In early July, Casa Marianella was excited to give a tour to an international group focused on cross-cultural exchange. The staff were energized to have this group learn about our work and hear about the experiences of the residents at Casa first hand. We gathered several residents to warmly welcome the group. Yet, as the time the visitors were supposed to arrive quickly approached, no one came. After a few minutes of confusion, we realized that the date was not confirmed! However, in good old Casa Marianella fashion, we decided that another opportunity was at hand…

Staff members asked the group of residents of different languages, nationalities, and cultures to form a circle of chairs in the community room and sit in them. Then staff members began to invite the residents to answer the questions that would have come up with the visiting group. Over the course of the conversation, the residents shared with staff and one another about their experiences and journeys. They opened up about the oppressive realities of their homes. They talked about the grief of leaving all their friends, family, and motherland. And they recounted their journeys following perilous routes across the globe to arrive at the US-Mexico border. Near the end of the time together, I asked the group, “What gives you hope?” After several moments of silence, one resident shifted his gaze from the floor to my eyes. He said, “All any of us have known in our lives is fear. We are here to hunt for peace.”

Being in between semesters at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, this summer I have joined the Casa Marianella staff as a caseworker with a specialization in spiritual care. Although Casa Marianella is not a religiously affiliated organization, nearly all of the shelter’s residents come from cultures and worldviews where religion and spirituality are integrated into all aspects of life. By offering spirituality as an aspect of care, Casa Marianella can more fully serve the whole resident. Contrary to myth, spiritual care has very little to do with religious doctrines, rules, or a particular theology. In reality, spirituality is focused on connection: one’s connection with oneself; one’s connection with others; and one’s connection with his or her sense of higher power. The spiritual caregiver’s job is the work of accompanying people on this journey towards fuller connection.

Through this work, I have been invited into the lives of the men and women at the shelter. Day to day, I had the honor of sharing fully present moments with residents, witnessing resident’s stories, and joining them in making meaning and finding belonging. I offered weekly rides to a local mosque for residents. I joined them in lamenting as they experience the complicated realities of being an asylum seeker. And I celebrated residents winning their asylum cases, finding jobs, and moving out of housing into apartments! Each day, these men and women work hard to find peace, embody their own sense of dignity, and work towards a future where they might flourish more fully. And every day, I stand in awe of all these men and women carry and their continual capability to work towards a better tomorrow.

In the community room during that impromptu July afternoon, I was caught in one of these moments of awe. I saw the gathered residents share and affirm one another’s suffering. In sharing their own journey, residents seemed to find a sense of power over their stories. They offered one another tenderness, presence, and support. They found connection between one another’s stories and sufferings. And they were able to accompany each other in carrying their burdens. In this encounter, these residents from different countries, cultures, religions, languages, and nationalities were able to find connection, experience solace, and share meaning in their long-sought “hunt for peace.” In this moment and many others like it, residents continually taught me. They demonstrated how even in the most unlikely of places amongst the most unlikely of people, company, kinship, and connection can always be found on our journey towards flourishing.