"To bring the members of Hispanic Churches of Christ in Nashville together into one community"

Classes, activities for kids, food, fireworks

From Lipscomb University:

Lipscomb University’s 2008 Summer Celebration lecture series, July 2-4, will feature a track of classes held completely in Spanish. Local Hispanic church leaders hope the July gathering can serve as a catalyst to bring the members of Hispanic Churches of Christ in Nashville together into one community.

The Spanish-language classes will follow the same theme as the overall lecture series: “Bringing Stones to Life: Nehemiah’s Call for Courage, Passion and Revival.” The keynote speakers for the event will include Jose Gregorio Nieto, minister at Brewer Road Iglesia de Cristo (Church of Christ) in Winston Salem, N.C., and Carlos Preciado, a full-time missionary for the past three and a half years.

The daily programs are not just for adults. Fun children and teen activities such as devotionals, classes, games and service projects will keep the kids busy all day, and a professional fireworks display, live entertainment and plenty of family fun and food will end the annual festival of faith and fellowship.

July 4 activities start at 4:30 p.m. with a picnic and Kid’s Zone; a community worship begins at 6:30 p.m. and fireworks are expected to begin around 9 p.m.

Nieto’s Brewer Road Iglesia de Cristo is one of the fastest growing congregations in North Carolina. He is part of a team of preachers that travels throughout the U.S. and Latin America, strengthening congregations by presenting leadership seminars, gospel meetings, and in-depth Bible studies to prepare men and women to be better equipped to serve their local congregations.

Nieto has been a full-time minister for eleven years. He graduated from the Harding School of Biblical Studies and received a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Ministry. He has been involved in mission trips to establish new congregations in Spain and Mexico.

Preciado has been a full-time missionary for the past three and a half years. They have been working with the Griffin Road Church of Christ in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.. His focus is personal evangelism, and he frequently leads Bible studies with families, young adults and teenagers during the week.

He graduated from East Tennessee State University. In 2001 he and his wife Maribel enrolled in the Atlantic International Bible Institute, a branch of Sunset International Bible Institute, where they graduated in December 2004. During that time, the couple were serving their home church in Hialeah, Fla., working with the youth, and with a new Spanish ministry in Naples, Fla.

Labels: education, events, faith, spanish

"Nothing in their life to look forward to ... until now"

From Mick Antanaitis, in the Belmont Church "Plog":

Triqui Indians in the state of Oaxaca have the reputation of being an ornery, reclusive, emotionally explosive, and, even violent, people. They fight. They fight with each other—other Triqui clans, villages, and political parties. They fight with other indigenous tribes. They fight with the police and the authorities. They fight with machetes, knives, arson fires, and guns. Just a few weeks ago, two young female Triqui political activists were killed nearby in cold blood. Many other killings are long unsolved. No one talks to outsiders. There is no need. They take care of their own business in their own ways.

“Outsiders” and their influences are generally not tolerated for long. It is not just Christian missionaries who have been run out of their areas, but all kinds of “outsiders.” The gospel has not penetrated very far into the Triqui culture—not from a lack of great trying on the part of some heroic missionaries from all kinds of places and over a long period of time. But it has been tough for the gospel to find the fertile soil that we know exists somewhere among the Triqui people.

However, something new, and incredible, is afoot. At least these 20-25 Triquis are defying the conventional notion that the Triquis will likely remain unresponsive to the message of God found in the Bible for all people. When asked why they come 45 minutes before the 8:00 start time, the elderly couple who arrive first say that for so many, many years they had nothing in their lives that they looked forward to—nothing. But now, they can’t wait for Sunday morning to come. They start thinking about and preparing for the journey on Friday. They can’t wait to fellowship with the others, to enjoy a hot breakfast together provided by their parent Mixteco Indian congregation, to sing songs in their Triqui language, to have the Bible read aloud in Triqui, to have the word taught and explained, to have a safe place to encounter Jesus, to meet other members of the family of God who speak Mixteco, Spanish, and, today, English.

From InTheseTimes.com:

For centuries, the small Triqui indigenous region — a 300 square-mile green oasis situated in the middle of the dry and eroded indigenous Mixteca region of western Oaxaca — has been known for endemic violence. The Triquis resisted Spanish colonial incursions and, in 1823, were the first indigenous people to rise up against the independent Mexican state, successfully beating back an attempt to evict them from their land.

After the Triquis were victorious in defending their territory in two wars — one in 1823, the other in 1843 — the Mexican government decided to shift its approach from direct, armed confrontation to a divide-and-conquer strategy, says Francisco L — pez Bárcenas, a Mixtec indigenous lawyer, historian and author of the forthcoming, San Juan Copala: Political Domination and Popular Resistance.

From the late 19th century to the present, internal divisions in the Triqui region, fomented by the state government, have led to cycles of political killings and massacres.

Labels: english, faith, mexico, spain, spanish

Overbrook student and columnist's late mother among donors

$400,000 loan from diocese keeps doors open, donations still needed

"More than a church ... a refuge"

"My friend goes to that church and I wanted her to be able to keep going there"

By TIM CHÁVEZ
for HispanicNashville.com

For 6-year-old Elizabeth, the answer to the question about giving to save Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville was simple:

I wanted to send money because I wanted to help the church. I had saved money from the tooth fairy and from cleaning out the car so I wanted to help the people at the church. I know God would appreciate that. My friend goes to that church and I wanted her to be able to keep going there.

For 81-year-old Vita Hernandez Chávez, the answer was a matter of honoring a central figure of her faith and culture.

Mary the Mother of God, in her only appearance in this hemisphere, blessed this world with her presence over four days in December 1531 to an Indian man, Juan Diego. He had been widowed from his wife, cared for his sick uncle and survived the Spanish Conquest that butchered tens of thousands of indigenous people. St. Juan Diego also survived the local Aztecs, who sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives for years in worship of a serpent God.

Into this evil, Our Lady of Guadalupe with her dark skin appeared at a hilltop wasteland five miles north of Mexico City.

She promised to be a protectress. And as Pope John Paul II noted almost five centuries later, her appearance was meant to unite the European and indigenous people. The Spaniards came to Mexico and the New World at the direction of Spain's Queen Isabella. And Vita as a Mexican-American was descended from Juan Diego and the indigenous people.

