AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

The Holy Spirit Provides with Holy Trinity's Migrant Familia

"The Holy Spirit provides." This is one of the central mantras of the Migrant Familia program at Holy Trinity Jesuit Parish. Based in Washington, DC, the parish's Familia provides crucial support to newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers, helping them find housing, apply for work permits, enroll in school, and receive medical care. More than provide services, however, the Familia program creates, well, a family for migrants who come to the U.S.—often without resources, friends, or family of their own. On today's episode, I talk with the coordinator of the Familia program, Ashley Klick, and two of its graduates, Julien Patrick Tete Wabo and Miguel Flores. Both fled political persecution in Cameroon and Nicaragua, respectively. They came to the U.S. alone, and through their own determination and the accompaniment of Holy Trinity, they have built new lives. They spoke candidly about the hardship of migrating, but they also shared their love and admiration for one another—and for the Familia as a whole. I found it to be a really touching conversation, and I hope you do too. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Learn more about Holy Trinity's Migrant Familia: https://trinity.org/social-justice/migrants-refugees Find out how the Jesuits across the U.S. and Canada accompany migrants: https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/justice-and-ecology/migration-and-immigration/ This episode was recorded, edited and produced by MegAnne Liebsch.

Duration:: 46m
Broadcast on:: 26 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

[ Music ] >> From the Jesuit Conference of Canada in the United States, this is AMDG, I'm Megan Leach. If you build it, they will come. This is one of several outages that Ashley Click uses to describe the migrant familiar program at Holy Trinity Jesuit Parish. Another line she's famous for, the Holy Spirit provides. Both encapsulate the attitude of a program that has welcomed 25 migrant families from 11 countries over the course of six years. The program provides crucial support to people migrating to the Washington, D.C. area, helping them find housing, apply for work permits, enroll in school, and receive medical care. But more than provide services, the familiar program creates, well, a family for migrants who come to the U.S., often without resources, family of their own, or friends. In addition to helping newly arrived migrants navigate American systems, the program matches them with volunteer mentors who provide emotional support as migrants settle into their new lives. As Holy Trinity's pastoral associate for social justice, Ashley coordinates the familiar program. But she says the whole parish chips in to support the familiar, whether through volunteering, donations, or other material support. If you build it, they will come. Over the years, the familiar has become a tight-knit group. And for me, their story is a powerful example of what happens when we open our hearts. On today's episode, I talk with Ashley and two graduates of the familiar program, Julian Patrick Tete-Wavo and Miguel Flores, both led political persecution in their countries. Julian Patrick is from Cameroon and Miguel is from Nicaragua. They came to the U.S. alone and through their own determination and the accompaniment of Holy Trinity, they have built new lives. As graduates of the program, they now support other familiar members in their journeys. I sat down with Ashley, Julian Patrick, and Miguel in the library of Holy Trinity Parish earlier this year. We shared two microphones between the four of us, which does lead to some wonky sound quality in parts, but it also seems aligned with the resourceful philosophy of the familiar. At any rate, Julian Patrick, Miguel, and Ashley spoke candidly about the hardship of migrating, but they also shared their love and admiration for one another and for the familiar as a whole. I found it to be a really touching conversation, and I hope you do too. So I'm seated here today with the Holy Trinity migrant familiar. And we're going to be talking a little bit about what that means. So first, we have Julian Patrick, Tete Guapo. Hi, and thank you so much for having me. You know, say what I have to say today. Thank you so much. Thanks for being here. We also have Miguel Flores. Hi, I'm so glad to be here. And the social justice coordinator from the parish, Ashley Click. Hello. Thank you all for being here. So, JP, let's start with you. You're from Cameroon. Can you tell us a little bit about your life in Cameroon and what ultimately brought you to seek asylum here in the US? Well, thank you for the question. As you rightly said, I'm from Cameroon, and I'm from the French part of Cameroon. So before coming to the United States, I was in the seminary. So I started in the seminary for over. They said eight years. So after my second year of theology, I decided to quit because I wanted to do something else. I had this dream to be a