No Longer Strangers

It started simply. The pastor stood outside her church and greeted the workers as they came in from the fields. She spoke to them in Spanish and they responded. Soon a bridge was forged. This is the true story of a rural community in Northern California who awakened to the migrant farm workers in their community—and chose to embrace them. Led by one extraordinary woman who was bolstered by her deep and abiding faith, the community offered “radical hospitality” to the strangers in its midst. And in doing so, they discovered an important truth—that our common humanity binds us all.

It started simply. The pastor stood outside her church and greeted the workers as they came in from the fields. She spoke to them in Spanish and they responded. Soon a bridge was forged. This is the true story of a rural community in Northern California who awakened to the migrant farm workers in their community—and chose to embrace them. Led by one extraordinary woman who was bolstered by her deep and abiding faith, the community offered “radical hospitality” to the strangers in its midst. And in doing so, they discovered an important truth—that our common humanity binds us all.

Rev. Wendy J. Taylor is the founder of Puente de la Costa Sur community service agency in Pescadero, CA. A retired pastor in the United Church of Christ and a spiritual director, she resides with her wife, Ellen, in the Pacific Northwest. Margaret Kimball Cross is a writer and award-winning community activist from Waterloo, Iowa. She resides with her husband, Peter, in Northern California.