So within weeks of one another, Elizabeth from Overbrook School gave all she had, $7, and Vita from her Oklahoma City nursing home bed gave $7,000 -- both sums to keep open Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville. One inspired the other. And Europe and Mexico were united by Our Lady of Guadalupe according to John Paul's vision.

For the past 45 days, raising funds to save Our Lady's has been difficult approaching a June 30 deadline to pay off the church's debt in an economic recession. But the miraculous acts of giving like those of Elizabeth and Vita have inspired advocates onward.

Sunday, Father Fernando Garcia and parishoners of Our Lady's hosted Nashville, opening their doors Sunday afternoon to give tours and cook food for more than 100 Anglo brothers and sisters united by a love for Our Lady of Guadalupe and her son, Jesus Christ. One set of people had given and one set had of people received, and they showed off the marvelous things they have done with this investment. With their own sweat, they've refurbished the former Baptist church and molded young minds in the faith of generations since St. Juan Diego. Incredible.

And to see the pride on these Hispanic faces was priceless and worth so much more to the heart than the despair in fearful faces being deported and harrassed.

Sadly, Nashville's Big Three TV news media weren't present, at least from what I could see, and from watching early evening newscasts. How sad and telling. If an undocumented worker been arrested, or immigration officials had conducted another raid of a worpklace, or some fool in Spring Hill was protesting his son's class singing a national hymn in Spanish as a class project, or some silly politician and his narrow-minded friends propose a ridiculous referendum about the obvious of speaking English but the unnecessary hate of a mandate or someone had complained about Electrolux in Springfield hiring undocumented workers, then the stories would have led the newscasts..

Ironically, NewsChannel 5's anchor on Sunday was reporter Scott Arnold, who used several days of airtime to chronicle the wrongs of Electrolux and undocumented workers and their families on the pitiful souls of native folks in Springfield. Yet Arnold apparently couldn't bother to drive only a few miles to Our Lady's and bring a camera for a few seconds of Hispanics in a positive light on Sunday evening's newscast.

Positive news about Hispanics and amazing stories of giving across ethnicities aren't considered newsworthy. Instead, we have to hear about a Titan player being arrested for DUI and people being killed on a railroad and a Goodlettsville man stabbing his roommates.

God help us. No wonder people are deserting the mainstream news media. Mr. Arnold, people want stories of hope, and you and your colleagues missed a big story of hope -- and achievement over adversity -- Sunday afternoon. Don't complain that you didn't know. If you didn't know, then you are either not trusted by the Hispanic community to be fair or you're not interested in being connected to a people who live just a few miles from your station.

It is your viewers' great loss, because Elizabeth inspired Vita and vice versa. Elizabeth's Spanish teacher told her students about the plight of Our Lady's and Hispanic families in Nashville from reading my column on John Lamb's provocative website, the Hispanic Nashville Notebook. The column included mention of Vita's initial gift of $3,000 to Our Lady in honor of her marriage to Natalio Chavez more than five decades ago at a church of the same name in a Topeka, KS, barrio.

So on the last day of school, Elizabeth brought $7 from her piggybank and gave it to her teacher. Elizabeth left a lot of adults on the Dominican Campus in tears with the purity of her gift. In honoring Our Lady, she also answered Pope Benedict's appeal to Americans to protect our immigrant brothers and sisters.

Our Lady's in Nashville is the largest Catholic church in the diocese and Tennessee, says the Rev. Joe Pat Breen, pastor of nearby St. Edward Catholic Church. The good people of Our Lady's have contributed to save their church -- almost $75,000 -- while still supporting daily operations, staff and services to the community.

Parishoners at nearby St. Edward keep giving $3,000 to $4,000 per week for a total of more than $300,000 over the past year.

The effort to create Our Lady's is the dream of Father Breen. It was made possible through the generosity of the late Rev. Paul Durham's family that offered the land and buildings for less a third of their appraised value. Breen and Durham were good friends. Finally, it took the generosity of three local Catholics who put up the $1.5 million a year ago to allow time for fundraising. They've also paid an additional $70,000 in interest costs over the past 12 months. Those three Catholics come from St. Henry's, The Cathedral and Christ the King. They're being repaid so they can spread their giving to others in need.

Our Lady's is more than a church, or a "temple" as to the Holy Mother's wishes almost five centuries ago. It is a place of refuge for a people beset by politics and demonization from the heinous 287(g) deportation program enacted by Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall and supported by U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Within Our Lady's walls, no one is a stranger and love and compassion are unconditional. As the greatest American in our history -- the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- said: "Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."

I realize my African-American brothers and sisters in Nashville know what it is like to mistreated and persecuted and your good news ignored by the mainstream news media. Let us join in our suffering and support one another in pursuit of justice for all. Perhaps we can do it in the upcoming general election. We'll come to your churches or host you in ours; we're united by the same God and cause.

For Our Lady's, we're still $400,000 short of the goal of $1.5 million to pay off the church's debt by June 30. Just to get to this point, besides the giving of Elizabeth and Vita, we have been very blessed. A stunning $100,000 donation came from St. Philip Catholic Church in Franklin and the good Father Kirk. Holy Family Catholic Church and the good Father Alberts in Brentwood gave $25,000 despite being in the middle of their own building project. God bless both congregations.

How that's for crossing county and ethnic lines as Our Lady of Guadalupe promised?

The good sisters at the Dominican Campus in Nashville have given $500. And they are the ones who are educating Elizabeth, besides her fine parents.

In these last seven days, we will be saying more prayers and asking for more miracles of giving. And we will remember Our Lady's words, as taken from the website www.guadalupeshrine.org:

Am I not here, I who am your mother? Are you not in my shadow, under my protection? Am I not the fountain of your joy? Are you not in the fold of my mantle, in my crossed arms? Is there anything else you need?

Father Breen has successfully talked with the diocese to make a loan available to Our Lady's after June 30. Technically, Our Lady's is now saved. But it is not the best situation. The good people at Our Lady's really do not earn enough for the church to pay for its operations and social services -- and pay off a $400,000 loan each month. That's why we are praying over these last seven days for more gifts from $7 to $7,000 to make the loan payment more affordable.

