What's Happening to Tijuana?

 When I was in my YWAM secondary school of ministry development I was in agony about where to go on my outreach. I knew in my heart the minute I left all on my own in the big world that would be it, I would be a missionary. I remember praying and praying in the small little prayer room in YWAM Minneapolis, I remember the words God gave me and the encouragement from the Holy Spirit. It was a precious and stretching time. 

My intense passion for inner city work could not be put out, I loved working with indigenous people, their rich cultures and languages and food and bright colors. I loved working with children, in the church, in school, in orphanages. I loved community development and supporting the local the church. I loved every aspect of ministry but my thirst for seeing the lost people of the big dirty stinky beautiful underbelly of big cities could not be quenched. 
During that time of crying out, God gave me a picture of a gang of youth doing graffiti on a big red brick wall. They painted the word help on the wall and I knew what I had to do.

The boarder towns and southern California always sparked my interest, I believe it was all part of God's plan for my life, I had no reason to be drawn here. 
When I arrived in Tijuana the rest is history. This city continues to amaze me! The boarder area has such a unique culture not found anywhere else. No where else can you find such a mix of people from all over. Rarely are people born and raised in Tijuana, most are from southern Mexico or other countries. I love it, I love the intermingling of Mexican American culture only Tijuana can provide. 

a day in the life of a commuter...San Ysidro boarder crossing between San Diego and TJ is the busiest boarder crossing in the entire world, around 70.000 people crossing back and forth
each day. 

Our city now has a new dynamic, over 7,000 guests have arrived from all over Africa and Haiti. I looked up the definitions of REFUGEE and MIGRANT because I couldn't decide what to call these people? In a way they are both. Migrants are people that move from one place to another, refugees flee from something or someone. These people left their countries in search of a better life, fleeing from famine or poverty and they are on the move. They have been headed for the United States, Tijuana is nothing more than a pit stop, for most of them. The minute they are handed their visa they are gone, if they don't receive their visa, well, that's another story I don't know the end to yet.

I have in mind to begin asking the deep questions. Every Wednesday we have been going to visit some of them who are staying in churches and homeless shelters. Their stories are captivating, like something out of a movie. Taking a boat from Colombia to Panama, trekking through the jungles of Central America, hiding from the police, having everything stolen from you, one woman even gave birth and the next day was on a bus headed northwards. 

What are these people after? What makes that land on the other side of the boarder? I guess we will find out, stay tuned. 

What makes these migrant/refugees believe a life in the United States is worth it? Leaving your family and country behind and travelling across the world to find a new life...what do they hope for?
(Picture credit: Tiffany Lambert)