teacher that kept on haunting me. Behold, in 2018, I was like we had presidential election in Cameroon. So coming back from the seminary, I had really not experienced what it meant to be a Cameroonian. Out of the seminary, because in the seminary, you know, we have a schedule that we follow, we have food, we have all of these things. You do not know what's going on. So staying outside gave me a different perspective of what Cameroonians were going through. So I decided in 2018 to actually join the political movement. That was to vote for a different candidate, because just for your information, we had Serbia at that time. It was the president. It was president before I was born. It was president when I was born, he's still the president. So I thought that was an opportunity for all the Cameroonians to kind of get a different, you know, breathe of life and stuff. So unfortunately, what was not supposed to happen happened? So I got involved and that year after the election because he actually started election, we kind of went out to kind of protest his victory, his stolen victory, and all of us were taken to jail. Many people died, but I escaped. I succeeded in escaping. And with the help of my dad and some of his friends who could help him. And the closest country I could go to was Ecuador. So that is why I could speak a little bit of Spanish. So I stayed in Ecuador. I went to Ecuador without knowing anybody. And I had $300 in my pocket. So being in Ecuador, I had to survive, you know. I had to live on the streets for a couple of months. I got to know a couple of people so that I became independent. And eventually, I decided to move to the United States. And that was walking, you know, because I didn't have any statues in Ecuador. So I couldn't be on a plane and stuff like that. So when the pandemic hit, I decided to move to the United States. I spent about six months on the way, coming to the United States. And that is how I am here. Yeah, wow. Thank you very much. That must have been incredibly difficult for you to be away from family, for you to make that decision to move from Ecuador than to the US. It was a very difficult decision. And more to that, the most difficult was actually to live my country. I haven't been able to get in touch with my family. It's true I'm married in the United States now. And of course, my wife represents my family to me. And now, holy trinity, because they have adopted me. So this is my new family. But of course, I know where I'm coming from. I still miss my mom. I still miss my dad and my daughters. Now, Miguel, you are one of the 222 Nicaraguan dissidents who are deported from Nicaragua in 2023. And you landed in Washington, D.C. Can you tell us a little bit about the political situation in Nicaragua and how you came to be in the US? First, I would like to say I'm excited to share this table with Julian Patrick too. Yes, I think it's the same thing. I'm 27 years old. In all of my life, I just know two poor accidents in my country. So when I was scared, I started to see different things in my country. How the government was torn around really dictatorship. And how they changed all the laws, all the constitution, again. And when I went to the university, I decided to do the political science because I want to share the thing in my country. I want to be prohibition. So we don't have right now freedom, religious. We don't have any freedom expression in my country. The people can say nothing, people can say, can move out into the protest, can be free. The government is still, I would say, kill all the freedom, all the expression of the political expression. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were essentially incarcerated for your political activism and then put on a plane with over 200 other people. And you didn't really know where you were going, right? And then you landed in Washington, D.C. And I think I read that you had maybe a few hundred dollars and a cell phone. How did you come into contact with Holy Trinity? That's absolutely right. I forgot to say, I was a Christian. So that's really good important point. I was a Christian Christian just for my opinion, just for me against the government. And when we came here, I didn't know where I'm going. I just know when I, they take off from the jail and they just bring us to the airport. So at this moment, we know we will get out from Nicaragua. I never, never been out of Nicaragua, was my first play. Miguel and the other Nicaraguan's had no idea where the plane was headed. They worried they might be sent to Cuba or Venezuela. Ultimately, though, they landed in Washington, D.C. A few days later, Holy Trinity organized a meeting for the Nicaraguan's to inform them about their asylum processes. That's how Miguel became part of the migrant familia program. Just one day, I just received a call from one of my friend at the 2022. The Holy Trinity offer a meeting for us, and it's one of the whole kinds of days for us. And I just started to get a permit here. And I remember this meeting. I was so scared too. I didn't have any, you