VALLEY FORGE, PA (11/19/15)—American Baptist Women’s Ministries announces an immigration immersion experience to Mexico and California for women, February 28-March 5, 2016. This trip is co-facilitated by Bonnie Sestito, Coordinator of Mission with Women and Girls, American Baptist Women’s Ministries, and Ray Schellinger, missionary with International Ministries.

The seven-day experience will include visits to both sides of the Mexico/U.S. border wall and border patrol, and conversations with those who have been deported or turned away at the border, as well as a stay at Deborah’s House, a shelter for abused women and children in Tijuana, Mexico, Additionally, participants will experience the beauty of the culture in the locale of Tijuana and build relationships with one another and those they meet as part of the immersion.

Participants will explore many facets of immigration concerns through the activities of the experience as well as dialogue with one another, worship, and prayer. Critical in this election year in the United States, participants will be equipped to return to their communities at home and educate others on how U.S. immigration policy has impact upon women, men, and children in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America.

“The genesis for this women’s immersion experience grew out of the work of the ABC Immigration Task Force, of which our organization is a part,” explained Virginia Holmstrom, ABWM Executive Director. “AB Women’s Ministries is concerned in particular for women and children who face extraordinary risks of exploitation when they flee toward the U.S. for refuge. We decided to offer to American Baptist women and girls a chance to meet with refuge-seekers and hear firsthand their attempts to find safety in the U.S. Such learning through personal encounters and in the context of Christian community and biblical reflection can transform attitudes and behaviors, invigorate advocacy for the vulnerable, and, in a presidential election year, motivate the reform of U.S. immigration policy to lean toward Isaiah 1:7, which compels nations to ‘learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.’”

For information and registration to participate in AB Women’s Ministries immigration immersion experience in 2016, visit www.abwministries.org. The registration deadline is December 31st, 2015.

American Baptist Women’s Ministries is a Christ-centered ministry with a commitment to encourage and empower women and girls to serve God.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with more than 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.