San Antonio Churches Partner for a Week of Mission with the Diocese of West Texas Immigration and Refugee Ministries

Youth Groups from St. Luke's, St. Marks', and Church of Reconciliation in San Antonio focused on Immigration and Refugee Ministries for a week of mission work close to home.

‍

Bryan Gonzalez, Director of Youth Ministries at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, San Antonio and the Rev. Reagan Gonzalez, Rector at Episcopal Church of Reconciliation (Rec), shared how their Week of Mission in San Antonio at Plaza de Paz, the Diocese of West Texas’ Immigration and Refugee Ministries respite center helped the youth of their parishes.

Bryan designed the Week of Mission in San Antonio to focus on Immigration and Refugee Ministries because of how relevant immigration is in our current day, not only at the national level but also to our diocese. “So much of what both adult and youth parishioners hear about migration comes from news and the media, and we wanted to ensure that those who participated in the mission week had a chance to not only meet and serve directly with migrants who are being provided for by our diocesan initiatives, but also that they could hear the first hand stories of the reality of the situation from a variety of experts and those who are working to help those coming into the country,” Bryan Gonzales shared. Each day of the mission had an educational component where speakers, including a college professor who specializes in refugee studies, and various nonprofit representatives came and spoke to the youth on the realities surrounding migration in the United States. Parents and members of their parishes were also invited to learn alongside the youth so they too could not only learn what the youth are learning, but then would be able to take that information with them and find ways to continue to support and grow immigration ministry in their own parish.  

Q: How did the idea for a hometown mission trip come about and why did you choose to focus your efforts on the diocesan Immigration and Refugee Ministries?

A: [Bryan] The idea for a hometown mission stemmed from two elements, first, a question that I am often asked when discussing mission trips, and second, a changing dynamic in youth ministry.

I am often asked by parishioners “Why do we need to travel somewhere for our youth to do ministry/service work when there’s so much work here that needs to be done?”  This is a very real question that can be asked, and especially for a city the size of San Antonio where there are endless possibilities for opportunities for youth to serve their neighbors.  Many of the youth I spoke with during the mission week from the three churches readily admitted that even though they had lived in San Antonio all their lives, the majority had never ventured very far to other parts of the city.

The second element that solidified our decision to keep the mission local was that youth have jam packed summers with various other camps and events. Allowing youth the opportunity to be a part of a mission week, while still having evenings free, helped attract more youth than we would have had otherwise.  Over the course of the week several of the youth who participated missed a day or two due to other conflicts or illness.  While they did miss out on learning opportunities and times when we were engaged in service, what was most important is that they were able to be a part of the mission and not miss out entirely.  Throughout the week we made sure to emphasize the lessons we learned, talked in detail about what the guest experts presented on, and shared what the experience of each day of service was like.  If we had gone out of town, those youth wouldn’t have been able to serve at all.  I’d rather have them serve a handful of times than miss out completely.

One final part that influenced the trip was that many parents are wary of having their youth stay overnight somewhere.  If this had been a trip that had required travel, several youth from my own parish, as well as the others, would not have been allowed to participate.  To help accommodate this, each day we ended our mission at 5:30 p.m. with youth going home.  This then allowed the parents a chance to sit down in real time with their youth and tackle the hard questions that were brought up about migration and how it is being discussed in our nation. For the youth who wanted a night away from home, we made sure to have a lock-in at the beginning and end our week of service.

A: [The Rev. Reagan] Reconciliation has outreach programs and service projects that minister to our local community regularly, so we understand the practicality of not having to travel far to find folks to minister to and with. Ministry is contextual, so knowing the role that the city of San Antonio has in the movement of refugees across the country, it made sense to help support the efforts being made by our diocese and sister churches in this important work of compassion and hospitality.  

Q: This was a partnership between three San Antonio churches. What lead to all three churches participating? What are the benefits of sharing a ministry trip with multiple churches?

A: [Bryan] The greatest benefit of having a shared mission trip was the ability to share resources and foster a real sense of the greater San Antonio Episcopal community.  From the outset, one of my main goals was to invite other parishes that did not already have a mission trip planned and parishes that may not have a large youth ministry, but that do have active youth in their congregations.  While most of the week was based at St. Luke’s, the youth had a chance to travel to all the churches involved to see the various campuses and what these parishes look like compared to their own.  It was also great to see the youth from the different churches get to interact with one another and see that our diocese is far larger than just their home parish.

A: [The Rev. Reagan] When we come together as ministry partners we get to share resources, have a larger work force, and learn from one another. It’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know Episcopalians from around the city, share in works of service, and remember our commonalities, even if we worship in different spaces on Sunday mornings.

Q: Last year, St. Luke’s went on a mission trip to Laredo and partnered with Christ Episcopal Church, Laredo to learn about their ministry on the border. How did this year’s mission trip help build on what you learned on your mission trip to Laredo in 2023?