know, I didn't trust him what happened because I was scared about everything, everything. Now I'm so excited for everything in my life. But it's also, Holy Trinity wasn't every step in one year. So yeah, I'm glad to be part of the Julian Patrick family, he's part of my family, too. I actually miss my family, too. Julian Patrick, for you, you traveled from Ecuador then up to the U.S. border. Can you talk a little bit about your process of how you got into the U.S., and then how you came to Washington, D.C., and how you came into contact with Holy Trinity? Whenever I talk to my wife about this situation, she always told me, "Let's make a movie. Let's make a movie out of it because it's really a movie." And up till today, I'm still thinking about it. I can't count how many times whenever I get, you know, in contact with something that reminds me of what I experience, look, in the forest, it makes me, you know, whenever I take hikes and stuff like that. When I get into the middle of the bush, like just trees and stuff like that, everything just comes back. I see these people dying, we couldn't help. I see these children dying and stuff like that. So this is pretty much how the journey was. It's not an easy journey at all, because you meet a lot of thieves, people want to abuse, people want money, and because they want the money, they have to get that money, you know. So getting to the United States, as I earlier said, it took me like six months, yeah, six months. I spent one month in the during that, you know, just walking. The worst thing that happened to me, you know, from leaving Cameroon was that loss of identity. I feel like every time I had to justify to people that I'm a human being. You know, it was very hard for people to address me, consider me as a human being with a lot of racism, my experience, especially in Panama, you know. So when I got into the United States, I really did not know that someone was to take me like nothing was clear, nothing was confirmed. So when I crossed the border, I handed myself over to the immigration officers and I was like, you know, do with me, whatever you want to do, because I didn't know anything. And I don't know what's happened a couple of days after I was free, and I was helped by the Jewish community, yeah, in San Diego, California. I was so scared of the police, the trauma I had from the road. I had no money, I had nothing. Before arriving in the U.S., Julian Patrick had met a Cameroonian American woman through an online group. They started dating virtually. She lived in Washington, D.C., so when JP made it to the U.S., she searched for local organizations that could help JP. That's how they stumbled upon the migrant familiar program. Julian Patrick remembers the relief and the happiness he felt when he arrived at Holy Trinity. Once again, I felt safe, you know, they gave me the hugs, they hugged me and, you know, so many, they organized the party just to welcome me. It was just too much for me. At the point, I was just like, confused, what is happening? And of course, Ashley was always there. What do you need? What do you need? What do you want? And many other people just came over and were just like ready to help. So this is the image I have of Holy Trinity and that loving community that gives hope. So this is how I can describe Holy Trinity. You know, whenever I get to talk about Holy Trinity, I just get so emotional. Ashley and still some members of the community kind of helped me connect with other pro bono, you know, lawyers, and thank God I'm still working with some of them today. And of course, they made sure I had a place to stay and they made sure they gave me food every time. When I wanted to go to the hospital, there was always someone ready to pick me up to take me to the doctor. And you know, it's also someone who was just in charge of making me navigate through the city like understand so that I could stand on my feet. I received a bicycle, a lot of clothes, a lot of everything. So Ashley, I want to pick up on all of that work that JP is referencing and backtrack a little bit. Can you tell us about Holy Trinity Parish where we are right now in the library? And a little bit about the migrant familiar program. Holy Trinity is a Catholic Jesuit church in Washington, D.C. We have approximately 5,000 households from 67 zip codes across Virginia, Maryland and D.C. The migrant accompaniment program began in 2018. We had parishioners go to the Kino border initiative. And literally as two parishioners Jean and Bruce landed in D.C. They got a call from Kino that said there's a young man named Mario that needs help while you help them, and they said yes, and the rest is kind of history. We had worked with another organization prior to that to welcome a refugee family from Syria. But really, Jean, Bruce and Mario did coming together, kind of launched the rest of it. And today as of last week, we welcomed two more families last week, we're now 25 families and individuals from 11 countries. Julie and Patrick talk a little bit about our model, the goal, most of the people