We are delighted to welcome Sr. Nora Ruiz, who is a children’s advocate and the volunteer coordinator at the La Posada Providencia shelter in San Benito, TX. She is a Sister of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, a vocation which she came to later in life. Sr. Nora shares the motivations for entering a religious order at 55 years old, which was a big change in direction for her life. She also talks about witnessing the change in direction of migrants, as the shelter has not been receiving north-bound migrants who have come to the U.S. this year since access to the country for asylum seekers has been eliminated. Instead, the shelter has started to accompany a few families in processes of self deportation to return to their home countries, which is a difficult decision for a family to make, and much more complicated to do than one would expect.
Brian and Joe share stories from their own ministry about changes of direction. Brian talks about Karen, a single mother with two kids who had their appointment for legal entry to the U.S. canceled in January. After waiting months to see if there would be a change in border policy to create a legal pathway for them, Karen was left to make a difficult decision about what direction to take her family: separating herself from her kids or returning home. Joe shares the story of Yaquelin, a young woman from Honduras, who made a different change of direction. She was given a scholarship to attend a beauty school in Mexico, and she took advantage to expand her skill base. In fact, she was even looking for people to practice nail care on, and she found someone on our team who was willing to let her practice. Can you guess who got their first manicure?