A Season Of Faithful Witness
FEBRUARY 16, 2026 BY KINO BORDER INITIATIVE
An Invitation to Faith in Action
Rafaela did not come to Nogales looking for certainty. She came looking for safety.
After fleeing violence with her children, Rafaela spent more than half a year in Nogales, waiting for the chance to move forward. The waiting was long and heavy, marked by uncertainty about what would come next. Yet even in that prolonged limbo, Rafaela speaks not only of fear or loss, but of something else she found along the way: community.
In her time at Kino Border Initiative, Rafaela and her children encountered people who walked with them. Staff, volunteers, and other families shared stories, meals, and the strain of waiting together. What emerged was not simply a place to pass time, but a space shaped by relationship and care. Small moments of joy existed alongside anxiety. Friendship took root even as the future remained unresolved.
