Nan Nasser
On March 28 fourteen participants from Mountain Shadows Presbyterian Church spent the day on a mission trip to Agua Prieta, Mexico, to learn more about Just Coffee and the ministry of Frontera de Cristo which meets the physical and emotional needs of migrants.
Jocabed Gallegos, the Frontera de Cristo coordinator, met the group in Bisbee and chauffeured them in a 15 passenger van to the Border Patrol Station in Douglas. There was a tour of that facility followed by a question and answer period.
Next stop was the Just Coffee Roaster facility which houses offices, a reception room and roasting and shipping areas. Just Coffee is a cooperative of coffee growers in southern Mexico and has been so successful that the growers and their families have been able to remain in their communities and make a living without the need to migrate. Our 14 participants learned about different coffee beans, that the discarded pulp makes excellent mulch and the process is small enough to insure that each bean is roasted properly.
Lunch was served at Lily of the Valley Presbyterian Church and included the best chile rellenos in the world! The food was prepared by women from Douglas Prieta Trabanjan, a community gardening project.
The final stop was at the Migrant Resource Center at the border with more opportunities for questions and answers. Following Biblical reflection at the border fence, the group returned to Tucson. Participants included Sandy and Bruce Bailey, Dan and Linda Linegar, Eleanor and Tom Geiger, Sherry and George Gregg, Bob and Irene Camp, Sis Jones, Freja Cranston, Cassi Fraley and Elizabeth Houle-Nelson. You may know many of these SaddleBrooke residents; ask them for more stories.
MSPC is located at 14240 N. Oracle Road and Just Coffee is available following Sunday Services. If you wish more information contact the Camps at 818-0504, www.mountainshadowschurch.org.