The Journal of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America April-June 2014 - (Page 4)

s TorIes oF P eacemakers También de este Lado Hay Sueños: This Side Also Has Dreams by Nathan Watts S taff note: BPFNA board member Nathan Watts participated in a recent immersion experience in Tijuana, Mexico with help from our Baptist Fair Trade Project Scholarship Fund. The trip was planned and led by fellow board member Mayra Picos-Lee and hosted by board member Adalia Gutiérrez-Lee and her husband Ray Schellinger. These are Nathan's reflections on the experience. T he wind grates specks of dirt deeper into my skin as I sip my morning coffee and survey the devastation. I force my eyes away from the maquilas [factories run by us companies in free-trade zones to take advantage of cheap labor and lax labor regulations] directly in front of me and further into the horizon. The deep blues and reds of the countryside comfort me that this is still a beautiful world, despite the human tendency towards depravity. I'm standing on top of one of Tijuana's many hills with my back towards a playground where the laughter of children redirects my energy from hopelessness to love. This scene was my view every morning one week this past January. I was part of a group of seminary students taking a winter-term course studying immigration and violence in the Southwestern US and Northern Mexico. while books on politics and theology, including the bible, were some of the learning tools, what really had the most impact was the immersion dimension of the course. There is really no other way to understand the drastic changes that have occurred along this border in the last 20 years than to see it with your own eyes, smell it with your own nose, hear it with your own ears. And there may not be another town that so encapsulates the negative dimensions of these changes than the former town-now-city of Tijuana. our guides for the week were american baptist missionaries Ray Schellinger and Adalia Gutierrez-Lee. Ray and adalia help run a place known as deborah's House, a shelter for women and children who are survivors of domestic abuse. Ray's preaching is his storytelling. His worship planning takes the form of blueprints. adalia, as a medical doctor, brings a wealth of knowledge of the body and medicine and helps with both physical and mental ailments. When the foundation of the largest building of what is now almost a fully-functioning campus was laid, this location was on the outskirts of the city. That is no longer the case. As factories were being built and companies were looking to benefit from the newly inked north american free Trade agreement (nafTa) in 1994, there began a mass migration to the north of Mexico. People moved north in hopes of better economic opportunity and a higher standard of living. These hopes remain unfulfilled. Instead, temporary houses are pulled together from whatever materials are around, so the factory workers can live within walking distance to work. Sadly, this is what capitalistic impulses have done to the once resilient and still creative peoples, minds and hearts of Mexico. The location of deborah's House was a great place to begin analyzing the violence by which we were surrounded. But this violence is not an immediate physical threat. Rather, it is sustained and perpetuated by us interests in capital and goods no matter the costs. our study began by touring the borderlands and seeing first-hand the militarization of the border Left: Seminary students gather for a communion service at the wall in Tijuana's Friendship Park. Photo by Nathan Watts. 4 Baptist Peacemaker Apr-Jun 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America April-June 2014

También de este Lado Hay Sueños: This Side Also Has Dreams
El Ranchito: Sharing the Great Outdoors
Good News About Hershey's
The Birth of the Baptist Peace Fellowship
Letter to the Editor
Austin Heights Baptist Church & the Tar Sands Blockade
Future Peace Camp Locations
Remembering Rachel Gill
Inching Toward Peace Between Israel & Palestine
The BPFNA Companioning Program
Reflections From a BPFNA Young Adult Gathering
Wal-Mart Joins Fair Food Program
Resources & Opportunities
2013 BPFNA Highlights
2013 Contributors
Shalom Prayer

The Journal of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America April-June 2014