Dear Abara community:
We were honored to have been featured on the cover of the November 2023 issue of the magazine Christianity Today (CT).
The article was written by CT journalist Sophia Lee, who participated in a Border Encounter in Spring 2023. Lee follows the founding story of Abara and the journey toward the development of Abara House, highlighting the voices from her border encounter group, during and after their visit to the US/México border. We are so grateful for CT’s perspective as one voice coming alongside many who support the work of humanitarian response, education, and bringing the dream of a Borderland Center to life.
Yes, hundreds of people have come alongside the Abara team to shape the masterplan for Abara House–it is the result of a community effort that will continue to be guided by a binational Wisdom Council. This conglomerate of voices represents the varied communities that have formed the region over the centuries.
The article also takes a look at our Executive Director Sami DiPasquale’s personal trajectory, and how his story has deeply shaped Abara’s. Although Abara belongs to no one person, we are deeply grateful for the vision and leadership of Sami.
Sami shares: “I am honored to have had the opportunity to live in the beautiful borderlands of El Paso/Júarez, a community that has welcomed me for the last two decades, and welcomed millions over the centuries. It has been a privilege to join in on the work of so many beautiful people imagining together and seeking truth, justice, peace and healing in our context. I have been shaped here in too many ways to express, and by too many people to mention. I have probably been most powerfully shaped by the resilience and strength of the vulnerable on both sides of the border, and also by those serving humbly and faithfully in unseen pockets of our binational community.
As a team at Abara, we feel honored and entrusted as one group among many who have the opportunity to invite people from around the country to immerse in the borderlands and learn from the various voices of our binational community. The journeys of the border encounter participants highlighted in this article are but a few among many of the hundreds of individuals who have participated just this past year, some with very different paths than those interviewed. We look forward to hosting thousands more voices as we welcome people of peace from around the world, and seek to steward the sacred space at Abara House.”
If you have questions or comments on the article, we would be more than happy to talk more. Please reach out to samid@abara.org
With Love,
Sami and Team Abara