S P R I N G 2 0 1 1

Save the Date!

AMIGOS Year 3 Volume 5

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From the

Pastor’s Desk Pag. 2

Our Last Year

Activities Pag 3

Immigrant’s

trial of tears

Pag. 5

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DESOTDESOTOO COUNTYCOUNTY

IGLESIA CRISTIANA – UMC

P.O. Box 1561 Southaven, MS 38671

Phone: (901) 496 1297

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From the Pastors’ Desk:

A congregation does not appear by magic; there's one person or several people who put their efforts to achieve it. The first church in the New Testament had a glorious start but also was accompanied by many sacrifices. In Desoto County, God has blessed our mission. Initially, we did not have any members in the new mission, but several brothers and sisters came to form the first Hispanic committee composed only of English-speaking brothers and sisters, who did not understand Spanish, but have a big heart towards the Hispanic community. I hereby give sincere thanks you to our Hispanic Mission Board consisting of Pastor Ray Owens, Linda Griffith, Ed Flynn, Louise Sadler, Richard Sadler, Susan East and Patsy Vick. This committee has met month after month to implement and evaluate the different activities of the Hispanic Mission. Then we were blessed to have a local member of the United Methodist Church in Horn Lake: Sister Linda Griffith, with her silent participation, has supported us greatly in working with younger children. In August 2010 we completed a year of beginning missionary work in Horn Lake. Today we have about 20 adult members and 15 children attending every Sunday School and worship. In addition, our Sunday School now has the help of young people from the United Methodist Church in Senatobia, led by Sister Ellen Glosson. Furthermore, God has blessed us with Sister Joy Boudreau who helps us with the piano. Thanks to God and to all the people who are making it possible for the mission in Horn Lake to grow for the glory of God.

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THE BLESSINGS OF GOD

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LAST YEAR’S ACTIVITIES

1. Festival of Cultures

The second Festival of Cultures was held on October 17, 2010 in the Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church. Our thanks to pastor David Laird and his congregation that prepared a team of volunteers that helped to make all the activity to flow in order. Also, our sister church LifeBridge, led by Pastor Stephen Bittick, offered us financial support and sound equipment for this activity. (Because of the lack of space, we cannot mention all the people who helped us with the Festival.) We had plenty of food, and people from different countries demonstrated their rich cultural traditions, the Festival of Cultures was held in an atmosphere of fellowship and wholesome recreation.

See you next year…!!!!!!!!

2. General Activities

So far we have had eight baptisms and many professions of faith. Some families have moved, and other families still remain in the church. We continue with home visits and our Sunday school and worship services. There is now an internal committee in order to bring our church activities. The Committee is composed as follows:

President: Catalina Mendez Vice President: Janet Patino Secretary: Margarita Escapita Finance Department: Juan Patino and Lorena Varela. Pastors: Rev. Goyo De la Cruz and Rev. Luz Campos.

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(LAST YEAR ACTIVITIES)

3. Christian Church in Hernando Jail:

Many people have made their profession of faith in prison and every Thursday morning we have a service with songs and reflection on God's word. There is constant change in membership, some stay for months and others only a few weeks. We have an average of 20 inmates every Thursday and sometimes, a few English-speaking brothers join us in the services, so that sometimes, the service is bilingual. Through contact with family and friends of the prisoners, we have begun to provide spiritual and material needs in the Memphis TN area. We currently worship in different homes in Memphis, involving 20 adults and 10 children. 4. Other Activities: This last year we had the following activities, which we hope to repeat this year 2011. a) Valentine's Day: We celebrated at the Mexican restaurant La Playita, in Memphis, with the participation of several couples from the church. b) Easter Eggs: With the support of the American church in Horn Lake, we had an Easter egg hunt that was attended by many children. c) Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Children’s Day: The program included songs and poems; then each activity culminated with a special dinner. f) Vacation Bible School: This was sponsored by the Maples Memorial UMC of Olive Branch. We hope this year they will support us in this worthwhile ministry. g) Backpack Campaign: In the month of August, more than 50 Hispanic children benefited from this activity. Several churches in Desoto County supported this project. h) Health Festival: This is the first time we held this activity in the Horn Lake UMC; we had the participation of several health organizations, including the fire department of Horn Lake. i) Festival of Cultures: This took place at Pleasant Hill UMC, under the direction of Richard and Louise Sadler and the support of several Hispanic organizations.

j) Thanksgiving: With a different emphasis to the American tradition, this was a special service where a bountiful meal was prepared.

k) Christmas Gifts: About 60 gifts were distributed among the Hispanic children thanks to the support of several churches as Southaven First UMC, Pleasant Hill UMC, UMC of Hernando, Senatobia UMC, Getwell Rd. UMC and Maples Memorial UMC.

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IMMIGRANT’S TRAIL OF TEARS

Having lived 12 years in the USA, Manuel and his wife accepted the Lord as their Savior. This

couple and their three children have come to our

Hispanic mission faithfully every Sunday; the

children have been active in our Sunday School. On January 30th, their fourth child, a son, was

born with health problems. It was also found that

the mother has anemia and malnutrition. On February 1st, as usual, Manuel was leaving for

work at six in the morning when he was met with

immigration officials who were conducting a raid of undocumented immigrants in the trailer park in

which they lived in an area south of Memphis. He

was immediately taken to jail along with 29 others,

and now Manuel is in a Louisiana prison to be deported. Manuel’s wife has no job to help her

care for the needs of their children.

