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s the number of migrants passing through this small town in central Mexico has skyrocketed in recent months, the community’s Methodist church has continued to offer food, shelter and hope to weary families riding freight trains north toward the United States.
Brian Jose Rivas Romero spent a night in the church in December with his wife and four small children. They fled their home in Honduras 27 days before, leaving two older children behind with relatives.
“We migrants have a hard journey. We’re tired. But then we find a place like this where we can rest, we can bathe our children, and the next day, we can continue our journey with a lifted spirit and renewed hope. It’s a blessing to stay here,” he told United Methodist News during an interview at the Center for Attention to Migrants housed in the Holy Trinity Methodist Church.
Rivas Romero said his family was forced to flee Central America because they feared for their lives.