Putting faith in practice

Holy Week – beginning with Palm Sunday – is generally a time for Christian believers to devote themselves to their faith, but this year United Campus Ministry (UCM) Pastor Todd Salmi wanted to commemorate the spirit of the holiday by putting students’ faith in practice.

“I’m always looking for ways for students to practice their faith and to live that out,” Salmi said. “So every year when we come to Holy Week, I think ‘How can we worship in a way that reflects the reality of our lives? How can we meet the needs that are present in the world and where is God calling us?’”

Last year, UCM cooked, served and ate a meal with the local homeless population at the SouthSide Community Center as their act of service.

This year, the church is working with local partners along the Mexico border to make sure every person, despite their country of origin, has their basic needs and human dignity met. On Good Friday, a team from United Campus Ministry drove donations to Mission: Border Hope in Eagle Pass so they could be distributed for Easter.

UCM members and Texas State University students Hallie Jones and Consolatrice Nzoya attended the Spring Break mission trip along the border and are helping collect items for the Easter trip. Daily Record photo by Denise Cathey

This isn’t the church’s first trip to help along the border; a group from United Campus Ministry just recently spent their spring break on a mission trip in Eagle Pass. Students repaired flood-damaged homes as they tackled drywalling, replaced damaged wood, installed doors and painted. After a full day of home repairs, students also volunteered with the local elementary afterschool program.

United Campus Ministry partners with church agencies in Eagle Pass, Del Rio and in Mexico. Their partners are in active ministry with a large number of migrant women and children in need along the border and regularly send out lists of what items they need based on demand.

“We asked how we could help and what they needed primarily was infant and children's clothing, diapers and feminine hygiene products. So we made that specific ask here in San Marcos to help collect that,” Salmi said. “Our goal is to provide for the basic human needs and provide human dignity for those along the border, that’s what Christ has called us to do. We do this simply because well it’s red letter Jesus.”

Eagle Pass homeowner Ruth Herrera hugs Texas State student Evan Perez after UCM spent Spring Break helping repair her storm-damaged home.

Other local churches have joined in partnership with UCM on this drive including First United Methodist Church of San Marcos, First Presbyterian Church, Wimberley United Methodist Church, El Buen Pastor United Methodist Church and Buda United Methodist Church.

“I have found a lot of support across political views to help people out, to help these women and children in need at the border,” Salmi said. “While there is an ongoing political discussion, our Christian faith in Jesus is crystal clear about our obligation to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit those who are in jail or detained and to welcome the stranger. It says it in Matthew 25. Our question is to figure out how to do that.”

Salmi said while people may enjoy engaging in debates, and while he fully supports people having those conversations, he prefers to work in dialogues, concentrating on the things that people have in common.

“What binds us together? It’s easy to find things we disagree on and those often get the headlines, but the things that bind us together run really deep and really broad,” Salmi said.

“Sometimes we can feel helpless and out of control of what’s happening in the world, and while we may not be able to change everything at once, there are ways we can faithfully respond.”

UCM members work on repairs to a home in Eagle Pass during the Spring Break mission trip.

Salmi said he was worried about the potential political ramifications of helping migrants along the border, but in the end, he said, “It is the right thing to do, it’s what Jesus called us to do.”

“The people at the border have dreams just like us. They want their children to be safe. They want their families to be safe; they want to be able to earn a living, they want to be part of a community,” Salmi said. “And I’ll say this, people don’t want to leave home; it’s very hard to leave home, much less travel thousands of miles across countries where you don’t know where you are going and you won’t have any protections. But a lot of these families have to leave everything behind because they don’t have a choice with the violence they are facing.”

The Easter donation drive items, including diapers, feminine hygiene products and infant and child clothing, sit stacked in the UCM hallway. Daily Record photo by Denise Cathey 

The United Campus Ministry is located at 510 North Guadalupe Dr. For more information about the ministry, call 512-396-4222.