THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BORDER
Rane Roste (MN) received funding from the Directors Scholarship to serve with Manos Juntas Mission. You can support NCJ Scholarship funds at https://umvim.org/ncj-donate.
When I first joined the team to go on this mission trip, all I really thought I was going to do was go to Rió Bravo and build a casita for a family and a fence for a school. I didn’t really expect much else. I had done two mission trips before, one to Detroit, Michigan and one to Washington D.C. These were youth mission trips so I was with all of my friends. During these trips I was doing work, but I mainly took back the memories I had made with my friends and the fun we had being on a trip together. I expected this one to be just the same but with adults. However, during this mission trip, after it was over and looking back on it now, I still see God in so many of the things I experienced and the people I met, and I am beyond grateful that my path of faith led me this way. It has truly opened my eyes and allowed me to see America from the other side of the border.
When our team of twelve first arrived, our goal was to get a one room with a loft Casita done and build a fence around an outdoor area for a school where kids could play soccer. We were welcomed with open arms by Manos Juntas, a Methodist organization based in Rio Bravo and all settled into our rooms. We then were introduced to Willy the director of Manos Juntas and Claudia our chef for the whole week. Our first two days were “explore” days where we drove around the town, went to a market, visited the town square and on Sunday went to church. We met the pastor there and one of his daughters, Anna. They both spoke very fluent English and told us they had just moved to Rio Bravo from Monterrey. During the Sermon, Anna took us downstairs to translate her fathers sermon for us from Spanish to English. We were all amazed that she was able to listen to his words and then convert them so that we could all experience the message too.
Once we started the “work” days, half of our team went to the Casita worksite and the other half went to the school. At each spot we had a Maestro. Juan worked with the people at the school and Pancho worked with the team at the Casita. Both of them were super patient with us, as they could do all of the jobs (mostly block and cement laying) ten times faster than we could, but still let us go at our own pace. The family at the Casiata, especially the three little girls, loved to help us move wood planks, paint, and grab tools that we needed. It was so fun watching them interact with each team member and having a good time building their new house. The children at the school were a little shy at first, but after the teacher let us join them in celebrating the king's day by sharing some cake, they warmed right up to us.
Once we were nearing the end of the projects, on friday we worked for a half day and then visited a few places that were connected with Manos Juntas. We went to a daycare and a children's temporary foster home that they run. Touring both of those places was so impactful for our team and for me, as all week we were surrounded by poverty. Seeing so many adults care so much for the children of Rio Bravo making sure they have a warm place to sleep, food on the table, clothing, showers and beds and so much more was amazing to witness and makes me so grateful for my own life and family. It just so happened that my birthday was this day too, so after taking a short trip to Progreso for some souvenirs, we went to my birthday dinner and all of the people we had met along the week joined us. I loved being surrounded by all these kind people that had taken our team under their wing and welcomed us into their home and their culture.
When the trip was done and we were crossing the border back into the U.S., I looked back on all the times I had seen God that week. I saw God when Anna was translating her fathers sermon, when Claudia cooked us three meals and day and always had a smile on her face, when I got a porcelain angel in my cake slice, when the team surprised me with a piñata for my birthday, when the mother of the children broke down crying when we finished the casita for her family, when the directors of the foster care house only had enough money to last till march but still had faith that God would provide and when I was looking at the team while we were working and everyone was still enjoying themselves even though we were all tired. I saw God in all of the people I had met along the way and especially saw God when I looked at the border from the other side. Seeing all these news stories and articles about how we need to keep tighter borders and build a wall to keep the “aliens” or “illegals” out after meeting the sweetest people ever is very saddening. These are real people, with real lives who are trying to make their lives better by getting out of situations that you can’t even imagine. I think God brought me to these people to show me how important it is to advocate for others' voices that are pushed down by an unfair system and other people's naive agendas of power. Just having empathy for people goes a long way and I encourage everyone to put themselves in other people's shoes and in this case, look at the border from the other side.