are referred to us. Many of them, like Julie and Patrick and Miguel, don't have any kind of resources here in the United States. They don't have friends or families that can welcome them. So we do kind of tend to welcome those kinds of families. After an initial meeting, you know, we work with them to identify their goals and what their needs are, I think we could all agree, the first 90 days are pretty chaotic. We're focusing on finding a lawyer, a housing that's affordable, which is probably our number one challenge in the D.C. metro area. Education, you know, if they need English classes, maybe I think Miguel's being pretty, you didn't know any English when we met you last March, and like looking at you now, I mean, so, you know, we kind of talk about their goals. There's mental health resources available. Many people arrive here, they're traumatized and overwhelmed by the experience. Our systems here are challenging. I mean, you and I know how hard it is to navigate a phone tree sometimes when you're trying to make an appointment, you know, the education system and our healthcare system are pretty, you know, overwhelming for a newcomer. So that's kind of what the role is. I mean, our goal is to help a family or individual achieve independence, you know, that can take six months up to 18 months, generally we've found, depending on the circumstances. And then they graduate. Julian Patrick is a graduate of our familiar. Miguel is a student to be graduate, I think this is your last month, right? And then like in all families, they're welcomed back to come and stay connected. And if they have a need of, I guess, employment or another legal issue, then, you know, we remain connected. Everybody gathered yesterday for the Easter egg hunt. So we try to keep, we do treat it as a familiar. So there are tough conversations too. I think that we're highlighting all the wonderful parts of it, but it is hard. I think that that's important to note that it's very hard and we, all the members of the familiar take it seriously and, you know, we walk with these individuals, not ahead of them. We're not there to tell them what to do or to push them in this direction. We're there to answer the questions and to be their plan. Yeah. I think the point that you're making that I see a lot of people in the US kind of misunderstand how very challenging it is to come to this country, especially if you have very few resources and not a lot of community to receive you and to navigate everything, right? Like getting a doctor's visit, getting your kids enrolled in school or getting yourself enrolled in school, all of those things are so hard. So for you, Ashley, why do you see this program as being necessary? It's maybe an obvious question, right? But what are the kind of complexities of the immigration system that maybe listeners might not be aware of because they're citizens, they don't have to think about that? What we are finding is that's always changing too. I think that's one of our biggest issues. People arrive here with various status. So navigating what that means and what you're coming from Ukraine, you may receive this. If you're an Afghan refugee, you might get this. If you came with the 222, you might get this. If you just crossed and finally got your CBP appointment, what does that mean? So as I said, a lot of these people arrive traumatized. They're ill-informed about how hard it is going to be to navigate the United States, how hard it is it's going to live here and what that might mean. So I think just as you want to be welcomed anywhere you go, that's what we try to do. And we're here as they try to navigate understanding what that means. The lawyers, it takes a long time, I think they're also vulnerable, we've found that. And we've been doing this as our eighth year. So we've made a lot of mistakes and we've learned a lot, but I think we didn't have this with you. But I remember Mujahid before you, he was trying to be independent. And a lot of people want to be independent. They don't want to, it's hard to be vulnerable to a group of people you don't know. But he kept getting scammed about trying to find an apartment. So they're vulnerable to misinformation. They're vulnerable to scam artists. Even with the lawyers, most people don't realize that you can't work legally here until you file for asylum. So that can be six months. So how are you going to feed your family? How are you going to pay your rent? How are you going to do a lot of those things? So we're just here to answer those questions and to try to help them navigate it as best they can, with the goal of having a legal pathway to the United States. I think that's a big challenge that most people want to come here legally. They want to find safety and security here. And that's what we try to do with our program. Miguel and JP, I don't know who wants to take it first. But how did Holy Trinity, I think you both kind of touched on it a little bit, but how did Holy Trinity in this community support you as you began settling? Why was it important for you? One thing was sorry for