Our Savior’s Lutheran hosted the last of four weekly talks on Wednesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 25 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Stanley.
Presenting March 18 at 7:15 p.m. was Dr. Tom Gelhaus of Owen, who shared his work with Muchas Sonrisas as well as the Kino Initiative in Nogales, Mexico.
Dr. Gelhaus shared how his work had opened his eyes to the plight of the region. A self-described “flag waving patriot,” Gelhaus was confronted with the economic and other realities of Latin America and the role played at times by the United States in the region. Among examples given by Gelhaus was how corn from the U.S. after NAFTA had flooded the Mexican market and collapsed its farm economy, leading to economic pressure and a wave of migrants seeking employment.
Also touched on was the disparity in living standards, with Central America doing well in terms of living standards for much of the world but behind the United States and Canada.
“When it says ‘the rich man’ in the Bible, that means us,” he said.
Following Dr. Gelhaus, a final presentation was given March 25 by Lidixie Montoya, a legal migrant from El Salvador who shared about the long process involved in coming to the United States. Montoya said she left El Salvador seeking to protect her son from gun violence, the presentation taking place the day after the 46th anniversary of the assassination of Catholic archbishop (now canonized saint) Oscar Romero of El Salvador, killed for speaking out during El Salvador’s civil war.
Towards the end of Montoya’s presentation attendees were given a chance to share their stories of historic immigration. Among them were stories of grandparents from different Lutheran churches (German and Norwegian), and a story of migrating from Poland to escape the Russian army draft, as Russia controlled Poland. A third story addressed a family turned away at Ellis Island who then went to Canada and came across the U.S.-Canada border.
Also addressing those who come illegally, Montoya said that they have to first cross Guatemala and Mexico (which is not easy) and that many of the women are raped. As for immigration generally, Montoya asked for immigrants to be seen.
“See us,” she said, touching on the often unflattering stereotypes put forward about non-white immigrants versus the reality. Among the ways to see immigrants was having ordinary conversation, including about school, the weather, and other topics--not just immigration.