Catholic Charities under the leadership of Nashville attorney Gregg Ramos will be opening an office at Our Lady's. That's positive news to start these last seven days. In the coming week, we must not fail extraordinary people of faith such as Elizabeth, 6, and Vita, 81.

In the early morning hours of June 7, on her mother's birthday, Vita Hernandez Chavez slipped away in her sleep under the watch of Our Lady to be reunited with her three sisters and Mama in heaven. Her devotion was rewarded.

She is missed desperately by those who adored her, including me, her son. She remains a marvelous mother and friend, who got me involved in political writing.

Her faith and devotion to Our Lady also remain alive in Elizabeth, who by God's grace and loving parents has many more decades of giving to inspire.

With Vita gone on to her eternal reward, Elizabeth now looks to us and how we will respond to their gifts from the heart. For these two marvelous souls from different cultures but one love of God, please consider giving to Our Lady's and build on the miracles of hope and faith for a better Nashville and world.

(Tim Chávez was a political columnist for 10 years with The Tennnessean newspaper in Nashville. For the past five years, he has been a regular contributor of political commentary to Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C. and distributed over the Scripps-Howard News Service. He publishes a new political blog, Political Salsa, at politicalsalsa.com)

FOR OUR LADY's and ELIZABETH and VITA:

* Go to www.stedward.org. On the left side of the home page is a box labeled "Our Lady's". Click there and you can view a presentation about the church. Or you can go directly to a credit card form to donate.

* If you want to use mail, send your contributions to St. Edward Catholic Church, 188 Thompson Lane, Nashville, TN 37211. On a bottom corner of the envelope, write "For Our Lady's".

* Checks should be made out to St. Edward Catholic Church but put "Our Lady of Guadalupe" in the "memo" part of the check.

* If you would like someone to come to your organization or place of worship to speak about Our Lady's and answer questions, please e-mail me at timchavez787@yahoo.com. I'll be there at any time, day or place, for Catholics or non-Catholics, believers or non-believers. All are good people.

* If you can't give, you have our prayers that God will bless you in your difficult times. Remember, Our Lady of Guadalupe is there for you, too.

Photo of Virgin by Chris Short. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Photo of Elizabeth courtesy of her mother Carolyn and also of Overbrook School; Photo of Vita Chávez courtesy of Tim Chávez

Labels: 287g, faith, spanish, statistics

Nashville-based Musico a Musico, which conducts musician training for Spanish-speaking Christians around the world, will be starting a Spanish-language Worshiping Arts Academy in Nashville in conjunction with the Allegro Institute.

From the Musico a Musico blog:

The registration started for the Allegro Institute in Nashville, TN, the classes are Schedule to start Saturday July 12. There are many already signed up, and many interested and planning on registering. In Nashville, Allegro Institute will start this with a very important partnership with Músico a Músico in the city of Nashville. MaM is a ministry dedicated to have Congresos of praise, worship, and arts in different cities in the Latin world. The Allegro Institute is joining efforts with MaM to start this program in Nashville. We believe that this union and the classes from Allegro Institute/Músico a Músico in the city of Nashville, TN will be the beginning of a long project for both institutions.

The Director of Instituto Allegro/Músico a Músico in Nashville is Rachel Vasquez who has been working hard to have every detail ready for the start of the classes.

Labels: arts, faith, spanish

"Fundamental right" restored

Davidson County Clerk forever holds his peace, at least for now

The Tennessean reports here that a state law that requires proof of immigration status to get a marriage license is an overreaching into the "fundamental right" of people to marry each other, at least according to the Tennessee Attorney General and the Davidson County Clerk.

The Tennessean says that the bride-to-be at the heart of the story, Nashville lawyer Vanessa Saenz, sued Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen on April 21, challenging the Tennessee law that was the basis of the Davidson County Clerk's refusal to issue Saenz a certificate to marry "the man of her choice." The Tennessee Attorney General then issued an opinion siding with Saenz - echoing federal courts going back to 1967 that have said that the government cannot use certain reasons to restrict the individual right to marry. The Davidson County Clerk reversed its policy in light of the TN AG decision, and because Saenz was no longer barred from marrying the "man of her choice," the State of Tennessee moved for dismissal of Saenz's litigation against Governor Bredesen.

Theresa Harmon of Tennesseans for Responsible Immigration Policy told the Tennessean that she's "had to do some hard soul-searching on these kinds of issues." (Another comment from Harmon framed the immigration debate as a fight for legitimacy; see this post from Nashville blogger Aunt B.)

Prior to the Saenz case, Nashville congregations with unvisaed churchgoers had organized trips to Kentucky to wed, since the Bluegrass State did not have the immigration-related barriers that were found here in Tennessee. The Tennessean reports that last year, for example, St. Edward Catholic Church "coordinated a trip for 20 mostly Hispanic couples to obtain marriage licenses and legally wed in Kentucky, where clerks don't require immigration-related paperwork. [Rev. Joseph] Breen then married them in the church when they returned." (Question - could driving the couples to Kentucky have constituted a federal crime?)

Update 5/28/08: As a result of the AG position, "[a]ll Tennessee counties were told Tuesday they must follow Davidson County's lead and begin issuing marriage licenses to would-be brides and grooms without regard to their immigration status," according to this story in the Tennessean.

Photo by Tim Forbes. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, immigrants, justice

Torres: son of Peruvian immigrants, 3.9 GPA at Austin Peay, Purple Heart and Bronze Star

Espaillat: came to Maury County from Dominican Republic, honors at Spring Hill HS, enlisted week before 9/11

This Memorial Day, the Hispanic Nashville Notebook remembers two Hispanic servicemen who came to Tennessee before their names were added to the lists of the fallen:

Army Lt. Richard Torres was the first Austin Peay ROTC graduate killed in combat since the school began the program in 1971. ... Torres grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, the son of Peruvian immigrants Dora and Gulian Torres, and during his childhood he discovered his interest in military service. ... The Rev. Antonio Rodriguez, pastor at Holy Trinity Church, performed the liturgy in both English and Spanish for those who had traveled from Tennessee, Texas and Peru to pay their final respects. ... entered the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., where Torres got a three-year scholarship and maintained a 3.9 grade-point average. ... "His dream was to retire in the military and get his master's and teach at West Point. He said he wasn't going to stop until he got his doctorate. He said, 'Watch, one day, I'll be the president of the United States.' " ... Richard Torres was posthumously honored with a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star

