The headquarters for the Tres Rios Presbytery Border Ministry Foundation is located in El Paso, Texas — about 50 feet, through an imposing iron “fence” — from Juarez, Mexico.
Created as a descendant of the historic Presbyterian Borderlands Ministries, Tres Rios Foundation seeks to become a “Presbyterian portal to all things border” in the words of longtime border ministry advocate the Rev. Dr. John Nelsen. Nelsen retired in 2022 as pastor of University Presbyterian Church in El Paso.
“We feel that this location is important because proximity makes a difference — when we say we’re at the border, we mean that literally,” Nelsen said.
Nate Ledbetter is the Border Coordinator for Tres Rios. Ledbetter grew up on the northern border, in the greater Detroit metro area. “As I look back on my life as a bridge builder, that theme has been carried through like a thread throughout my journey — bridging worlds, resources, and communities at the margins,” he said.
As part of the journey that brought him to the border, Ledbetter spent a decade in Grand Rapids, Michigan, living in a multi-ethnic area with a public park at the center. That park joining the different communities provided a space to come together, to interact and to listen.
“That time in Grand Rapids was the beginning of my quest for seeing how listening connects with justice and imagination,” he said. It is that quest for listening connected with justice and imagination that has brought him to the border to continue the learning. “Our hope is to come alongside individuals and meet them where they are on their journey,” Ledbetter said.
Ledbetter and Nelsen work together to bring the stories from the border to congregations around the United States and to bring those congregations and individuals to the border to listen and see for themselves. The mission of the Tres Rios Foundation is to inform PC(USA) congregations about immigration issues and processes and connect them to real ministry and ways to help on the border and beyond.
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