Video: Lupita Marquez

Despite the Rio Grande’s unmistakable capacity to both give and strip away life, there is yet a more formidable power in Hidalgo County, Texas, and it flows from within. It is a mighty current of resilience, propelling you toward more than fields and dollars, toward another semester of English classes, toward finally earning your GED, toward the purpose and passion that God has placed inside of you, toward a new opportunity to grow, to thrive and to find home once again.

This series in the “Resilient Rural America” project is part of the BNG Storytelling Projects Initiative. Has the United States forgotten its countryside? What strength and resilience may yet be stirring outside our city limits? In “Resilient Rural America,” we attempt to answer these questions when we visit these unique communities to examine the singular nature of poverty in rural America and tell the stories of development among its courageous and resilient people.

Read more in the Hidalgo County, TX series:

Along the Texas-Mexico border, overcoming poverty requires spiritual liberation

A Mexican immigrant’s harrowing rise from poverty in Hidalgo County, Texas

Hidalgo County, Texas: A Mighty Current

Photo Gallery: Hidalgo County Texas

Video: Diann Berry on Education

Video: Diann on Literacy Center Success Story

Video: Lupita Marquez

Video: Eloy Mendiola

Video: Aracely

Audio: Eloy Mendiola (coming soon)

Related commentary at baptistnews.com:

On immigration, Franklin Graham is dead wrong | Mark Wingfield

The day life changed for a legal immigrant — and his church | Lauren Efird

Related news at baptistnews.com:

Engaging the immigration debate: Ethicist, pastor differ on New Sanctuary Movement

Border wall, immigration among top concerns for Hispanic Baptists, leader says

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Seed money to launch our Storytelling Projects initiative and our initial series of projects has been provided through generous grants from the Christ Is Our Salvation Foundation and the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation. For information about underwriting opportunities for Storytelling Projects, contact David Wilkinson, BNG’s executive director and publisher, at [email protected] or 336.865.2688.

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