and jobs that recognize their dignity and embrace them as persons.
• Café Justo y Mas has become a place for youth and the larger community to share art and culture through its annual events such as the Chess Tournament, AP High Schools Have Talent, and the Advent Peace, Joy, Hope, and Love photo contest. New events led by Frontera de Cristo’s Pastor of Children and Families and her clown “Blue” help children think about alternatives to the drug culture in an engaging and fun way.

[ngg src="galleries" ids="1109" display="pro_horizontal_filmstrip" show_captions="1"]Laura Labrada, director of CATPSIC (formerly CRREDA) drug rehab center, and CATPSIC’s representative on the leadership team of Café Justo y Mas shared at the event: “I am a miracle. I am grateful to Café Justo y Mas for embracing me and believing in me because society did not. They only saw an addict; Café Justo y Mas sees human beings. Café Justo y Mas was my first real job. I’ve learned a lot and I continue learning.” Now, Laura is the director of CATPSIC, the “casa de vida” (house of life), where she became sober.

Carmina Sanchez, a member of the Lirio de los Valles Presbyterian Church and Café Justo’s representative on the leadership team, shared: “Café Justo y Mas has opened my eyes and heart to those struggling with addiction. I must confess, that I was one of those in society that rejected people with addiction. Now through Café Justo y Mas and our partnership with CATPSIC, God has touched me and given me love for them and I have learned so much.”

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What do you get when you cross a Mexican border community that is receiving thousands of persons being expelled from the United States, a Catholic Parish with a 40-year history of putting gospel hospitality into practice, a Presbyterian bi-national ministry seeking to respond in faith to the realities of migration, a Mexican Presbyterian church made up primarily of persons who have been economically displaced from their home communities and people of faith and conscience from both sides of the border who want to put love into action?

Well, the Migrant Resource Center, of course!

The Migrant Resource Center (MRC) is an effort of people from different faith traditions, ages, and nationalities who are united in their commitment to choose welcome. Since 2006, the Migrant Resource Center has been a refuge for more than 200,000 men, women and children who have been expelled from the United States.

On July 16, we joined together to give thanks to God and to commit ourselves to continuing this legacy of welcome, safety, kindness and hope.

Recently, Miriam was leaving the MRC for the evening after finishing her shift volunteering, when she ran into Maria, a woman from Chile who had just been expelled for the fifth time from the United States. Maria was with a woman from Guatemala, and they were afraid of being spotted by organized crime. They arrived at the entrance to the MRC patio in anguish.   

Miriam met them on the sidewalk, shared with them about the MRC, walked them inside, and shared with them about the services of the center. After offering them coffee and a torta, she sat and listened to them as they shared a bit of the trauma that they had experienced. They talked for over an hour, and little by little, they calmed down.

As Miriam was leaving, Maria told her with tears in her eyes and her hands raised to heaven:

“Miracle, miracle, miracle! This is a miracle. I am not religious, but I believe that God has done a miracle today in my life. This place is a miracle! This place is kindness! Without knowing us and with us being strangers, you have welcomed us and opened a safe space for us. You have given us delicious coffee to warm our stomachs and hearts. You have returned me to life.”

In Café Justo y Mas and the MRC, we have built not only a coffee shop and a humanitarian center but a community that reflects God’s love and God’s justice. We are grateful to God for everyone’s partnership in the ministry of Frontera de Cristo and our partners here on the border. Together we help make dreams become reality.

Peace,

Miriam and Mark

P.S.  As part of our interpretation assignment, we are facilitating a “Week in The Borderlands” October 31-November 5, 2022, especially for you and our supporting churches to be able to experience first-hand some of the ways in which God is at work in and through the bi-national community of faith on the border. Café Justo’s 20th Anniversary celebration will be the culmination of our time together. Please contact me (mark.adams@pcusa.org) for more information.