Two days ago, there was a sad scene for the wife of Manuel and his children: She was driving with

the children when police stopped them; the six

year old daughter, having a latent image of her father arrested just days ago by ICE agents, cried

of panic, “Please do not deport us all!” Fortunately

the police had mercy on the family, and advised

them to leave their house immediately. This is a painful and not always merciful scene

that is repeated increasingly amongst immigrants,

and our emerging church is not exempt of suffering from these attacks.

(If you want to help Manuel’s family with food,

diapers for the baby or money please contact:

Pastor Goyo De la Cruz at 901-496-1297.)

During Fiscal Year 2010, ICE deported 392,862

undocumented foreigners

Our Hispanic Ministry In the Hispanic Ministries, we commonly help

immigrants with their transportation needs, food,

clothing, translation needs and pastoral

counseling. We believe that the primary role of the church is "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19).

When adding a new member to our Hispanic

mission, we never ask their immigration status; that is the role of the federal immigration agents.

Our goal is focused on delivering a

comprehensive plan of salvation to every creature.

From a special calling of God, we are working in

the Hispanic Ministry of the Senatobia District in DeSoto County, MS.

Thank God, the ministry has flourished and has

been blessed with a wonderful church in Forest,

MS and now in Horn Lake, MS – we also worship in area homes, including the neighboring City of

Memphis. In addition, God has blessed us with a

prison ministry in Hernando, MS. As pastors working with the immigrant community,

we feel compelled to react to the discriminatory

bills by Mississippi authorities against immigrants. We believe, there are many good-hearted

Christians in the USA who do not understand

exactly what is happening with the phenomenon

of immigrants. Mississippi is soon to become the second state in the union to adopt anti-immigrant

legislation such as was passed in Arizona. We

wonder why Mississippi wants to implement an anti-immigrant law in a state whose Hispanic

population is the smallest compared to other

states. Senate bill SB 2179, a clone of the Arizona SB

1070, was approved by the Senate and the House

of Representatives of the State of Mississippi.

However Representative Jim Evans submitted a Motion to be reconsidered by a conference

committee.

Hispanic Population data:

Updated census of 2010 says Mississippi now

has a Hispanic population of 81,481. The total

population of Hispanics in the U.S. exceeds 40 million, of which more than 11 million immigrants

are undocumented; there are more than four

million children with undocumented parents, and there are more than one million undocumented

children. Just as Spain has begun to legalize

parents of the children born in their country, we believe that it is urgent for the USA to approve a

comprehensive immigration reform that avoids the

separation of families that occur daily, as in

Manuel’s case.

Economic refugees:

No one wants to leave his native country, but the urgency is such that they have to decide whether

to remain in their country and go hungry or to find

a way to stave off hunger by fleeing to wealthy northern countries. So we have a phenomenon of

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"economic refugees.” This is what we must communicate to the authorities of this country. In the 17th century, this continent received immigrants from Europe who suffered similar needs as the

suffering Latin American immigrants. For many of them, the decision was crucial: either to continue in their

native Europe and suffer from hunger or immigrate to the Americas. America is a country built on the basis of effort of different migrants waves that have come to this "Turtle

Island" – as called by Native American brothers.

The grandparents came from abroad, we are using Japanese cars, we eat Italian pizza, the Statue of

Liberty that stands imposing at the south of the island of Manhattan in New York was from France and the numbers that we write are Indo-Arabic. Our Christ is a Jew. So, the phenomenon of migration is innate in

humans; therefore, we prefer not to speak of immigrants as "aliens" (From another planet?), but

"undocumented."

The Holy Scriptures recommend: The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your

native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Lev. 19:34 - NIV)

These “economic refugees” or “undocumented” who have fled hunger and poverty in their original countries

are not criminals; they are hard working people who also have hunger and thirst for the Word of God, so it was urgent to develop a ministry of consolation for the "population in exile.” This is what has justified the

Hispanic ministries being promoted in recent years by the Mississippi Annual Conference of the United

Methodist Church.

SO - WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OUR NEIGHBOR?

A fragment of a poem by Emma Lazarus, written at the foot of the Statue of Liberty in New York says:

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me ... "

Several good-hearted people have asked us: What can I do as a Christian for the immigrants?

In short, the current immigrants need Christian compassion and comprehensive support by: • Asking your legislator not to vote for anti-immigrant laws like SB 2179 that allows the police to ask for

documents of a person because of the color of skin that they have, which imposes fines on employers who

hire undocumented workers, which allows arrest of anyone who transports the undocumented and which will cause a shortage of cotton, soybeans and vegetable harvest due to the lack of migrant labor. In short, if

this law is passed, more than 11 million the undocumented living in this country may not report assaults or

any suffering by the police or anyone else, because they will fear being arrested and deported. • Research and analyze in detail the law SB 2179, and call your representatives to oppose this measure as

anti-Christian. Contact your Representatives through the Capitol switchboard: 601-359-3770,or contact the

Speaker of the House at: 601-359-3300.

• Support initiatives which improve the immigrants’ life in the USA. • Practice Christian love.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.

(Colossians 3:23 - NIV)

May God bless the men and women of good heart toward their neighbor.

[Street Address]

[City], [State][Postal Code]

(IMMIGRANT’S TRAIL OF TEARS)