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El Centro Corps offers weekly class for possible deportees.
Captain Jerry Esqueda conducts a weekly Bible study at the Service Processing Center in El Centro, Calif., for detainees facing possible deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division facility holds up to 500 men at a time while immigration statuses are clarified. From there, individuals are deported or released back into the United States.
“[The Bible studies] have had a tremendous impact at our facility,” said the Rev. Richard Barnes, chaplain and religious services coordinator at the facility. “Captain Esqueda encourages the detainees who attend his Bible studies with a message of God’s presence, comfort, and above all, hope. The detainees realize that because God is with them, God strengthens them in their situations. They also hear they have a future in which God will be with them, too.”
Esqueda recalled numerous occasions in which the Bible studies resonated with detainees.
“One Bible study I was sharing on Philippians 4: 4-9, on how we are to rejoice in the Lord always,” Esqueda said. “In verse 7 it says that and the peace of God that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. An inmate later told me at the meeting the following week that he was taking control over his mind by praising God, thinking on the good things of God and that he is working on practicing doing what the Word says so that he can have peace. Praise God!”
Another inmate, he said, told him he enjoys singing the songs from the Bible studies because it fills his heart with joy when he is alone in his room.
“A European who knew five languages shared how confusing it was to understand the Bible,” Esqueda said. “After sharing about how God created the heavens and the Earth and the plan of salvation he came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He then thanked God for his new life. God is good.”
Barnes echoed Esqueda’s sentiment.
“So much of what these people know has been stripped away,” Barnes said. “It is a time in which a ministry of hope that groups like The Salvation Army bring can make a tremendous difference to men and women who are looking for something to grasp onto.”
