This is another in a group of posts to keep you all up to date on what I’m doing in Mexico.
It’s interesting to be in a new place and not knowing exactly what is going on
.On my second week here, I was asked to go with the Mexican Missionary who is the site director of Manos Juntas (Willie Berman) to the United States. It’s a short trip, and he said we could get some things at Wal-Mart. Fine.
As we drove toward the border, he said, “Can you drive?” “Sure.” Once we were in Texas, we stopped at a house that was empty except for donations to the Mission. Boxes and boxes of donations. We opened a trailer and there were even more - a washing machine, a small refrigerator, a sewing machine, bikes, and lots of tools. Parked in the front yard were a passenger van, a school bus, and an old Ford Explorer. As we loaded items into Willie’s pickup truck and the Explorer, he explained further — “you can drive the Explorer back into Mexico. They shouldn’t give you any trouble.” “What?!,” I thought. “Trouble?”
“With bringing some of this stuff,” he said. “It shouldn’t be any problem. Just tell them it’s for the orphanage. And don’t worry about the plates.”
The plates??
It turns out the Explorer has a license plate from Oklahoma. Luckily it also has a registration. That’s when I remembered that my drivers license was back in my apartment. I had my passport, but no license.
We finished packing up, then we stopped for gas and at Wal-Mart. That gave me plenty of time to worry about crossing the border with no drivers license and a car full of who-knows-what. At Wal-Mart Willie told me, “The worst thing that could happen is that they would turn you around. But don’t let them.”
Right. But maybe some government nerd had read my blog. I had visions of border patrol jail and getting deported to El Salvador.
Here’s the thing — nothing happened. At the border the guard looked at me and said, “Pase.” Pass. That was it. No looking in the car, no questions, no handcuffs.
Before I knew it we were back at Manos Juntas.
There’s a lot more stuff in that house to bring across. The next time, I’ll bring my license.
It gets easier with practice.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been back and forth over the U.S.-Mexico border several times. We drive up to Texas for two reasons: to bring donations from U.S. churches to the ministry locations in Mexico, and to go to Wal-Mart. There are some items that stores in Mexico just don’t carry.
One weekend we drove to Houston to give presentations to several churches there who help support the ministry, and to pick up some donations. Two churches included blessings for Manos Juntas in their services. While we were there we loaded donations from five different pick up sites, and it was a lot of stuff — furniture, clothes, childrens’ books, and kitchen items. I got really tired.
A little later on it turned out that a family wanted to donate a passenger van to Manos Juntas, but it was in Lake Charles, Louisiana. So we unhitched the trailer and took our van about two hours away to Lake Charles, and then Willie and I each drove a van back to Mexico. There was only one problem — the donated van that I was driving had no license plates. We put a hand-lettered “In Transit” sign in the front and back windows, and set off, following each other. Sure enough, a couple hundred miles later, I got pulled over. Luckily, the police officer just looked at the bill of sale, checked my license (I had it this time), and gave us a warning. We will need to get plates before we take the van over the border.
With all the talk about illegal immigration to the U.S., I was surprised to find that the border crossings have been quite easy. We’re crossing legally, of course, but I expected much more of a military presence there. So far the questions have been brief and we’ve been waved through. Even the stops we’ve made to declare goods coming into Mexico have been straightforward, and the customs tax has been minimal.
There is a certain anxiety that I feel each time as we approach the border. It is a feeling of being out of control. What are they going to ask? Will they search the car? And I’m a citizen! I can only imagine how foreign nationals feel, especially in this crazy time.
It’s also interesting that none of the people that I’m working with in Mexico want to relocate to the U.S. Mexico is their country, and they are proud of it. Some of them have valid visas, and they cross the border freely to shop or visit churches in the states. They tell me that many of the people who want to immigrate come from further South — Central or South America, where there is more unrest.
Everything is funded through donations. Giving is easy through the United Methodist Advance site - https://gbhem-umc.my.site.com/hemgm/s/donate-to-campaign?id=a3fPo000000D43R. Every little bit helps.
Please send a prayer or kind thought down this way. They all help, too.
