So what exactly does it mean to be a “chapel and outreach mission?”
Good question.
Imagine a standard non-profit ministry to the vulnerable which also has a vibrant Christian life of eucharistic worship, daily prayer, and other pastoral services.
What does it look like day to day?
• We provide free health care to the poor and to detained asylum seekers
• We offer pastoral and sacramental ministry to asylum seekers, the poor, and to those serving them on both sides of the border
• We partner with various ministries (currently 3 – see below) on both sides of the border which serve immigrants, the poor, and the deaf
• We celebrate the Eucharist together every Sunday evening
Our Partners
La Posada Providencia
(lppshelter.org)
La Posada serves as a transition shelter for immigrants and asylees after they have been processed through U.S. Customs. It is run by the Sisters of Divine Providence.
Our work with La Posada is quite varied. We help teach ESL. We provide a doctor for their clients and staff. We do various other things to serve the Sisters and staff in whatever capacity they need. This has included things such as special activities for the kids there, driving clients to the doctor, to the bus station, or to the immigration lawyer’s office, hearing confessions, pastoral counseling, digging holes for new buildings, machinery repair, and client advocacy.
Culture of Life
(colmhealth.org)
In 2013, Dr. Stephen Robinson noticed while working at his private practice in Raymondville, TX that the Affordable Care Act failed to provide legitimate health care for the poorest of the poor (of which the Rio Grande Valley is full). So he literally hung up a sign on a Church building in Harlingen offering free medical care.
Now, there are over 50 volunteers and thousands of patients who consider Culture of Life their primary healthcare provider. Erica began working with Dr. Robinson in 2016. She was their first regularly scheduled, licensed physician besides Dr. Robinson. In 2018, we renovated a downtown building to serve as office space, a chapel, and a clinic. So we now host one of the Culture of Life free clinics each week.
Much of Erica’s work is focused on health education and care of chronic illness through diet, exercise, and prayer habits. She has also been used by the Port Isabel Detention center to attend to women who are being held there. This has included such things as evaluating female genital mutilation to help those women in their cases for asylum.
Isaiah 55
(isaiah55.org)
Most Fridays, Michael travels to Reynosa, Mexico to lead the Isaiah 55 team in a communion service. It’s pretty incredible because the Isaiah 55 mission is located about 100 yards from the walls of Boys Town which is an area where “anything goes” (prostitution, drugs, you name it). Isaiah 55 works with the deaf, and with women and children living in the Boys Town area.
Our Congregation
In 2018, we began having regular worship in our mission building. Each year, our little congregation has grown by one or two households. We meet for Eucharist every Sunday and then again mid-week for dinner, discussion, and Compline (night-time prayer). Though small, we have a very diverse socio-economic, ethnic, and household type make-up.
Other Things We Have Going on
The United States Coast Guard Michael serves as the chaplain for the US Coast Guard units stationed on South Padre Island and in Brownsville, TX.