Border Encounter

May 15-17, 2024 in El Paso / Ciudad Juárez

In partnership with:

Why go to the border?

Since 2008, Phoenix Refugee Connections has equipped Christians to know and love our refugee neighbors—refugees being survivors of persecution and war who are resettled to our communities through the US Refugee Admissions Program. Increasingly, we’re seeing a need to broaden our understanding of why and how people seek refuge here from all over the world, and with so many crossing our southern border to request asylum, we want to be wise in our thinking and response.

What better way to learn about our border than to be there? This is not a mission trip but, rather, a listening and learning trip. We will meet with people who live at the border: Christians ministering on both sides of the fence, Border Patrol agents, and individuals and families migrating north. We’ll learn about our nation’s complex immigration system. Above all, as Christians we will seek the Lord’s wisdom—asking him to give us his eyes and ears, to help us see things are they really are, and to respond in a manner worthy of bearing his name.

This trip is intended for clergy and lay leaders (spouses and children 12+ welcome). That said, anyone with a spirit to listen and learn is welcome to come! You will not return home with an assignment or new project, but you will return with a much deeper understanding of one of the greatest challenges of our time, equipping you to better lead your parish in the midst of it. The US-Mexico border is a microcosm of global forced migration, which has caused some 110 million people to currently be displaced from their homes. To grapple with this reality in our own context and gain first-hand understanding through a biblical lens, join us at the border in May!

What will we do?

In this 3-day educational immersion experience with Abara Borderland Connections, through face-to-face interactions with people who live and work at the border, we will address questions like:

Why are so many people fleeing Central America?
Who is coming? (Why also Haitians, Cubans, Africans, Chinese, etc.?)
What happens when a person migrating reaches the US border?
How dangerous is the border?
What are our current immigration laws, and how does one enter the US legally?
What does the Bible say about immigrants?
How are churches and other groups already responding to the situation?
For a sample of a detailed agenda, click here.

How will the logistics work?

Accommodations: The Abara Guest House boasts spacious, clean, modern apartments above the Abara offices in El Paso. Groups typically are divided by gender, with each apartment having its own kitchen, bathroom and living space, in addition to multiple bedrooms (some with twin bunks, some queen and full beds). There also is one studio-sized apartment suitable for a small family. See photos here.

Cost: $595 per person, all-inclusive for May 15-17. Additionally, you will need to arrange and pay for your own travel to and from El Paso. Most people choose to stay at the Abara Guest House immediately before and after the Border Encounter (nights of May 14 and May 17), with an added cost of $40 per person. Scholarships are available; please indicate your need on the registration/interest form.

Transportation: Please arrange your travel to and from El Paso (arriving May 14; departing May 18). The Abara offices (our home base) are 7 miles from El Paso Intl. Airport. If you’re coming from AZ or NM and would like to carpool with others from our group, please indicate that on the registration/interest form.

Passport: Bring your passport, and make sure it doesn’t expire before the end of May 2024.

Registration deadline is Friday, April 26.

Click here to read more FAQs

Registration / Interest Form