me, is when I started to receive emotional support too. It's not just all the materials in what we already mentioned. It's just when you get a, in my case, I had three four mentors. So I always, when I have some thing, what I need to do. And I always, they are really permanent about me. What are you going to do when I get a job? So what is that next? How can you do your taxes? Just something like that. How can you start your medical insurer, how can you get that? It's also, you're never working alone. You're working with more people around you. I remember last Christmas was my first Christmas here. Obviously, I miss my family, I miss everything. And I received a gift from Mary Lou. I received a blanket. So she just told me, I give to you this blanket, because I want to remember how much we love you. So that's the kind of thing, but you never, never forgot. Because it's not just, in my case, they give me a, my English. I could still learn English, they give me everything for my new apartment, they give me everything support, what I needed when I was unemployed. So they connect me with a culinary program, what I did for three months, because when I came here, they tell me to be focused on the one I want to do in this country. Honestly, when I came here, I just thought, I don't want to get just a minimum way for rest of my life. I want to do my life really safe and really exciting here. That's the kind of thing, when only trying to support you too, is just, okay, you can do that. I can help you to connect with other organizations, with other resources. It is working, it's working. Now I can, I can save my life. We come from countries when just you receive bad things, honestly, and when you start to receive good things, good emotional support, the lawyer, I remember my lawyer, when we start to, my asylum process, and we start to work the key story, he just, he's a lot of things. And I can, I want to help you because I, they can, they can to feel our history, they take our history, and they start to be part of this. So it's not just, you can just feel material support. You can really feel how the people support you, it's helped you, it's honestly helped. That's the best thing, whatever is it from Holy Dream. Continue from where, I think is right, everything is said, applies to me. I think the hope I received, I personally received, and that I believe many of us, all of us received is, it's just beyond any material, you know, help. Because of course we've been helped materially, like being able to have phone and stuff like that. But that emotional support me girl was talking about, you know, because if you realize, many of us in the team, we are coming from very violent background, you know, there's been a lot of guns, a lot of family separations. I feel like Holy Trinity has understood that, and they want people coming to them to be reconnected with themselves, because that is the most difficult. You can have everything, but if you are not at peace with yourself, you're not going to go anywhere. And I feel like this is what they have made me realize, and that's why I got married because I was a little calm, you know, I was calm, I could reconnect with myself, and that was achieved because of these people who looked at me and said, "Julienne Patrick, even those who you're black love you, it doesn't matter any of those, we just love you, the person you are." And this is just how it is, it is a family, and I'm having a plan of taking Ashley to Cameroon whenever, you know, things get better. The hope from Holy Trinity is a human hope, like it helps the human being have hope again. I think you've both touched on this, but it's the program is called The Migrant Familia, right? And so it's not just Holy Trinity staff and parishioners, but it's also the now 25 individuals and families that make up this program. So why is it important that you have that community of each other to rely on as well? In Cameroon, we say that it takes a village to raise a child. So I would say about, you know, the migrant family are coming together, you know, it takes this big community, this loving community, to welcome new people, so that together we can grow. And one important thing that Miguel mentioned was this networking. It's very important, you know, because I've gone through that, I'm able to help Miguel, you know, I've offered her a couple of times. And you know, it mentions something very important, is I'm just going to say, and it's for free, you know, it's for free. And because it is for free, it pushes you to help other people for free. And that is how the love grows, you know, sometimes we want just beautiful and wonderful community, but it always starts with one thing, you know. So because I've received this, I don't know why I won't have that, you know, heart to actually help someone who is going through what I went through. So I think this is what it is about. And I feel like it is very important, and for those who are listening, listening to us, if they feel like they should be part of this, they won't be part of this, they shouldn't