*Pictured: Gilberto Hernandez, member of San Antonio Mennonite Church
The WDC Dismantling Racism Action Team will periodically offer articles in the WDC newsletter, featuring stories and resources related to racial justice. This article is by Gilberto Hernandez, a member of the action team and of San Antonio Mennonite Church:
The San Antonio Mennonite church, which is a three-hour drive from the United States/Mexico border, heeded the voice of God through the needs of people who fled from their country of origin. They came from Central and South America, places like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador. They also came from Central Africa places like the Republic of Congo and Angola. They were people who throughout their arduous journey north carried the enormous burden of losses and the tough choices they had to make to save family members. Yet amid all these, a God-given beacon of hope called them to a safe harbor. That harbor was named La Casa de Maria y Marta, a two-story, 11-room hospitality house in a residential neighborhood in the city of San Antonio, Texas. Furthermore, the casa is only a short walk from the San Antonio Mennonite church. La Casa de Maria y Marta was once owned by Mennonite Missions and housed traveling missionaries. Then the house was sold to the San Antonio Mennonite Church, a founding member of Interfaith Welcome Coalition, after a history of gestation or different uses, it was used to house women seeking asylum for themselves and for their families. All this was birthed out of God’s love manifested in a moment of deep need, it was a church body bathed in faith and hope, despite lacking the capacity and ability to solve all their problems their basic human needs were met. People were sheltered, clothed, assisted in legal issues, and more importantly our fellow human beings were loved, accepted, supported spiritually and emotionally, provided safety, and given rest. In the history of La Casa, 10,000 seeking asylum were hosted, twelve families were reunited, and life was given to six newborns. The house once even was supported by a donation-based food truck named Café Cotidiano to bring attention to the plight of those seeking asylum and providing opportunities for them. Both the physical church body and the families were blessed without ignoring the reality of the cost of being overwhelmed and burned out, yet their resilience was a testament to a true labor of love. As Pastor John Garland once said of his experience with La Casa de Maria y Marta, “It was not a success, rather it was miraculous.” Out of this tireless work by the church, many women and their families found hope for a better tomorrow and faith in humanity. God led the church members and leaders who walked beside these women and their families on a journey of hope, whether it was a short-term or long-term stay, whether coming directly from a detention center, or stranded in a bus station in an unknown city, they walked beside them. God even opened the doors to a four-part documentary series titled “Across” which was made by another organization for the world to see the human side of the ongoing needs of our fellow human beings who continue to suffer and live in fear, who daily live in fear of the unknown and the uncertainty. Today the season has changed for La Casa de Maria y Marta. The house still exists, yet it waits patiently like a womb ready to birth the next working of God.
-Gilberto Hernandez, a member of the WDC Dismantling Racism Action Team and a member of San Antonio Mennonite Church