Imagine living in a place for as far back as you can remember, doing something shady, serving time in prison to correct your wrongdoings, and thereafter being forced to go to a place you never knew but allegedly “belong”. It happens everyday. According to the US government, 369,000 “immigrants” were deported to their country of origin last year alone. 60% of deportations are linked to criminal convictions. Here in El Salvador, 21,602 “immigrants” have been deported from the US just in 2013 alone. I use immigrants in quotations because technically, all of our ancestors migrated to the US from a different country at some point (with the exception of my maternal Grandmother’s ancestors). Nevertheless, that is for another blog post. 
Anyway…
Last Saturday, my team and I helped our missionary contact organize and throw a BBQ for some members of an intramural flag football league. Several of these football teams consist of El Salvadoran men who grew up in the US, were convicted of a crime, became ex-cons and then were deported back. The BBQ was thrown to end the football season and more importantly, to continue to establish deep relationships with these men to point them to Christ. Our contacts have established a church called Hungry– the church for non-church people. It is their desire to see these men and their families (some who are new to the faith) hunger for God and hear about Him in real ways. It’s a genius idea and I was glad to sit and talk to these men and hear their stories. Some still have family in the US they can only see if they come to El Salvador because they are not allowed to enter the US again. It was hard for me to see some of the pain on their faces. It has to be hard to live as an ex-con whether in the US or anywhere else in the world. I have seen many of us treat people as outcasts because of their wrong doings, however, we all have more in common with these men and women than we think.
I have a lot of ex’s and I’m not just talking about men. I am an ex-fornicator, ex-liar, ex-judger… and the list goes on and on and on. If we want to be real, we are all ex’s of something. But, I didn’t do time for any of my “crimes” and I’m sure most of you reading this haven’t, either. Jesus paid it all and served time on the cross for all of us. I am forgiven from my transgressions and I pray these men all know they are also exculpable no matter what the world says. It is through Him, we are set free.
The world condemns, forsakes and forgets us when we have done something blameworthy but God hasn’t forgotten us. He hasn’t forsaken us and He certainly hasn’t condemned us despite all of our sin… in fact, He loves us all the more so we can return to him through Christ.
Sometimes, it’s easy for me to glance over certain issues I have not experienced peronally. Being in El Salvador has opened my eyes to things I couldn’t have imagined if I tried. Please say a prayer for all of those men and women who are torn away from their families each year due to deportations.
XOXO,
Belle
