By Ken Jarvis, Area Media Specialist
“When I think about our ministry here I think about the reality that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were refugees after Jesus’s birth,” said Rt. Rev. Dr. David Read, Episcopal Bishop of West Texas. “They had to flee to Egypt to avoid Harod.” The ministry that the Bishop is referring to is the Plaza de Paz Respite Center in San Antonio.
The Respite Center opened as a collaborative effort between the Diocese of West Texas and the Southwestern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. According to Flor Saldivar, Director of Immigration and Refugee Ministries with the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, “Plaza de Paz was a small pastoral project founded in 2021 when many migrants were just being dropped off at random parts of the city, in parks and parking lots. People were suffering. They were sitting outside in the heat.”
So in July of 2021 a small shelter, Plaza de Paz, was opened. It provides day-time welcoming services for families and individuals seeking asylum. The services provided include meals, assistance with travel arrangements, personal hygiene care, emergency housing, and transportation within Bexar County to the airport or bus station.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was such a big part of making all of this happen,” Saldivar said. “On the first day the missionaries showed up and helped us establish the layout of the building. They helped us check people in and the sisters were playing with the children.”
“We are so excited to be part of this interfaith ministry,” said Tish Rodriguez, San Antonio Regional Just Serve Coordinator for the Church of Jesus Christ. “Plaza de Paz is one of the premiere needs in our area. At first, people in our congregations started dropping things off, then they saw there was a bigger need. The need for showers and hygiene was huge.”
Because the refugees didn’t have proper hygiene facilities the two faith groups got together and applied for a grant from the Church of Jesus Christ for a shower trailer. The grant was approved and at check for $87,000 was presented to the Plaza de Paz staff.
In presenting the grant President James E. Mears, President of the San Antonio East Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ, said, “When we are baptized we make a covenant to morn with those who morn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.”
Addressing the Plaza de Paz staff Mears remarked, “I have been so impressed with what you do here and have seen the Christlike service that you provide. You are certainly providing comfort to those who have needs.”
Read summed up the mission of Plaza de Paz saying, “So that’s the model for why we do this ministry for migrants and asylum seekers. It’s because Jesus and His family were refugees. So, as we serve these people who come here, we are serving Christ Himself.”