MESA — This week a number of migrants have already arrived at Iglesia Cristiana El Buen Pastor, a church in Mesa.
As Title 42 expires the church is expecting many more.
“Maybe we’ll receive 80 people per day,” Pastor Hector Ramirez told ABC15 about how they are preparing.
“Last time other people helped me. Right now, I need to help other people,” Ramirez said.
He says each week dozens of migrants are dropped at their doorsteps where they can find shelter, clothes, food and water.
“Thank God we got here. The people are very nice, good people, I’m very thankful to them,” Estefania told ABC15 through a translator.
She traveled from Ecuador with her 7-year-old son and 6-month-old daughter. She feared for their safety if they stayed at home due to rising crime rates.
“I had to leave. They were going to kill me. That’s why I fled my country. Hope to get a better future for my kids. Keep going for them,” Estefania said. “It’s very difficult there. The president doesn’t do anything to criminals. He allows them to kidnap children. Their crimes are not punished.”
She says she and her family traveled through a river and spent three days in a cell before arriving in Mesa.
“My kids gave me strength to keep moving forward," she said.
The church is looking for more volunteers and more donations, whether it is money, food or clothing, to help them accommodate more people and spread God’s love.
“We have right now food. We have right now house. We have right now clothes. These people don’t have that,” Ramirez said.