Air Force Senior Airman Pedro I. Espaillat Jr. came to Maury County in 1993 with his mother and two brothers from the Dominican Republic. His father, an assembly worker at Saturn Corp., had arrived about three years earlier. ... a 2001 honors graduate at Spring Hill High School ... chose to enlist ... one week before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Labels: dominican republic, english, faith, immigrants, peru, spanish

Surgery, Spanish majors, call to missions result from visits to Central American nation

The Nashville City Paper reported here about Escarleth Betancourt-Gutierrez, a 15-year-old Honduran girl, and her spinal surgery in Nashville courtesy of support from Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Dr. James Netterville, Dr. Greg Mencio, and Harpeth Hills Church of Christ:

Netterville discovered Escarleth’s condition two years ago and pulled strings to bring her to Nashville. Dr. Greg Mencio performed the spinal surgery for free and Netterville’s congregation donated the $5,000 for materials needed to perform the procedure.

Young members of the Harpeth Hills congregation have been inspired by their trips to Honduras, according to this report by proud grandfather Bailey McBride:

Savanna and her brother, Luke, have gone to Honduras since he was 16 and she was 13. They immediately made a connection with the children of Jovenes en Camino, an orphanage near Tegucigalpa. Through the years, they have strengthened their connections in Honduras. Both have studied Spanish in high school. Luke has recently returned from a Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica and will graduate from college with a Spanish major. Savanna will go to college this fall with five years of high school Spanish and plans to major in Spanish and prepare for a life of missions.

Photo: Escarleth Betancourt-Gutierrez and her mother (source: Vanderbilt Children's Hospital)

Labels: costa rica, faith, health, honduras, spanish

"I no longer find my identity in my music anymore."

Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) artists Jaci Velasquez and Nic Gonzalez recently gave this joint interview to Christian Music Today. Velasquez is a popular CCM solo artist, and Gonzalez is the lead singer of the band Salvador.

The two married on December 17, 2006, and this interview focuses on how their relationship so far, dubbing them as "young Latin lovers." The couple lives in Nashville and gave birth to a son, Zealand David Gonzales, on November 3, 2007.

From the interview:

Jaci, you've been at the top of the charts for a long time and a favorite in Christian pop. Have the aspirations changed for you now that you're a mother?

Velasquez: My career, my ministry is all important, though I no longer find my identity in my music anymore. My identity is now in my relationship with God and my two boys. That's what I love the most, though I still love making music. And Zealand loves me making music—[I could tell when] he was in my tummy making the [latest] record. He would wake up in my stomach, and to soothe him, I would have to sing. He would also get really upset if someone was singing off key on the TV or something. So I'd sing to him and it would soothe him and he'd listen to me. Now he's still the same way—when his mommy or his daddy sing, it soothes him. It's really sweet.

It made for a different experience making a record, putting things into perspective. It used to be that I would remember what was going on in my life by the record that I was doing at the time. The reality of it was [my life] was only based around that. Making music is a big part of my life, but it's just not my life.

Nic, you're a lifelong Austin boy. What was it like making the move to Nashville?

Gonzalez: I don't want to speak ill of Nashville because it's a good city, but it's not Austin. My wife lives here, and I love my wife, so that made it easy. It was easier for us because we both have careers here and she just happens to have a couple of things going on a little bit more than I do. I was able to live in Austin to hide away from all of it, but Jaci's face is a little more identified with this area. She works more out of here, so it only made sense [to make the move].

Labels: arts, business, faith

Church officials push to retire building debt

"God has provided us with a new, young and church-going workforce"

By Tim Chavez

In his recent visit to our country, Pope Benedict XVI repeatedly asked that this nation and especially its Catholics reach out to the growing number of Hispanic immigrants.

In middle Tennessee, Catholics have an immediate and blessed opportunity to honor the pontiff's wishes. And the checks they'll be receiving in the mail from the federal government can be the stuff of making an ongoing miracle here a permanent inspiration and institution.

The Rev. Joseph Patrick Breen, pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church in Nashville, is starting a campaign to retire the debt of the Nashville diocese's only Hispanic Catholic Church, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Father Breen and his congregation have put the financial viability of their own parish and K-8 school on the line to make Our Lady of Guadalupe in Nashville a reality. It opened amid much celebration last December. But the church's future can only be secured if the debt incurred to open its doors can be retired by June.

Father Breen and the good people of St. Edward have so far raised $900,000 for the $1.5 million in debt. The diocese is not going to ride to the rescue. So this one congregation and this one priest have made it their responsibility to meet the needs of all of the Nashville area's Catholic Hispanics.

That's an incredible weight to carry. But Pope Benedict's plea to America's Catholics to help our growing immigrant population shows clearly that this responsibility should be shared by more than one parish and priest. And middle Tennessee Catholics and their parishes are fortunate to have Our Lady of Guadalupe available to make the kind of difference the Holy Father wants. While he surely appreciated all the waves and ovations during his visit, acting on his words would be the most fitting tribute.

Here is what has already happened at Our Lady's since it opened in December. About 5,000 Catholics crowd into the church for weekend masses. It is so crowded that St. Edward parish council member Sunny Brown stood out front on busy Nolensville Road to direct traffic.

"It is on its way to becoming the biggest Catholic church in the diocese," Brown told the St. Edward congregation at last Saturday's 5 p.m. mass. "Most of the families are less than 35 years of age. Many of the families are less than 25 years of age."

How blessed by God we Americans are. At a time when this nation is fastly aging as more and more baby boomers retire, God has provided us with a new, young and church-going workforce. The Social Security fund is supposed to go bankrupt by the year 2019 without congressional action. The fund would go bankrupt two years earlier if not for the payroll contributions of these new Hispanic workers, according to the Associated Press.

Some people, however, have decided to choose political sides concerning the growing Hispanic presence here. The people of St. Edward instead have simply chosen God's side as expressed by the pope in his visit.

Father Breen and his parish council and finance team are now asking parishoners to give all or part of their tax rebate checks they'll be receiving to retire Our Lady's debt. That's a lot to ask amid rising gas prices and a recession.

