Recently, the National Association of Evangelicals has been inviting evangelical leaders to see border realities firsthand. On encounters hosted by Border Perspective and World Relief, we have met government officials, ministry leaders and migrants who are navigating changing border policies, enforcing laws, feeding the hungry, teaching English, and sharing Christ with gang members and those fleeing gangs. For many NAE participants, these border encounters have been life changing.

Sharon Hughes, director of immigrant ministries at The Hope Center in Cleveland, Ohio, remembers driving with our group to a remote area between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, seeing tangled barbed wire and surveillance equipment stretching for miles atop cement pillars. With Border Patrol vehicles “circling on a sandy hill up ahead…[these] reminded me we were not alone.”

Walking up to the 30-foot-high steel beams, with her nose almost touching the metal, Hughes recalls, “I peered through and saw a man’s jacket tangled on the ground. The barren stretch of land on the other side led to another wall… and from there I could see cars zipping home on their evening commute in congested Tijuana.”

Months earlier, this open-air zone corralled a stream of migrants fleeing desperate situations to seek asylum in the United States. With government permission, volunteers propped up make-shift tents against the wall and brought supplies, food and toys to pass through the bars to mothers, fathers and unaccompanied minors waiting in the open air for hours or days.

Standing there, it hit Hughes:

“These are the mourners Jesus blessed, who weep because… they have said good-bye to home and family, not knowing if they will ever return…. These are the mourners who shudder at the danger of detention centers, and the risk of losing everything. These are the poor-in-spirit, battling fatigue and discouragement. These are the meek, hesitant to accept a cold drink.”

“I could picture Jesus sitting on the sand… with border patrol in the background. This time his nose was touching the cold steel wall, boldly declaring: ‘Blessed are you who are poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you who mourn, for you will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for you will inherit the earth’ (Matthew 5:3–5).”

For Bishop Shawn McKinley, global communications director for the Church of God of Prophecy, his border encounter was both “heartbreaking and inspiring.”

“Hearing firsthand from border patrol agents, local officials, pastors and migrants gave me a deeper understanding of the human complexities behind immigration. I came away with a reinforced sense of compassion, new questions, and a clearer prayer: ‘Lord, what would you have me do in my own community, church and neighborhood?’

“The trip forced me to sit with the tension between the rule of law and Christ’s call to love the stranger. I heard stories that challenged assumptions and witnessed ministries offering compassion without condition. It reminded me that immigration isn’t just an issue to solve. It’s a set of lives to see, serve and honor,” McKinley said.

Nick Kersten, education and history director at Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, highlighted Border Perspective’s “dogged desire” for participants to hear multiple voices and “see with their own eyes the realities of what is clearly a complicated situation.”

The trip also drove home for him “the extent to which ‘ordinary’ human and Christian reactions can really make a substantive difference in the lives of real people… and the heartbreak of knowing that some of those least committed to aiding people are those who claim the cause of Jesus Christ.”

For John Stumbo, recently retired president of Christian and Missionary Alliance, his NAE-led border experience “accomplished its goal, providing me with insights, relationships and reflections I would not otherwise have had opportunity to engage. I came home with a heavy heart, but the right kind of heaviness — that forms and shapes. Once again, NAE has provided a unique opportunity for me.”

Steve Eng

Steven Eng, advocacy director of the National Association of Evangelicals, works with NAE leaders, constituents and others to help advance the principles of the NAE document, “For the Health of the Nation,” as they use their God-given influence to bless our nation. Eng served for three decades as an ordained evangelical pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church. He received a degree in political science from St. Olaf College and a M.Div. degree from North Park Theological Seminary.