By Roger Grace
Shalom Hill Farm in southwestern Minnesota was the location for the 2024 Rural Chaplains Association Focus Event. The theme for the gathering was “Diversity in Rural Communities” and we chose the location due to the diversity of the population in that area. One example of the diverse nature of the community is that in the local school district, there are about 37 different languages and 85 dialects spoken. This is in a small city with only about 14,000 total population.
The Rev. Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen, who along with his wife co-founded Shalom Hill Farm, hosted the event and arranged for a tour of a local chicken processing plant. There are several such plants in the area, and they are a major reason for the diversity of the region. Immigrants moved into southwestern Minnesota because the plants were unable to find enough local labor to operate them. The one we visited had a large percentage of employees from Guatemala and others from Mexico and some from southeast Asia. The plant tour was for those Rural Chaplains who were able to arrive early, as it took place Wednesday before the official start of the Focus Event. Our formal opening, Native American Welcome, an overview of the plans for the event and evening prayer wrapped up day one of the event.
Thursday, we drove to Worthington, MN, and gathered at the First United Methodist Church where Lisa Kramer, who worked with Catholic Charities prior to retirement, talked about her efforts through Juntas Familias to help reunite families that had been separated by immigration. Many of these people work in the meat packing industries – beef, pork, or chicken, and they came to Minnesota looking for a better life for themselves and their families. Among those who came there are African Americans who migrated within the U.S., Vietnamese, Laotians, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Haitians, and others from Asia. Many of those who have immigrated there from the south were young teenagers who were sent by their families in hopes that they would be able to gain employment and help their relatives who stayed behind. Some of those who came across as teens, are now married with children and may not have seen their families of origin in two or three decades. Lisa helped design a program to try to reunite families here in the U.S. with the families they left behind when they were young. She also assisted with Project Care, providing transportation, legal advice, and other necessities for those who are working to gain legal status here.
Worthington First UMC is also the home for the Hispanie Ministry there. Pastor Angel and his wife lead a congregation that has from 24-50 people. They started with just the pastor and his wife and have steadily increased since then. Pastor Angel’s backstory is one of growing up in Mexico City, crossing the border into California with his cousin at the age of 23, hoping to find work, but only after moving to Wisconsin. While in Wisconsin he became involved in the drug scene and periods of homelessness prior to his conversion and his subsequent call into the ministry.
Our planned visit to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Worthington did not work out, due to family circumstances. However, being rural, we adapted our schedule and instead toured the Our Lady of Guadalupe Free Clinic. It was founded by Father Jim, who is now retired, to provide free health care to immigrants, the poor, and the uninsured of Nobles County Minnesota. They work in partnership with several doctors from the Mayo Clinic who come on a regular basis to help meet the medical needs of the local people.
Ronceverte resident Clifford Curry is a Navy veteran, served as a local pastor, and is a certified Lay Minister of the WV Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is also a certified Rural Chaplain of the Rural Chaplain Association of America. Anyone wishing to learn more about Curry’s work, or to get more information on becoming a rural chaplain, can email cliffordcurry1951@yahoo.com.