But there truly is good work ongoing at Our Lady's. Surrounding Hispanic businesses donate vats of food every week so that every churchgoer will be assured one complete meal a week on Sundays. English language classes and programs to familiarize newcomers to local laws and requirements are conducted. For instance, Father Breen and Father Fernando Garcia, Our Lady's pastor, have started a child car seat collection drive to make sure Hispanic families keep their young ones buckled up the right way.

What's transpiring at Our Lady's truly is a miracle. Where there was previously a Baptist church that was losing its congregation to the suburbs is now a thriving Catholic church in a revitalized urban setting of small and prosperous Hispanic businesses. But to ensure its future and to serve so many, its debt must be retired by a June deadline.

Please, consider being a part of this miracle. Your donation of a check can be made out to "Our Lady of Guadalupe Church". Send it to the attention of Father Breen at St. Edward Catholic Church, 188 Thompson Lane, Nashville, TN 37211.

Or you can sign on to the St. Edward Web site at www.stedward.org. On the left side of the opening page under "Main Menu" is a place to click on information about Our Lady of Guadalupe and a place to make a credit card donation.

More than 55 years ago, my mother married my father at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Topeka, Kan. It was a place of refuge and respect for Hispanic Catholics there and then, including my father and his four brothers who had just returned from World War II.

The need for refuge continues for a new set of immigrants and hopefully new Americans. Pope Benedict XVI has made the plea for them. And Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville is the place where middle Tennessee Catholics can honor the Holy Father's wishes.

Tim Chavez is a former political columnist for The Tennessean in Nashville. His mother, Vita H. Chavez of Oklahoma City, OK, made a $3,000 donation on Saturday to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville.

Tim can be reached at timchavez787@yahoo.com

Photo Copyright 2008 by Susan Adcock. Used with permission.

Labels: faith, immigrants

Tennessee was first state with seat belt law in 1978

72% of U.S. parents do not use car seats correctly

The Tennessean reports here that the Metro Nashville Police Department and St. Edwards Catholic Church are teaming up to provide car seat education to Hispanic members of the St. Edwards and Our Lady of Guadalupe congregations.

According to this article in the Murfreesboro Post, before 1978 there were no U.S. state laws requiring seat belt use, and Tennessee was the first state to pass one:

More than 30 years ago, Dr. Robert Sanders of Murfreesboro became a passionate advocate for child safety and led the effort to protect children while riding in automobiles. Senator Douglas Henry, the late Representative John Bragg and former Representative Mike Murphy sponsored legislation to make Tennessee the first state to require the use of safety seats for child passengers. The law became effective on January 1, 1978.

The Murfreesboro Post article also states that, nationwide, "72% of parents are not using car seats correctly."

Photo by Liam Ryan. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: education, faith, statistics

Bear-trap bureaucracy sparks statewide outpouring of support

One hour of silence and prayer

"Sold to the public as a way to take dangerous criminals off the streets"

No criminal charges

The Tennessean reported here that women from the recent immigration raids in Chattanooga are being held in Nashville awaiting possible deportation. According to this web page produced by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the detained Chattanooga women are held and will be processed for deportation without being charged with a crime.


Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Davidson County public defender Ivan Lopez was quoted in this front-page article in the Tennessean on Sunday as saying that a Nashville-ICE partnership program called 287(g) "was sold to the public as a way to take dangerous criminals off the street" but that "[i]n reality, what's happening is you are breaking up families." The 287(g) program and the Chattanooga raids have in common that ordinary people are being put through extraordinary suffering, primarily for regular work that has been made into an outlaw act.

The detentions are another example of how our immigration system isn't broken; it's a fully functioning bear trap for ordinary immigrants (see stories here and here).

A vigil for the detained women and their families will be held on Tuesday outside the Nashville detention center on Harding Place, in coordination with other vigils in Chattanooga and Memphis. Details about the vigils from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC):

VIGILS TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 29th in CHATTANOOGA, NASHVILLE, and MEMPHIS

Join us as we stand in solidarity with the workers affected by these inhumane acts.
Click here for more information

As many of you know, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) performed major raids across the country on April 16th, including one in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The raid in Tennessee—at a "Pilgrim's Pride" Poultry Processing plant—resulted in the arrest of 156 immigrants.

The raids have devastated Chattanooga's immigrant community, and have sent shock waves across the region.

Men in Georgia—women in Nashville. While it should be noted that 32 women who were identified as mothers were released on Thursday, families have still been torn apart and are struggling to reconnect. Immigrant rights groups across the region are attempting to assimilate a complete list of the workers detained. However, many workers are still missing and their locations remain unknown.

“The raids in the poultry processing plants in the southeast are disheartening and immoral. Even worse is the breaking up of families. We will pray for these women and their families."

Rev. Jeannie Hunter, Associate Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church.

“All workers and their families deserve being treated with dignity. The workers who are detained are victims of the employers and the broken immigration system. It is the federal immigration system that needs to be held accountable. The workers need their rights protected. ”

Megan Macaraeg with Jobs with Justice

Vigil for Worker Rights and Dignity
"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Vigils will be held in Memphis, Chattanooga, and Nashville.

Click here for printable flier.

When: Tuesday, April 29--- 6:00-7:00pm

Where: Harding Detention Facility (5115 Harding Place, Nashville TN 37211) where five women from Chattanooga raids are being held.


Join us as we stand on the sidewalk in silence and in prayer for an an hour. Organizers will provide signs with the MLK quote.
All people deserve to be treated with dignity.

Information on the Chattanooga and Memphis vigils will be available shortly.

Vigils, Forums, and Organizing has been made possible thanks to the hard work of the following organizations and individuals:
THANK YOU

Justice for Our Neighbors

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)—Elise Shore

La Paz de Dios—Sylvia Rangel and Stacy Johnson

St. Andrew's Center—Mike Feely

Coalicion de Lideres Latinos—America Gruner

ACLU of Tennessee—Tricia Herzfeld

The Steel Workers Union

Jobs with Justice

The many immigration attorneys throughout the state and beyond who have offered their advice and assistance throughout this emergency.

All the individuals who have given their time and energy towards helping the familes affected by the raids.