hesitate, because this is a nice, wonderful way of spreading love around, you know, by joining this, not just this, I'm sure that there are other programs, but by doing something like that, because this way, the love is spread, you know, in a more general way. I will say, when you enjoy the mass, I'm not properly, but when I count the mass, and I see the people, and I didn't know a lot of people from the price, when we get so meeting, they just start to over me, to kind of over me and say, "Hi, we good," and they start to congrats me about my job, about my current training, about my English, let me say, "How do you know that?" Because there are plenty of YouTube, they are proud for you, they're proud for everything in this familiar. Would you know these people, you start to spend time with them, and you start to thinking about, "I get a good job, I get a good, I still am the wife to get a good life here." So I want to start to support other people, that I can spend my last, my first dance given there, and I got a house, and I got a family, and I hope that you open your house for whatever people, it's strange to your family come here, but when I get this family, everybody in this family know me, it's kind of been where you never can't forget. So it's a really good family, it's a really good a lot of people here, with good care, with good passion for all the people, you can feel the love of God and each of these persons. Honestly, I don't know if you have any reflections that you want to add, or if this is what you expected, and when this program started, this kind of love and community, how have you seen it grown? Has it surprised you? I mean I think I always say that I see that whenever this familiar gathers, whether it's Miguel translating, I don't speak Spanish, despite both Julian Patrick and Miguel trying to assist me, and thus I am horrible. And so they often volunteer to be translators, and we have a new person here, but whenever I see whether it's that in action, or when we have gathered for our Guadalupe Mass, or our stations of the cross, you see the Holy Spirit at work, I mean people are living out their faith, and I remember we welcomed one family, they were being thrown out of their house in Maryland, they had three children, a daughter had cancer, and you and Mario went in the middle of the night, I think it was raining too, and like rescued them basically. Julian Patrick is studying social work right now, and we're working together to have a program next fall as part of his internship, where he's going to kind of lead gatherings with our family members to kind of help each other, because they see a different side of it, I mean I think I'm definitely the pragmatic member of the group, Jean is the party planner, she loves to find ways to bring everybody together, and half cake, Mary Gibbons who's also an essential member, she's kind of a on the ground organizer, make sure people get what they need legally, and so it takes all these kind of different elements to come together, the fun and the serious, and I mean it really is a family, did I think it would be this, I don't think so, but I'm so glad that it is, I mean it was wonderful to have Miguel at my Thanksgiving table, you know, Julia Patrick used to work at the Holy Trinity School, so he came by pretty regularly, and his bright smile was kind of a weekly reminder to me of this good work, his faith and his hope, I mean I miss it now that he works at off campus, he was a constant reminder of just our friendship, and then just how important hope is, and what a gift it is for all of us, I mean I get as much out of this relationship as they do, you know, Miguel called me as his second mom, I think he said that which it's hard for me to think I'm old enough to be, you know, that's another challenge personally, but I mean that's the gift, you have these relationships, and you know we check in on each other, we know what's going on in each other's lives, and it is really turned into be something beautiful, I don't think we expected that. Well let's talk a little bit about your lives now, I think both of you have new jobs, you have a new job and a wife who you've talked about, and Miguel you have a new job I think in the kitchen of a hotel, so can you tell me kind of what you're up to now, and also what your hopes are for the future? When I come here I just say I want to do something what I really like, I really can enjoy, that's the kitchen, that's the spend time in the kitchen. In Nicaragua, Miguel was a political science student and activist. When he arrived in the U.S. he felt he had a second chance at life, he decided to choose a line of work that he liked. After completing culinary training with the help of Holy Trinity, Miguel is now a chef at the Four Seasons Hotel. Now I'm really glad, I'm really excited to spend time in the kitchen, because it's not just when I am at the kitchen, I'm not thinking about it's that job, it's just I need to be here for good money. I forgot it's a job, I start to live in Colombia, and I love my neighbor, I love walking