One of the most remarkable things about ministering on the border is "the fence". Thousands of people cross the border legally every day. Many Mexicans work, study and shop on the U. S. side. Some have residency in the United States; others have permits to come up to 20 miles north of the border. Many U.S. Citizens also go into Mexico on a daily basis. Some work there, own businesses there, have family there. The border is a busy place and one we have become accustomed to live with.

When Mexican nationals talk about the United States, they talk about "El otro lado" ("The Other Side"). They say, I'm going to the other side or my family is on the other side. In the beginning it sounded to me like they were using a euphemism for death but they literally meant the other side of the fence. Many have lived in the states illegally for a time or plan on moving to the states. They all want to have a better life or they want to join family members on the other side.

It is so easy for me to cross the border. When I drive into Mexico I simply wait in line and wait for a green or a red light. If I get a green light, I continue into Mexico, if I get a red light I have to stop and answer a few questions but that is it. On the way back home I get on a much longer line waiting for as much as an hour or as little as five minutes. The average time is about 30 minutes. This wait gives me time to ponder and to observe what is going on around me. Always to my right is this very sturdy and tall fence. Always is the feeling that I am so close yet so far because I have to wait. I look at the nice houses on the other side and every once in a while I get to see a young man climbing up with the assistance of a "compañero", struggling, pushing, pulling, making his way to the top, perching up there for a second and as I hold my breath I watch him jump down "the other side" and casually walk into freedom. It is quite a bit of drama and I wonder about the implications of the drama I just observed. Will he make it? Will he get a job? What will his future bring? I say a prayer hoping for the best.

Other times I see people conversing at the fence. They stand there on opposite sides talking naturally, sometimes passing small packages or just holding hands. There are many peddlers and beggars and window washers on the line to the border. You see life, a very hard life and you wonder whether you are making a difference. Is the Church preaching and living a message of hope for the people that live along the border.

One day I was at "Primera" (FBC of Mexicali) and was talking with Miriam, the pastor's wife. She was sharing with me how she could not come across the border because she did not have the documents needed for a permit. You need to prove you have income and will not stay in the States and she is a pastor's wife. I did not think much about this at that moment because this seemed like a normal part of her life and she could not do much to remedy it. Most of her family lived on the other side and had residency papers but then she told me something that made me stop to really look at her. Miriam has a sister that had crossed illegally and was now married but did not have papers. They spoke on the phone and she told me how much she missed her sister. She had not been able to go to her wedding and really wanted to see her. I asked her, what do you do to see your sister. She said, "I tell her to meet me at the fence". Her sister was frightened because she was afraid that the border patrol would stop her and ask her for papers. Miriam told her, 'don't worry, many people meet this way at the fence". Miriam told me that they meet, hold hands and they kiss through the spaces in the fence.

My heart broke. I have a sister and we can meet whenever we want to.I don't have to kiss her through a fence or fear that I will be deported if I am caught speaking to my love one across the fence. The fence is not just a wall that keeps people out; it also separates loved ones from each other. It is a place where drama takes place every day. For some people crossing the fence brings hope of a better life but it also means living in fear and in prison because you can't come back to see your love ones.

There is no happy ending to this story. There are many unanswered questions. We are called to preach the Good News to a broken world. This is a world with fences that separate us from each other in an effort to "protect" us from the "other side". I share this story so that you will know that one Baptist woman in Mexico who has a broken heart because she cannot reach out to her sister. Pray for our churches in Mexico that have the very difficult job of ministering to a constantly changing population, that deal with drugs, childhood prostitution, domestic abuse, poverty, illegal and legal immigration plus all of the other problems that we deal with in our churches.

Pray for us as we start our year of U.S./Puerto Rico home assignment. Our hearts are torn as we have to leave people like Miriam and her sister and so many other wonderful brothers and sisters that we have grown to love in the past 2 ½ years. Pray for "Primera's" ministry to the prostitutes in the red light district. Pray for the Outreach that is being done by Ramon and Alma in their neighborhood. Pray for the work groups that come every year to help better our seminary and fellowship with our Mexican churches.

"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility",....Ephesians 2.14