Baptizing illegal aliens

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Visions

By David D'Amico ⋅ May 2, 2006 ⋅

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During the 1970s I taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana of Fort Worth in the North side of the city was without a pastor. We knew some of the members because when we arrived in Fort Worth from Argentina, we became members of the church and they welcomed us very warmly.

A group of leaders came to see me at home and asked me to consider becoming an interim pastor for 6 months. We discussed my responsibilities and I agreed to serve. The six months became 2 ½ years because the congregation was happy with my leadership and I was happy ministering to them.

During this time there was a lay person who was from Mexico and very enthusiastic about evangelizing. His name was Hermano Caceres. He was a character, a genuine leader and very funny. In his humble ways he would exhort others to become more evangelistic toward visitors.

Caceres invited two Mexican illegal aliens to attend the church—a father and his son, a youth. They were befriended by the membership and after few months they made profession of faith and asked for baptism. It was a joyous occasion when I baptized them—Don Pedro and Carlos. They worked in construction without legal papers like millions do these days in the USA. No one in the church made a big deal that they were illegal; they were part of the church family.

One Sunday brother Caceres came to Sunday School and very sadly told me: “La Migra se llevó a Don Pedro y Carlos.” We all worried about them. My missiological reaction was: “Well, at least we evangelized these two who will return to their families and become a witness for Christ.”

About two or three months later during the Sunday morning worship service, Brother Caceres came to me with a big smile: “Don Pedro and Carlos are back in Fort Worth.” The church recognized and welcome them back to the flock.

Ever since then, I have kept this story in my heart as a parable of the complexities of illegal aliens in this country. The pattern of being taken back to Mexico and returning to the US is a recurring theme much alive in the contemporary political, social and economic landscape of our country. An American farmer in Yuma, AZ testified on National Public Radio this morning: “These people work hard in the fields. I pay them $16.00 per hour. No National Guard or fences will keep them away. I do not have a way to check whether their papers are legal. They come, work, and then spend their earnings in our city to the tune of $400,000.00 per year.”

I wonder if the churches in San Diego, Yuma, El Paso, Laredo, and other border towns between US and Mexico have the same attitude of the congregation of the Primera Iglesia in Fort Worth in the 1970s. In my heart of hearts I pray that there will be many illegal aliens baptized and sent back to Mexico as evangelists. Jesus told the demoniac from Gadara: “Go home and tell what great things God has done for you.”

Dr. D’Amico is the CBF Advocate for Internationals and Hispanics in North Carolina, and Senior Professor of Evangelism and Missions at Campbell University Divinity School.