Labels: 287g, events, faith, immigrants, justice, statistics

Arrests in Chattanooga, some detained in Nashville

"We will pray for these women and their families"

"Not one good old anglo saxon name amongst them"

In the aftermath of recent, nationwide immigration raids that netted 300 arrests, some of which occurred in Chattanooga, with some of the arrestees being sent to Nashville for holding pending deportation, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) issued the following press release denouncing the practice. TIRRC Policy Director Stephen Fotopulos (and others) also condemned local immigration enforcement as too broad in this recent editorial.

The text of the press release is here:

Yesterday, while Pope Benedict XVI asked President George W. Bush for the humane treatment of immigrants in the United States, ICE raided Pilgrims Pride Chicken Plants across the nation. At the time when President Bush spoke about freedom in a ‘spirit of mutual respect,’ over one hundred and fifty immigrant workers were rounded up and subjected to detention and interrogation at the Pilgrims Pride chicken plant in Chattanooga. The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition denounces yesterday’s harsh raids and calls on ICE and President Bush to treat all people with dignity and respect.

"Rounding up hardworking parents and spouses and imprisoning them does not make this country stronger. Rather, it shatters families and sows fear, trauma and isolation, weakening the moral and social fabric of our society," said David Lubell, Director of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). “Let’s stop tearing families apart. Let’s be compassionate and stop this tragedy of separating parents from their children, and wives from their husbands. Instead, let’s have our federal government fix the broken immigration system” said Mr. Lubell.

Although hundreds of workers were rounded up at Pilgrim’s Pride yesterday, it should be noted that no one at the managerial or executive levels of the company were detained or even charged. In response to this disturbing double standard, Megan Macaraeg with Jobs with Justice had this to say: “Investigating unscrupulous hiring practices is one thing, but we don’t need to be punishing the workers for trying to support their families. All workers and their families deserve being treated with dignity,” Macaraeg said. “The workers who are detained are victims of the employers and the broken immigration system. It is the federal immigration system that needs to be held accountable. The workers need their rights protected, and the children need their parents back,” said Macaraeg.

Many in the Nashville community see the recent raids as morally reprehensible, and the wrong approach to addressing the immigration issue. “The raids in the poultry processing plants in the southeast are disheartening and immoral,” said Rev. Jeannie Hunter, Associate Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. “Even worse is the breaking up of families, mothers from their children, which is happening as a result. Christians should urge lawmakers to return children to their parents. We will pray for these women and their families,” said Rev. Hunter.

Local blogger Aunt B. recently lamented here the view expressed by Mack that American factories losing workers will lead to American suffering, and that

it’s going to take this suffering and more to get people to change their minds–that it’s going to take folks losing their nurseries or not having anyone to help them clean up after a tornado or businesses leaving or refusing to come here in order to get people to realize that, in their efforts to hurt others, they’re also hurting themselves.

It's similar to sentiment I expressed here in 2006 (with a favorable review by Kleinheider):

A thought for the executive branch in Tennessee and D.C.: enforce the laws to the letter until we Americans feel how harsh our immigration system is. As commentator Sean Brainsted said in a different context here, "The more that rich and powerful people are held accountable to the same laws that poorer people are, the more likely we are to get rid of ridiculous laws."

There are two categories of victims of current U.S. immigration policy. My comments and Mack's comments address what would happen when the people writing the laws feel the pain of full enforcement of those laws. Currently, the suffering of those subjected to the laws but not able to directly influence them is much more prevalent. It's only a matter of time before the misery strategy moves the Doomsday Clock to the time when we wake up and see how awful we have become.

If we are willing to listen, however, we can be inspired to change our laws without such suffering. From USA Today:

"The pope can't change the laws of our country," [Bishop Thomas] Wenski says. "Hopefully he will touch the hearts of many people in our country."

Judging by one of the comments following the editorial authored by Fotopulos, Renata Soto, Elliott Ozment, Gregg Ramos, Rick Casares and Salvador Guzman, however, we need some divine intervention:

Look at those names of contributors to the article. Not one good old anglo saxon name amongst them.

Photo by Ian Broyles. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, immigrants, justice, negativity

The Chattanooga Times Free Press notes in this article that Spanish Mass was a priority in Nashville at least 20 years ago:

The Rev. George E. Schmidt, pastor of Sts. Peter & Paul Church, said the then-Diocese of Nashville recognized the influx of immigrants more than 20 years ago when it assigned a priest to hold a monthly Spanish Mass in Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities.

Photo by Jerry "Woody". Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, spanish

Mexican-American, Greek Orthodox, Ukranian traditions

1,500 egg shells

The Tennessean posted this article describing a handful of egg-cracking Easter traditions on display in Nashville. A West Meade Palm Sunday party featured Mexican-American cascarones, or egg shells filled with confetti. More than 150 people cracked over 1,500 egg shells. From pictures of cascarones parties in other places (here and here), it looks like fun.

From the Tennessean:

As a little girl, Mona Tehle remembers making cascarones — confetti eggs — by hand every year with her family. Tehle, who is Mexican-American, grew up in Corpus Christi in South Texas.
...
Cascarones are made from standard chicken eggs; a hole is poked in one side and they're emptied and washed out. Once dry, the shells are filled with confetti. The hole is covered with a slip of tissue paper and glue and the outside, decorated. The process takes several days.

"On Easter, we'd get together with all our relatives and friends somewhere, have a big barbeque and run around and crack them on each other's heads — and your parents' heads, that's the big thing," said Tehle, who is married and has two sons ages 9 and 10.

In 2001, while living in Dallas, she decided to resurrect the practice as a way of sharing her heritage's Easter traditions with her sons. She continued the annual Easter fiesta when they moved to Nashville in 2004.

What started out as a small backyard get-together has since become a big West Meade neighborhood bash. On Palm Sunday, one week before Easter, Tehle's family welcomed 150 guests. There were two piñatas for the kids, margaritas for the adults and Mexican food for everyone. For the grand finale, Tehle had 1,500 cascarones trucked in from Texas for some grand egg cracking.

"I think people enjoy it because it's a real family event," she said. " . . . There's something for adults, and something for the kids. It's a unique event."

