VIM Immigration Immersion Journey

Painting of a Humane Borders water station by Janet Gyekis, VIM Immigration Immersion Journey participant.

Michelle Schwartzman, SUSUMC VIM Coordinator

The impact of a mission journey is diverse. Impact can be providing a ramp for a new wheelchair user. It can be listening to someone who lost their home in a flood. It can be the feeling we get when we are able to help someone. It can be learning about immigration. It can be providing dental work. It is experiential. 

Missio Dei, “the mission of God”, is at the center of our theology. We are called to be a community, called to be one. It’s not a stagnant, one-time event but it is moving. We continue to relate, continue to learn, and continue to live the message with the community. This community and this desire to give and love one another is where work camps and mission trips often start. It’s where UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Mission) was born. 

In UMVIM we now say “Mission Journey” instead of “Mission Trip” because it’s not just about the week-long trip or project, it’s part of the Missio Dei, it’s moving and a continual part of our life, not a one-time event.

Western culture is goal-oriented, stereotypically. That makes it hard for us as individuals, for our churches, for our society to not have a specific task or project to complete. When I began promoting the VIM Immigration Immersion Journey I was asked repeatedly, but “what will you DO while you’re there?” The participants of the journey even expressed that churches asked the same or the participants themselves were asking the same. The answer was that this was an educational journey. We would travel to Arizona and Mexico and meet with different organizations to learn about their experience and work with immigration. We would learn to be advocates for immigrants and put that into practice when we got back.

Six other women joined me for the Journey in September. Since we’ve been back, they each have continued this journey; speaking at their churches, to local civic organizations, to boards and writing articles. They’ve raised funds and signed petitions. I hope that you’ve read our Director of Communications’ article in the November 2023 LINK issue. It gives an account of the different organizations we visited and the dire need for more advocates. Please take a few minutes to read it if you haven’t. 

Consequently, the “DOing”, the task that is in question, comes after the actual trip to Arizona/Mexico and lasts a lifetime. Our “DOing” is what Jesus calls us to do. When Jesus talks about the Good Samaritan, at the end, he says that the neighbor was the one who showed mercy and that we should go and do the same.

The Mexico/USA border wall in Arizona and a child’s sweatshirt by the border wall.
What story does this garment hold?

Dotsy Baiza, VIM Journey participant writes in her church newsletter, “We also assisted 60 women with small children, who had been picked up and immediately sent back over the border. A shelter, La Casa de la Esperanza in Sasabe, Mexico is run by volunteers who give the immigrants food, water, and a shower before they must return to Mexico. This was so heart-wrenching, after all they had been through. The Inn of Southern Arizona, a shelter run by a UMC offers beds, food, water, and clothing. The Inn helps immigrants connect with their sponsor, provides transport to the airport, bus, etc. I met a young mother with a 2-year-old son. For 30 days, she walked to the Mexican border from Guatemala. With a small child. How intolerable her life must have been to even consider the journey.”

This is a complex issue but we must not lose sight of what is at the core: humanity. When we talk about “Issues”, we often label to the point of dehumanizing people. That cannot be what Jesus is asking us to do. Studying the Good Samaritan, we learn that the others that pass him by are following policy or practices that they are holding above the suffering of a human. In our journey, we can listen to the experiences of immigrants and to the experiences of those working with them. We can tell the story, and fight for mercy to be shown. To learn more about the organizations we met with you can see them in the November LINK or contact me. 

What we experienced (saw, smelled, tasted, felt, learned) in Arizona and Mexico was heavy. It was a lot to take in; one, just because we visited so many different organizations and two, for the gravity of it all. Returning home, it took some time to process it all. When we have experiences like this with Mission Journeys, it’s important to take time for this. It might be playing with your children, going on a hike, reading a fun book, laughing with friends, getting sucked into a TV series, or cuddling with your pets or all the above. The seven of us that went on this journey are spread throughout Pennsylvania and we talked about this through email after we got back. We also will meet on Zoom to catch up in February. We will talk about how our journey reflects us doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God (paraphrased Micah 6:8).

I’m looking to lead this journey again for our Conference in the future. If you’re interested, please reach out. Once plans are in place I will advertise.

Michelle Schwartzman
VIM Coordinator

vim@susumc.org
www.susmb.org/vim/
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