Over three days, members of Grace Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas will be in the cities of El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico to meet with churches and programs on both sides of the international border, to learn from them and to gain insight into the unique issues that may arise in border ministry, the challenges arise and how those challenges might be overcome. Other issues that challenge communities across the nation - such as serving the homeless - will also be addressed in the course of the visit.
Day 1
An early morning departure from Midland and a drive across the Trans-Pecos country of far West Texas brought the mission team to the City of El Paso, which will be their home-away-from-home for the next three days.
The team got right down to business, meeting with staff and leadership of
Opportunity Center for the Homeless.
The center's mission statement ...
The Opportunity Center exists for all homeless without distinction of race, ethnic origin, language spoken, or, religious beliefs, and regardless of mental, drug and alcohol problems. Through direct contact with the homeless, the Center supports them to move beyond their condition if they are capable; or protects them if they cannot improve their condition in society because of emotional or psychological disorders.
To this end, the Opportunity Center operates a day resource center/emergency overflow night shelter where homeless people can gather and where some members of the El Paso Coalition for the Homeless provide on-site services. The Center also strives to create a system of care for the most needy among this population through the development of transitional and long-term supportive housing.
Following the meeting, there was a tour of the center's facilities, a chance to meet with members of the staff and assistants, which includes some who first came to the center for help ... one of the center's goals is to 'have the homeless help the homeless.
The tour also provided an opportunity for more questions and answers as the visitors learned more and more about the Center, about some of the challenges it must overcome in the course of its service, its partnerships with a variety of groups in El Paso, and how the city's faith community has been one of those partners.
The team had a chance to meet with one of those partners -
University Presbyterian Church of El Paso - that evening over dinner. It was a chance to learn more about the church's works in a wide variety of areas, including immigration and refugee issues. We'll be visiting more with University Presbyterian in the days ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment