OVERVIEW
September 2018, leaders involved in migration response and advocacy from the Rio Texas Conference – UMC and the Conferencia Anual Oriental – Iglesia Metodista de Mexico met in San Antonio to share experiences and the status of response developments and envisioned the work to be done through respective and collective bi-national work. Much has transpired since then. The Rio Texas Conference collaborative migration infrastructure response from Brownsville to Del Rio connecting to San Antonio is coalescing and becoming more clearly defined.
We now look to convene leaders again for a Border Convocation in San Antonio. This will be a time to receive current information, collective analysis and reflection of migration response and advocacy, envisioning next steps and strategies, and a time for community building, networking, prayer, and fellowship.
The convocation will be:
- a space where leaders in different silos connect with others sharing concerns and practices and identify opportunities for shared ministries,
- practitioner-centered to meet their authentic needs for resourcing and support, and
- a mobilizing and galvanizing moment whereby expanding the nature and number of allies and others who can be supportive to the humanitarian support of and advocacy for arriving migrants.
This gathering request partnership and process support from the Texas Methodist Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Ministries, and the offices of the General Board of Global Ministries / UMCOR Global Migration, General Board of Church & Society Immigration Advocacy, and National Justice for Our Neighbors.It is hoped that this convocation will provide valuable assessment of the response work occurring along this stretch of the U.S. / Mexico border in relationship to the other coordinated responses along the entire border. See flyer and more information here.