Beyond Borders: Local church helps area in Mexico

HARLINGEN — A local church will be taking their charities south of the border this week.

Way of the Cross Ministries in Harlingen has been going to Mexico every year for almost 30 years to feed the hungry and bring a little cheer for the holiday season.

In an event called the Big Feed, thousands of families living in what the locals call an “invasion colony” are fed chicken and given toys during the last week of December.

Ben Butler, director of Way of the Cross, said the event has grown tremendously in past decades with the help of local organizations and churches in Mexico.

“We have people that come from all over Mexico to help us with this event,” Butler said.

More than 160 volunteers from the United States and 125 churches in Mexico and the United States take part in the Big Feed.

When the Big Feed first started, Way of the Cross helped and fed just over 500 people in the red light district.

Last year, more than 10,000 people in Matamoros received help.

According to Butler, the ministry serves a particular location for two or three years before moving on to a different location.

Currently, he is working with a 500-acre plot of land filled with thousands of families sleeping in tents which he calls the Genesis Project.

“All the local people call it an invasion colony and an invasion colony means you’re basically stealing the land and I prefer to call it the Genesis Project,” Butler said. “It’s a new life and a new beginning for people.”

He said the relationships with organizations in Mexico have really flourished, but the endeavor of taking a big group and supplies to another country can come with difficulties such as fees after declaring all of their supplies to customs.

The ministry has run into other problems such as weather conditions making the dirt roads difficult to drive on or violence that makes volunteers hesitant to cross the border.

But Butler said the partnerships and support he has gathered throughout the decades have helped ease that process and make everything possible.

Butler said the church tries to help with all the needs of the communities in Mexico.

A couple of months ago, more than 200 people living in the Genesis Project were infected with lice and the church was called on to help treat it.

“We really try to administer to the needs no matter how bad they are or how unpleasant they might be,” Butler said.

While the group is there for the Big Feed event, Butler said they will also be working on building six small homes.

A small structure with cement block and a tin roof costs less than $2,000 but provides a safe and dry space for the families to live in.

“A lot of the houses over there don’t have doors and don’t have windows,” Butler said. “They just have a piece of cloth. So we try to build houses for those living in the worst shacks.”