El Camino de San Diego – Journeying toward Justice

Join Presbyterian friends from our Synod for a virtual pilgrimage along and across the U.S.-Mexico border. Via International and The Border Church/La Iglesia Fronteriza will be our guides for five virtual encounters. From the comfort of your own home, you will experience the work for justice at the grassroots by traveling to Chicano Park in San Diego, La Plaza El Chaparral in Tijuana, and Friendship Park at the U.S.-Mexico border. Two trips have been planned for 2021: the first trip is in May, the second trip is planned for September. Each virtual pilgrimage can accommodate 18 participants, and the cost is $100 per person. More detailed information is below. Click here to register for the May Camino.

OVERVIEW
The Camino de San Diego consists of six parts:

• An Orientation will introduce participants to enduring themes — including colonization, white racism & nationalism — that have given shape to the cultural context of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The orientation will be hosted by Rev. John Fanestil (Ph.D. in History, USC) and leaders from the Via International and Border Church communities.
• Three Immersive Site Visits will introduce participants to local leaders working for justice at three landmark locations in the California/Baja California borderlands:
  • Chicano Park , where the journeys of “chicanos” and “fronterizos” will be explored;
  • La Plaza El Chaparral , where participants will meet “migrants” and “asylum-seekers”;
  • Friendship Park , where “deportees” and “mixed-status families” will be foregrounded.
• The Border Church / La Iglesia Fronteriza – Join this unique binational community of faith for a 30-minute “virtual hike” (informal conversation), followed by a 30-minute celebration of communion with friends from both the United States and Mexico.
• A Closing Retreat gives participants an extended opportunity to explore their place within “the migrant people of God,” to embrace their own journeys toward justice, and to identify ways to live out their own callings in their home contexts and communities.

May Dates: Meet & Greet, Friday, April 30, 5:30-6:30 pm, Saturdays May 1, 8, 15, 22, 10:00-11:30 am, and Sunday, May 23, 1:00 – 4:00 pm.

September Dates : Meet & Greet, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 5:30-6:30 pm, Thursdays Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23, 10:00-11:30 am, and Sunday, Sept. 26, 1:00-4:00 pm.

Registration Deadline for May Camino: Tuesday, April 27, 2021

To download a copy of the flyer: El Camino de San Diego flyer.