around, I love taking the bus, I love taking the metro, and that's my life now, I just never thinking about how many years I need to be here back to Nicaragua, because they take off my citizenship. So now I'm just thinking this is my life, I just start to recognize my life, I start to recognize this country, also I want to say I'm so grateful to be here, because I sent this for 10 years in prison, it's the kind of thing, what you really want to enjoy. This is still hard, because you don't have your family, but also that you're happy to do something for you now here, my mom is really happy and they are glad for me. If I see my life one years ago, and I see what I'm doing now, I'm proud of me too. You know, when I look into the mirror of my life, I just feel like this is just a lot of great things that have happened, things that I had never expected, like working at this school, because little kids, that's also part of my therapy. The first job I ever got in the United States, I was working as an assistant teacher at Holy Trinity, and I loved the opportunity to say thank you to Ashley Click, because she was like a mentor, she said, whenever I go to class, during my break, I'll always come here, just shout, just make some noise and go back. This is, that was my routine, and I loved it, you know, just as much as she loved my smile, I loved seeing her smile, so that she can be, I know she's proud of herself, but I wanted her to see me, so that she can even be prouder, because what they have done is amazing, you know? It's amazing. I also like to, you know, commend the path of the parish by the Gillespie, you know? It's been great, like it's everywhere, and to me personally, it's been, I am going now to Catholic University where I pursue my master in social work, and that was thanks to him. Now, I am working with Catholic charities as a case manager, and I'm just so happy, you know? That is what I wanted to do. Miguel was talking about him not seeing his job as a job, because he's enjoying it. This is exactly what's happening. So when they are talking to me, I do not look at them, just as people meet up. I look at them as myself in the past, you know? What do I do to myself, you know? And the same thing I would love to do for myself, I do it to them. You both have such beautiful poetic ways of talking about this, the idea of recognizing your life after such a short period of time when your life was kind of totally upturned by being in prison and then brought to the U.S. or, you know, kind of looking in the mirror of your life and seeing that hope, JP, those are such beautiful ways to express what is so challenging as well. For you, Ashley, I'm wondering what your hopes are for the future of this program, for the people in the program, what brings you hope? Well, I hope that we don't have to keep doing this, but not just because I don't, not that I don't enjoy it, but I mean, there's a lot of suffering. You know, I worry about, you know, we've got two new families I mentioned. One came from Columbia, but they're 11 year old. The other is an Afghan family with a three year old with severe cerebral palsy. You know, people are fleeing for a variety of reasons. These are two different stories. I think you both have similar stories with your political, you know, realities of your own countries, but there's a lot of suffering in the world. So I don't think that we'll be able to close the shop anytime soon, but it is funny. We always say we're at capacity and then somehow you came into the program, Julian Patrick, and then Miguel, I don't really even know how you came into that. That's what happens. We say there's no we can't do anything else and then we welcome two more families, Julian Patrick mentioned that our pastor, Kevin Gillespie supports living out your faith in this regard. We have over 400 volunteers within the ministry doing this work. And some of them are mentors, some volunteer one time to do a setup of a of a home. We have Georgetown prep students engaged, visitation students engaged, you know, I don't know. I mean, I don't want it to go away because I love meeting all of these families and growing it. So I hope there's a less stressful way to do it so that they aren't coming in so scared and traumatized. Like I didn't know your story that you were scared of the police when you were first here. You did a good job of finding that for me. Holy Trinity has always been a place where anyone can come. I mean, the migrant, Amelia's not the only work that we do. We do a lot of work to address poverty and homelessness in DC too. So I would love for it all to go away and then we can just do emergency experiences. I don't know if something more, you know, exciting, but this work is rewarding and as long as there are people who are in need, then I think this parish will be here to support them and to provide hope and to recognize the humanity and everyone that comes here. Are there ways that the listeners at home can support Holy Trinity or parishes like this in their area? What would you recommend? I think what's exciting is that