Sunday, April 24, saw another “angel project” completed at New Journey Lutheran Church to support asylum seekers awaiting completion of immigration paperwork at Cruzando Fronteras’ Casa de la Misericordia shelter near Nogales, Mexico.

The Northeast Valley Consortium of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), of which New Journey is one of five members joined by Christ the Lord, Living Waters, New Covenant and Ascension, filled several vehicles with rice, beans and flour for some 150 shelter residents.

Casa de la Misericordia y de Todas Las Naciones is the House of Mercy and All Nations, a joint endeavor of the Grand Canyon ELCA Synod, the Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona and the Western Anglican Diocese of Mexico.

Residents of the shelter are mostly women and children, many of whom have been stalled in their journeys by COVID-19 restrictions. Over the past two years, under the leadership of Sister Lika Macia, they have built facilities for medical care and elementary, middle and high school classes, as well as an adult education program and vocational training to bolster readiness for jobs upon entry to the U.S.

Casa de la Misericordia has a waitlist of some 300 persons to replace those who move on as legal migrants to the U.S. Ongoing needs at the shelter, in addition to rice, beans and flour, are diapers, wipes and feminine hygiene products.