A: [Bryan] The focus of this mission week really was a continuation of our early trip to Laredo. We wanted the youth to continue learning about the experiences of someone making the crossing to the United States.  In Laredo we were mainly focused on seeing what happens in the lead up and immediately after a migrant crosses the border, and what the needs of those supportive ministries are.  During our time in Laredo, we met and worked with ministries that assisted migrants once they were released as part of their immigration process and found that almost none remain in Laredo but make their way to San Antonio and then out of state to then reside with family, friends, or organizations while they await the next step in their application process.  With this mission week we have now seen that next step here in San Antonio, and my hope is that future mission weeks/trips will allow the youth to continue learning to better understand the migration crisis impacting so many.  

Q: How did this mission trip build on the Episcopal Church of Reconciliation’s commitment to being a missional community, actively engaged with your neighbors?

A: [The Rev. Reagan] This mission provided folks from Rec to get firsthand knowledge and experience of Plaza de Paz, which most had only heard about. It has provided an opportunity to stay in relationship with this important diocesan ministry, rather than it becoming a one-time partnership. Reconciliation has a long history of reaching out and embracing the marginalized, and this work not only fit into that ethos, but has allowed us to be self-reflective and challenge ourselves to continue asking who the marginalized in our communities are.

Q: During the week you volunteered at Plaza de Paz, learned about the history of migrants in San Antonio, and met with migrants who have gone on to become US citizens. How did you see God working through the youth and parents who participated?

A: [Bryan] God’s love was abundant in so many ways throughout this week, and each day when I saw the youth engaged in their work, whether it was during the educational or service parts how they were truly answering Christ’s call to love our neighbors as ourselves.  I believe that if we truly want to love our neighbors, it’s not enough to just help out on occasion, but we must make an effort to learn about them and understand the ways they are a part of not only our San Antonio, but also our diocesan community.  Throughout the week I had the chance to speak with parents at pickup, and was able to hear how parents and youth were able to have conversations with one another and share in the lessons and experiences of the week.  At the end of the day, Church is all about community.  We are each called by God individually to do God’s work, but what really makes the Church, the Church, is being a part of a worshipping community. Bringing together these churches through service, worship, and fellowship, brought us all closer to what God truly calls us to.

A: [The Rev. Regan] The strongest God moments were when our youth and parents connected with the common humanity of those at Plaza. Even a language barrier couldn’t stop folks from understanding that what all people seek and deserve is safety and belonging for themselves and their families, regardless of who they are or where they come from. When we become proximate to the marginalized our own privileges are challenged, and we are better able to view the world with empathy and can be better advocates for God’s justice and mercy.  

Q: There are many ways to measure the success of a mission trip. Whether it’s building relationships, providing opportunities for growth, or making a positive change for those you served. By any of those measures, do you think this was a successful trip? What was the best and/or hardest part of the week?

A: [Bryan] Overall, I do believe that the main goals we set out to achieve with this mission week were a success, and my greatest hope is that we continue to build upon the relationships we established, not only with Plaza but the various other nonprofits who we met and spoke with during the week.  For me, the greatest success was hearing from the youth that they learned something and that at the end of the week they had a better understanding of immigration in the nation. Hearing that they are eager to continue service work in immigration will always stick with me.  

The hardest parts of the week were those instances where the youth heard the harder aspects of immigration. The stories of why people were forced to leave their homes and what the journey was like amid so many dangers were difficult for all of us to hear.  During our times of reflection, we as a group would grapple with these difficult aspects and questions and wondered how we as Christians should respond to the complicated issue of immigration.

However, we also found some of the best parts of the week coming from these harder questions as we saw the resolve in many of our youth wanting to do more for immigration ministries.  Many youth also found a deeper personal connection to the topic as they heard stories and learned of immigration journeys in their own families, which added to the experience and strengthened their own faith.

A: [The Rev. Reagan] Yes, the relationships built, and experiences shared made this a successful mission. One of the ways I saw the most joy was when the youth were creating Prayer Squares. The youth were intentional and didn’t rush the process of creating meaningful and beautiful messages of hope for newly arrived refugees. I believe the more difficult parts were hearing the stories of what some of the refugees went through to get to where they were at Plaza. It left youth with questions about justice, where God is in the midst of suffering, and what we as people of faith can continue to do to help.  

Q: What feedback have you received from those that participated in the mission trip?

A: [Bryan]The primary feedback we have received is that both youth and parents enjoyed the mission week and the inter-parish nature of it.  The educational portion of the mission was also very well received both by parents and by the wider parish, and in any future mission work we will definitely work to make an educational part a cornerstone component.

A: [The Rev. Reagan] They loved working together with other churches and appreciated that we emphasized they didn’t have to travel far to find God’s work that needs to be done.  

Q: Do you have plans to build on this trip in the future?

A: [Bryan] Absolutely!  We are currently planning on continuing the work done with immigration ministries and really trying to highlight the work the diocese is already engaged with.  One current project is to make volunteering at Plaza a regular occurrence by the wider parish.  For future missions we are currently looking at ways we can further explore immigration in the diocese, such as visiting other parishes located on the border or travelling to other diocese to get an ever-growing picture of what immigration looks like both throughout the nation and our Episcopal denomination.

A: [The Rev. Reagan] Reconciliation would be happy to partner with churches for mission again and our Outreach Committee is seeking ways we as a church can minister with refugees on an ongoing basis.  

‍

Learn more about how to volunteer with Plaza de Paz.