According to the Tennessean, other egg-cracking traditions in Nashville include the Greek Orthodox Church's tapping of red eggs together to see whose will break, with the greeting, "Christ is risen" and the response, "Truly, he is risen." And at St. Mary's Book Store and Church Supply on West End, there is an annual demonstration of the Ukranian egg-cracking game with hardboiled eggs.

Photo by Jessica Wilson. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, mexico

From Luke 24:46-47 (version - the Message):

"You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem!"

Photo of Easter Island, Chile by Rodrigo Garcia. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: chile, faith

Matthew 26:47-56, Holman Christian Standard Bible:

While He was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. A large mob, with swords and clubs, was with him from the chief priests and elders of the people. His betrayer had given them a sign: "The One I kiss, He's the One; arrest Him!" So he went right up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!"—and kissed Him.

"Friend," Jesus asked him, "why have you come?

Then they came up, took hold of Jesus, and arrested Him. At that moment one of those with Jesus reached out his hand and drew his sword. He struck the high priest's slave and cut off his ear.

Then Jesus told him, "Put your sword back in place because all who take up a sword will perish by a sword. Or do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than 12 legions of angels? How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?"

At that time Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture Me? Every day I used to sit, teaching in the temple complex, and you didn't arrest Me. But all this has happened so that the prophetic Scriptures would be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted Him and ran away.

Photo of Betrayal, Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain by Santi. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, negativity

Vanderbilt University issued this press release:

A Vanderbilt Divinity School professor will discuss what the Hebrew Bible has to say about immigration issues at a community breakfast on Thursday, March 13.

Alice Hunt, associate dean for academic affairs and assistant professor of Hebrew Bible at the divinity school, will speak on “Strangers, Aliens, Residents and Walls: The Bible and Immigration.”

The breakfast, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the refectory of Vanderbilt Divinity School, is open to the public but advance reservations are required to attend. Cost for breakfast is $10.

To register, call 615-936-8453 or go to www.vanderbilt.edu/divinity/breakfasts.html and register online.

Vanderbilt Divinity School stages several community breakfasts each semester to offer fellowship and insights on topics of interest.

Various studies of the intersection of immigration and the Bible are available on the Internet. Just search for the Bible and immigration on Google.

"God's love" photo by Michael Dorn. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: education, events, faith, immigrants

I participated in a discussion last night about Barack Obama and his prospects for support among Hispanic voters. When I came home and took off my coat, my three-year-old daughter noticed something new on my shirt that hadn't been there before: an Obama '08 button.

She asked me a question that exposed the core of my politics these days, and in a few short seconds, I revealed that I am a values voter.

Before I get to her question and my answer, I want to hit a couple of caveats.

The first is that a "values voter" would ideally look for a candidate to the U.S. presidency who also has some intellectual heft in his toolbox. Obama has that; he not only graduated from Harvard Law, but he was President of the Harvard Law Review, which is one of the top achievements that can be accomplished in U.S. legal education. He is also on leave as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, which is known for its law and economics discipline. This post is not about the value of a good education, but that factor should not be ignored.

Second, focusing on values should not crowd out God himself. Only God can save the country and the world. If we are on the wrong track in any or multiple ways, we first need to turn to God. But God does not work alone. He uses men and women in high places to do great good. That's what is on my mind today and what was on my mind last night when my daughter asked me a simple question.

My little angel asked, "Daddy, why do you have that on your shirt?"

I said, "Because Obama loves Tía Regina and Tío Mario."

It was the simplest expression of my political views in a long time.

"Aunt" Regina and "Uncle" Mario are two friends of our family from the Hispanic church we attended for over two years, and my daughter loves and knows them well. As with most of our relationships at that church, we first got to know Regina and Mario as our brothers and sisters in Christ, and only later, through conversations about their lives both past and present, did their visa status (or lack thereof) come up. Their status would not change our fraternal relationship with them. We all saw each others as equals. If we found out that someone we knew could not get a visa (and most who do not have visas in the church could never get one legally, primarily because of poverty), that lack of opportunity was a tragedy but not a basis for approaching them differently. Looking around at the God-loving, otherwise law-abiding congregation, it was nonsensical to me that my government, and many of my fellow citizens, would deem approximately half my fellow churchgoers as unworthy of living among us.

So in the context of the current presidential campaign, what drew me to Barack Obama was that his life experience, his statements, and his positions indicate that he sees people in this same way we saw each other in that Hispanic church. Senator Obama isn't the only politician with a perspective that values all immigrants, of course. George W. Bush said in his May 2006 address to the nation on immigration reform that even unvisaed immigrants are "a part of American life," and people of all political stripes have stood up for the common humanity of everyone touched by the immigration bureaucracy. But it is nonetheless true that following the failed legislative proposals of the past couple of years, you will find fewer elected officials taking the endangered stand of principle these days. Few urge us to see immigrants as people first - as neighbors, fellow churchmembers, and fellow residents of this great country. It can be risky for a politician to widen instead of narrow the definition of "neighbor," which was Jesus' charge in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

From what I have read of Obama, he has adopted the high ground and has not wavered.

Still, when speaking to my daughter, it may have been a stretch for me to vouch for whether a politician "loves" our friends in that church. But on the spur of the moment it was the simplest expression of the quality I find most attractive in him.

Over time, Barack Obama has confirmed this impression I have. In his stirring remarks at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s church in Atlanta earlier this month, he called America to see all immigrants not as enemies but as "companions in the fight for opportunity" (video and transcript here). He marched arm in arm with hundreds of thousands of citizens and immigrants in 2006, saying that "we saw in those marches is the face of a new America" (audio and transcript here). A Nashville business leader who met at length with Obama in 2007 tells anyone who listens that the one federal official in this country who most understands the immigration issue as a human rights and civil rights issue is Barack Obama. You start to get the impression that this man with roots in Kenya and Kansas will never try to define our neighbors away.

Martin Luther King, Jr., in his acceptance speech for the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, called for "an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men." That kind of love is the value that will inform my vote on Tuesday, and it is why I support Barack Obama.

Photo by Cindy of Bella Rua Photography. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, immigrants, justice

From the acceptance speech of Martin Luther King, Jr., for the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize:

This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response which is little more than emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John:

Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His
love is perfected in us.

