The work being done by CrossRoads Missions‘ Immigration Relief Fund is ongoing, but the church that has been used as a shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, is in need of emergency repairs. The host church, Torre de Refugio, needs a septic system installed as soon as possible.

Amanda Rodriguez, CrossRoads’ Director of Operations in Mexico, explained that the church is more than 100 years old and the influx of refugees overwhelmed the septic tank.

“It takes about two days before sewage starts to seep back up the pipes and through the ground in the courtyard,” she said. “There was sewage waste everywhere.”

As a result of the difficulties, neither the toilets nor the showers in the church are functional. Residents are forced to use a restroom across the street and bathe outside in an area set up between sheets on a clothesline. The church needs to have the existing septic tank emptied completely, then filled in and piped to the exterior of the compound to a newly constructed register that has been connected to the city sewer system in Piedras Negras. This will cost roughly $2,000 to see through completion.

Once this sewage issue is resolved, we believe that the available facilities for Tower of Refuge will operate as smoothly as possible. All this, while the immigration relief fund continues to see its work expand. In our last update from Piedras Negras, we reported that more than 500 immigrants seeking asylum had come to Piedras Negras. Rodriguez described the flow of arrivals as “steady”, and that the existing shelter at the church “continues to operate beyond its capacity.”

Rodriguez noted that the traveling mission groups who come to Piedras Negras engage in outreach activities with the shelter, delivering meals and spending time with the current residents.

If you’d like to help the church receive the repairs it needs so desperately, you can make a donation here. The Immigration Relief Fund also remains in constant need of food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries.

Donations of supplies can be sent to:
CrossRoads Missions
2014 – C E. Main Street
Eagle Pass, TX 78852