people in Toledo

I am currently in the Toledo in America Diocese. The Redemptorists have been invited to work with the Latino community which has a small but growing presence in the diocese. Many temporary workers who come up seasonally to work in the fields but also many people who have put down roots and call Northwestern Ohio there home. I meet Armando who has been here for 20 years, his first wife was a US citizen, so he has been able to receive residency. He is in the process of opening his third Mexican Restaurant in the area. Armando works 6 days a week from 10am to 10 pm. Mondays, his day off he spends the day shopping and working at the new restaurant getting it ready for its opening. His present wife currently lives in Mexico, and he is in the working to bring her in legally. He was told it would be 10 months but that was 18 months ago. He has not been down to see his wife in over a year because he is busy working at his restaurants. Estela and Luis have also been here for over 20 years. They left California because the cost of living was too high. They come from Guatemala where they were very active in their Redemptorist Parish. They are excited about the arrival of the Redemptorists because of their popular preaching style and closeness to the people. They only complaint is that after 4 years the Redemptorists are transferred. “Just when they are getting attached to the Redemptorist they are transferred to another place.” Estela and Luis are the unpaid pastoral ministers in the community of St. Augustine in Napoleon. They only have mass once a month because of the dearth of Spanish speaking clergy. They organize the lectors and altar servers and provide classes in Spanish for the sacraments of baptism, marriage, first communion and confirmation. Even though they only have mass once a month they encourage the Latino community to come to mass even if the service is in English. They said they were once stopped by a police officer because a taillight was burned out. The officer pulled them over and upon seeing their faces recognized them and said, “we’ll see you at mass on Sunday, don’t forget to get that light fixed and have a blessed day.” Guadalupe has also been here for over 20 years. She has three children who were all born in Mexico but came here when they were children. Two have work permits and the youngest is a “dreamer” she is married to a US citizen of Mexican descent. Lupe works at a machine shop. Most days she works 8-hour shifts but many times she is asked to stay for a second 8-hour shift. She is glad for the extra money but wishes she was paid overtime not the regular hourly wage. She talked about the hard work that she does saying it was men’s work and showed me callouses and bruises on her hands. Since the inauguration of President Trump she said that she lives in constant fear. When she enters Walmart, she feels as though people are looking at her and she is afraid of driving to work. The one place she feels safe is in Church. Not so much because she isn’t afraid of ICE in church but because in Church she is with other Latinos, and she knows she is accepted for who she is. The mass is in Spanish, so she is with other people who are like her. She can praise God and knows that God is with her. People have told her that she should go back to Mexico, but she said her family is here, her home is here. She just wants to be able to feed her family and to be able to spend time with her grandchildren who are all US citizens