HIDALGO, Texas (RNS) — In a warehouse about two miles from the Mexico border, silver-haired men moved pallets of food with a forklift. Under a Spanish-language banner reading, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever,” a white board listed papaya, beetroot, red bell peppers and tomatoes and other fresh produce. On this and every Thursday, the volunteers at Border Missions, a Christian ministry, serve 350 to 400 food-insecure community members who receive a free hot meal, worship together and take groceries home.
One of the men is 87-year-old Francisco “Panchito” Ramirez Guajardo who discovered Border Missions on one of his daily visits to lay flowers at the grave of his wife of 47 years at the cemetery next door. Like many who first come to Border Missions for a meal, Ramirez then began to volunteer, and he has brought his adult children and neighbors. “I love them all as if they’re my family,” said Ramirez of the community who have supported him in his grief.
In Hidalgo County, where the 26.9% of people living in poverty is more than twice the national average of 11.1%, Christian faith binds communities together as they serve one another and advocate for better resources.
Quoting Jesus’ teaching in the New Testament’s Book of Acts that “it is more blessed to give than receive,” Mario Ramirez, the operations manager at Border Missions (no relation to Francisco), told RNS, “Being able to serve and help other people fills us with …