Full text here

Photo by C.K. Koay. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith

The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition sent out this invitation to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March on Monday, January 21:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March - January 21, 2008

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Join us as we march from Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church to TSU’s Gentry Center to honor Dr. King’s Dream.
Monday, January 21th at 10:00a.m.

Marchers should arrive at the church no later than 9:30am.

Missionary Baptist Church
2708 Jefferson Street
Nashville, TN 37208

Following the march, Derek Young, Nashville's Mayor Karl Dean and Rep. Jim Cooper will speak at TSU's Gentry Center.

To register click here.

Don't forget to visit our new and improved website at: www.tnimmigrant.org

Photo by Bo Hughins. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, justice

Moises Caballero and the Sumner Hispanic Alliance are featured in this article in the Tennessean about the work of locals who plan to "make a difference" in 2008. The Sumner Hispanic Alliance was created last fall (story here) to focus businesses, educators, and government on the Hispanic residents of Sumner County.

From the Tennessean story:

Moisés Caballero took on the reins of the relatively new Sumner Hispanic Alliance as its chairman this past fall, and he'll be spending 2008 building metaphorical bridges.

The growing Hispanic population and existing Sumner County community benefit if they learn from each other, said Caballero, 42 and assistant vice president at Regions Bank in Gallatin.

Caballero will visit Hispanic businesses to raise awareness of and involvement in the alliance, which is sponsored by Volunteer State Community College, and he'll encourage school and government officials to meet with the Hispanic community.

"It's a community that's here to stay," he said. "It's to our benefit as a larger community . . . to have those folks integrated, to be educated in our educational system, our business system, governmental system. You prevent problems down the road if people understand and work within the system and grow within the system."

Other difference-makers featured in the article are Judith Biondo Meeker, who uses quilts to teach children compassion for people in other countries, and Win Myint, who wants to use the Nashville Buddhist Meditation Center to offer Christian immigrants and refugees "a place where they feel at home."

Labels: business, education, faith, immigrants

"This is our home, too. Our Lady is always with us. We also are children of God."

Nashville has a new church named after Our Lady of Guadalupe. Yesterday's story featured excerpts of Tim Chavez's editorial on the welcoming role of the church. Today, thanks to the generousity of Hispanic Link, we publish the editorial in its entirety, below.

My mother married my father more than a half century ago in a church dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was located in a Topeka, Kansas, barrio populated with a growing number of Latinos recruited to fill meat-packing jobs and keep the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad running across this nation.

The barrio’s most famous citizen, Mike Tórrez, pitched the New York Yankees to victory in the 1977 World Series, winning two games,

Every U.S. city that realizes a critical mass of Hispanics, especially mexicanos, will be home to a Catholic church dedicated to La Virgen de Guadalupe. Venerated as a protector, she appeared in 1531 near Mexico City to an Indian boy, Juan Diego. A great cathedral stands there now.

In the United States, a church dedicated to her signifies the maturation of the local Hispanic population as merchants and homeowners and leaders and taxpayers. A church dedicated to her means “This is our home, too. Our Lady is always with us. We also are children of God.”

Such deep faith has always been a defining characteristic of Hispanics. That faith has been recognized now in Nashville with the opening of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. Amid the ongoing onslaught against immigrants – particularly in the South – this bodes well for more sane discourse and decision-making in 2008.

A spectacular dedication mass spotlighted our rich culture and history in this city. Our children clutched bouquets of roses to put before a giant painting of the Mother of God. Our families showcased the youthfulness of a workforce that will increasingly serve this country’s welfare and defense as Baby Boomers retire. I sat in the pews with my brothers and sisters from another country who risked so much to come here and put their futures in God’s hands. At no time has this kind of faith been more needed.

In the South, Hispanics are being targeted physically. There is a 1-in-11 chance they’ll be pulled over on Tennessee state highways and interstates. That compares to a 1-in-19 chance for whites and blacks, a Nashville TV station reported.

Some county sheriffs are making a priority of rousting job sites of undocumented workers. Once the lack of needed documents is discovered, immigrants are held for federal authorities.

Against this backdrop, the year concluded on a hopeful note. The location of Our Lady’s church is perfect. It’s on a primary traffic artery where Hispanics have revitalized the neighborhoods and the business community after locals moved to the suburbs. The church will be more than a place to worship. It will be a visible English-language education and cultural center.

An unlikely partnership came together to make this miracle happen. The primary mover and shaker is a blue-eyed Irish-American priest who speaks barely a word of Spanish. But this Nashville native used his bully pulpit and reputation to remind members of his congregation at nearby St. Edward Catholic Church that it’s payback time.

Father Joseph Patrick Breen continually preaches about our immigrant history. He reminds his parish – and Nashville – that others were here to help the Poles, the Italians and the Irish to set up their own churches and institutions.

There has never been a Statue of Liberty on the Rio Grande to greet Hispanic newcomers. By naked conquest, migrants from the East took over the richest lands Mexicans originally inhabited from Texas to California.

For the past several years, St. Edward has opened its doors to more than 1,300 Latinos at two extra masses. But Father Breen knew more was necessary. In a matter of months in 2007, the mostly white congregation responded.

Our Lady’s church is located in a Baptist church that closed after losing much of its congregation to the suburbs. Property owners agreed to sell it and its school buildings for a third of their appraised value. Of a total $1.5 million in total costs, more than $600,000 has been raised.

My father is gone now. When he returned from World War II, Mexicans were still segregated in a roped-off section of pews in the Catholic church of his rural Kansas hometown. But an Our Lady of Guadalupe church in nearby Topeka welcomed my parents and offered them simple respect as they began their union and family.

Our Lady brings hopeful momentum into 2008 and a reminder to this nation of a moral obligation to its immigrant history.

(Tim Chávez is a political columnist who lives in Tennessee. Contact him at timchavez787@yahoo.com.)

Text copyright 2008 by Hispanic Link. Used with permission.

Image: Fiesta Mexicana, 1933, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Topeka, Kansas. Source: www.olg-parish.org

Labels: faith, immigrants

"I sat in the pews with my brothers and sisters from another country"

"Others were here to help the Poles, the Italians and the Irish"

Tim Chavez has written about N