TULSA, Okla. — A group of pastors and nonprofits recently traveled to the Texas/Mexico border to facilitate aid to immigrants and unaccompanied children who continue to cross the border.
Oklahoman, Brenda Kirk, led that group during a trip in late August.
"Right now, we have more people fleeing their homes around the world than we ever have in history," says Brenda Kirk with the National Immigration Forum. "They're not coming to disrupt this country. They are coming because their lives are in jeopardy."
Kirk is passionate about what she believes is a broken immigration system. She recently led a group of faith leaders to the Texas/Mexico border.
"We worked with a group called Fellowship Southwest and they work to support pastors on both sides of the border that are receiving immigrants,” she says.
One of her contacts works with the Mexican government to allow him to move migrants out of their tents and into vacant properties.
"Unfortunately, those properties don't have utilities, so he is providing meals and water every day throughout those communities where he has placed families,” she says.
Kirk says one particular moment on their trip stands out.
"One of the things that really struck my heart was that as I asked to pray with an elderly woman, she wanted to pray for me, and you just don't think about how faithful these people are,” she says.
Kirk says she wants people to understand that the majority of immigrants coming into our country are extremely vulnerable.
"They have generally had someone in their family murdered and many of them have been assaulted somewhere in their journey from Central America,” Kirk says.
She wants to remind people that the Bible calls us to welcome the stranger and to treat the foreigner with compassion and respect.
“The United States has the capacity to make good decisions. If Congress would really come together in a bipartisan way and start working towards solutions rather than pointing fingers at each other, this is a human crisis,” she says.
If you would like to help with this humanitarian crisis, you can contact Catholic Charities or the National Immigration Forum.
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