Welcoming the stranger at the bus station

When I first became interested in the opportunity to help immigrant families traveling through the Greyhound bus station in downtown San Antonio, I took a lot of comfort in the idea of going with friends. I do not like figuring out new situations by myself, so Victor and Jeannie Martinez and I had planned to attend the required training with the Interfaith Welcome Coalition together in early January.  But I ended up having a sick child at home that day, and needed to reschedule and go by myself! I was nervous, but the Lord took care of me. 

The training was a lot to take in. This is a busy ministry requiring a lot of infrastructure to help the nearly 800 immigrants traveling through San Antonio each week.  It’s actually amazing how it all comes together. After my training session, I thought, “Well, I’ll go when I have a chance.”  But I think the Lord was nudging me not to waste the training and to be faithful to serve in our city in a committed way.

Again, I looked to the safety of friends:  Jeannie, Victor, and I were going to volunteer together that first time.  I really did not want to go by myself when I knew I would feel way out of my comfort zone. But trying to get our schedules to coordinate proved impossible. So finally, with much trepidation, I picked a day and put myself on the IWC schedule.

As migrant families arrive at the bus station daily from a detention center in Dilley, Texas, they are easily recognizable by their matching puffer coats and tennis shoes given to them at the detention center; each mom carrying reusable grocery sacks filled with their precious few possessions and a manila envelope containing their court papers. The IWC volunteers are there to greet them with a welcoming smile and to help them understand their bus tickets.  The majority of these families are from Guatemala and Honduras. Many of them are making a full two-to-three-day journey on multiple buses. Each family receives a backpack from the IWC volunteers with toiletries and other things for their bus trip, as well as a sack lunch. There are also toys and diapers to give out, and cell phones that can be borrowed to contact family.

At the end of my first shift, Darlene, the volunteer coordinator for the day, said to me with a hopeful note in her voice, “I’ll see you next Wednesday?” I didn’t know how to respond. I hadn’t planned on making this a weekly thing. But her question stayed with me.  Isaiah 58:10 says, “Spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and the satisfy the needs of the oppressed.” I had to ask — how am I spending myself?  God didn’t create me or put me in San Antonio for my own comfort and ease, but rather to live missionally and for his glory.  I cannot ignore the plight of the poor and marginalized right in my own backyard. And so now I am a regular Wednesday volunteer.

I have learned that San Antonio is one of the main cities through which the migrants are traveling, and we are being talked about around the nation. I have met volunteers at the bus station from Maine, Minnesota, and Maryland, who have all given up some of their time to come down here and help. My knowledge of Spanish only allows me limited conversations with the migrants I sit with, but I’ve learned that these women, all with at least one child with them, have traveled by truck, train, foot, and canoe.

There is a lot of political debate about immigration, and I’ll be honest, I have never been involved in a ministry that has created so much internal conflict for me. But the reality is that these migrants who are showing up in our bus station and airport are all human beings created in the image of God. God fills heaven and earth; He is not afraid of the messiness and my unresolved conflict. He calls me to be his hands and feet; to extend the welcome of Christ to each person I meet. So I keep Matthew 25:37-40 in the forefront of my mind as I drive to the Greyhound station:

“Lord, when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'”

Volunteering with the Bus Station Project: The Bus Station Project is overseen by the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. There are opportunities to fill backpacks and volunteer in person at the bus station or airport. A background check and training is required. For more information contact Victor Martinez.