NEW LIFE
NEW BEGINNINGS

Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison, and go to visit you?

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me … and whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” Matthew 25: 37-40, 45

Dear friends,

I am reminded of how short life can be, even if lived long and filled with joyful service. We are indeed just passing through this earth, as we await our time of homegoing to be with our Heavenly Father.

Until then, we are called to live our lives here on earth as Christ has taught us. Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”

In a world of injustice and unjust systems, we often miss the first part, “to act justly”, when interacting with our neighbor. We pay homage “to love mercy” and it is often more difficult and takes energy to actually “walk humbly with your God” in a society that tends to lean towards the independence of the individual.

Holy Week is the time between Psalm Sunday, when we celebrate Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and Easter Sunday when we celebrate with joy and exuberance that our Lord and Savior has defeated death by dying and rising again to pay the price for our sinful ways.

This one act of sacrifice that Christ offered on our behalf was given to us freely and with love. Christ’s act of sacrifice is for all who believe in his salvific love. A question for us to ponder in 2024 is, what are we willing to do for our neighbor?

At Caminando Juntos, we are faced with this question every day when a client walks through our doors or calls our office. Whether they are asking for assistance with translation or economic assistance, in need of immigration services, or wanting to learn English to assist in adjusting to their new home, our main purpose is to be a welcoming presence to the Latino migrant who just arrived in a new city, starting a new life, in a new culture, new language. Christ died for the Latino migrant as he did for you and me! Christ’s salvific love does not distinguish between language or cultural upbringing.

Migration is a global experience, not just for the United States. Many more migrants die during their migration journey than we are aware of, leaving family behind, often not knowing if they arrived or not.

When we attend to a Latino migrant’s needs, we do so because we are following the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger. We do what we can with the resources we have to assist. Often, it is a ministry of presence that the migrant needs most … someone who takes the time to listen to their story. Sometimes those stories are extremely hard to listen to when abuse of all kinds is part of their story.

For over 20 years, Caminando Juntos has welcomed Latino migrants arriving in the Sioux Falls, SD area. We assist families to obtain the resources they need when first coming to their new home. This process takes not only patience and a servant’s heart, but also numerous community partnerships.

Through these partnerships, we were able to assist a migrant family who had just arrived. With a recent eviction and no place to go with their two small children, we connected with a local shelter, the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House. Our two ministries worked together to procure shelter from the cold winter weather for this family.

Living out Micah 6:8 is not easy work, yet the staff at Caminando Juntos does it daily because we are called to follow the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger and be a welcoming presence to the migrant sojourner. It is who we are as staff and as a ministry.

This Holy Week, we invite you to reflect on the story of the cross and how Christ’s salvific love and sacrifice saved us all from sin. You, me, and the global migrant have been given the gift of salvation. We are required to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. It is possible. It is not easy at times, but it is what we are called to do. Each of us has a story. We welcome the migrant, not only because it is the biblical mandate, but because in each of our family’s history, there is a migration story.

We thank you for your prayers and generous support as we welcome the stranger. You are part of our ministry team when you pray and/or donate financially. Mark your calendars for May 11, 2024, for this year’s Cinco De Mayo Fiesta at Falls Park. We invite you to come out and celebrate with us the many Latino cultures we are so blessed to have in Sioux Falls.

With a servant’s heart,
Matthew Tschetter, Executive Director

Migrant News

Immigrants constituted 17 percent (28.6 million people) of the 166.9 million people in the U.S. civilian labor force in 2022, which comprises both the employed and the unemployed looking for work. Immigrants’ share of the U.S. labor force has more than tripled since 1970, when they accounted for approximately 5 percent of the civilian labor force.
(Migration Policy Institute: Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States, March 13, 2024)

At the end of June 2023, an estimated 110 million people remained forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order…
(Source: https://www.unhcr.org/mid-year-trends-report-2023)