there are, mainly, I think, Jesuit parishes that we know about. We've worked with parish in New York, one in San Diego. A lot of communities are exploring this. It can fill daunting. You know, we've been doing it for, I guess this is our APR. We, like I said, we've made a lot of mistakes. We've learned a lot. I love what these guys said that it really is about the love and that's all you really need to get started as an open heart. You know, again, when we were debating about this family, but the severely disabled child with cerebral palsy, you know, it's scary to take someone into your familiar. That's a lot of responsibility, but it's all working out. The Holy Spirit is the most essential member of our team. It always, she delivers and, you know, we have a meeting tonight. Twenty people have come out of the parish who haven't even been doing some of this work who want to be engaged in this family. So, you know, there's that, what's the baseball movie? If you build it, they will come, you know, I'm aging myself, I could be your mother. The field of dreams. You know, so if you do it, you will, people will come. I think he just, an open heart is all you need. I think people are daunted by politics of it. They're daunted by the cost of it. And, you know, these other churches a minute, their model is not the same as ours. Everybody kind of does it the way that makes sense for them. And I think that just being welcoming, you could just have a meal and just welcome people into your community, you could, there are lots of other organizations, whether, you know, here we have cost of the Maryland, there's Jubilee Jobs, there's a lot of different organizations who might have a part in that process, Catholic Charities, we're, Julian Patrick works, who need volunteers. So, you don't have to feel compelled to start a family of 25 people with, I think we have 20 children under 17 now. That's a lot. Yeah. Wow. So, you don't have to don't do that. You can start small. We started with one wonderful person, Mario, and if you had told us this is what it would be almost eight years later, I don't think we would have believed it, but there's a lot of opportunity. It's open your heart. It's a wonderful, wonderful ministry, and you'll meet, you'll have a shop then, and you'll have a friend who brightens your day and is strong and can move all of our wider families. And he sings. I forgot. He sings. He sings. He sings. He sings. It's amazing voice. He sings to me on my birthday. Yes. Yes. It's a talented group of people. I guess we are talking because we want to, you know, affect. We have an audience. People listening to us. We want them to, you know, people, my message goes to those people who are kind of, you know, they're looking for help, they do not know how to reconcile. It's not just about migrants. Yeah, also people in the United States, we are going through what we are going through, you know, every door there, you know, just, just love. Stay calm. Everything is going to be okay. That's what I have to say. I think I need someone to say that to me every day. You need like some affirmations from these guys every day. You know, I think I would just say, I don't, I'm always the serious one when I meet with you guys. And I just want to say it's a privilege just to sit here at the table with you both. It's amazing. I got teary eyed a few times with you telling your story because it is a privilege to be a part of it. But, you know, you've accomplished so much in a year, Miguel, and it's amazing. And our partnerships with Emma's torch and with the four seasons, it's been terrific. And then Julian Patrick, you know, you're married. You have a child on the way. You are an amazing singer, you almost made it to America's Got Talent. What? That's how good a singer he is. I can't believe I forgot that, but you know, it's, you've enriched my life personally. And it is, this is not easy work. And you definitely are gifts to me from doing this work. So thank you for sharing your time and your stories with me, with the Hoi Trinity community and with the larger audience. Well, thank you so much to all of you for doing this. I really appreciate it. This is a lovely conversation. My thanks to Ashley, Julian Patrick, and Miguel for this beautiful discussion. If you're interested in learning more about Hoi Trinity's Migrant Familiar, or how the Jesuit network supports migrants more broadly, I put some links in the show notes. Thank you for listening. AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. This episode was edited and produced by me, Megan Leech. Our communications team is Mike Jordan-Lasky, Marcus Bleach, Eric Clayton, Becky Cindallar, and Kristen Smith, original theme music created by Kevin Lasky. Connect with the Jesuits online at Jesuits.org on Instagram, we are the Jesuits, and at facebook.com/decuits. If you're interested in discerning a vocation with the Jesuits, visit via Jesuits.org. Drop us an email with questions or comments at media@jesuits.org. And subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks. [MUSIC] (gentle music)