AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — The Baptist General Convention of Texas and Buckner International are partnering to create the first nationwide effort for local, church-based ministry to help immigrants become U.S. citizens.
Through their new Immigration Service and Aid Center, the two Baptist groups plan to help congregations across the country find training to start government-accredited immigration centers that help individuals become citizens.
The aid center will also help churches and individual leaders gain government accreditation. Accreditation enables churches to help immigrants prepare immigration forms and, under certain circumstances, represent them in court.
“The church has a biblical mandate to speak up on behalf of the alien and stranger in this country,” said Suzii Paynter, director of the BGCT's Christian Life Commission. “We believe the best way to do this is through the proper legal channels set forth by the United States.”
The announcement came June 25 during the Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas, the largest gathering of Hispanic Baptists in the United States.
Services of the center also will include assistance in obtaining basic immigration-law training; clergy-citizenship assistance; immigration-ministry-center development; and education and information for churches.
Albert Reyes, president of Buckner Children and Family Services, said helping immigrants helps his organization improve the lives of at-risk children and families. “Immigrant families face tremendous challenges that put stress on their homes,” Reyes said. “This ministry helps immigrant families stay together and strengthen their homes for children.”
Buckner International, founded as a Baptist ministry in 1879, ministers to orphans, at-risk children, families and senior adults through residential and community programs. Based in Dallas and affiliated with the BGCT, Buckner now has an annual budget of $65 million and ministries in four states and eight foreign countries.
Reyes added that local churches are the key to the success and growth of the center.
“We have more than 5,500 Texas Baptist churches,” he said. “That makes our convention one of the largest networks in the state and gives us direct access to people who need this ministry.”
The new center is part of the BGCT's immigration ministry. Through the Baptist Immigration Services Network, the convention has helped seven churches seek government accreditation to start immigration centers and has answered questions for churches in Florida, New York, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Two Texas Baptist congregations already have immigration centers — one in McKinney and one in San Antonio.
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