McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) -- Twenty-seven-year-old Melanie Cruz sat with rapt attention in a pew toward the back of St. Mark United Methodist Church on Sunday morning as a guest preacher talked about immigration.

"Jesus was a refugee," Alma Ruth told the small mostly Anglo congregation of about 65 people whose sanctuary is just a few miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Ruth was a foreigner," she said about the biblical character who is said to be the grandmother of King David.

"In these very challenging times that we are living, right, and we have a historic opportunity to make a difference in these divisive times. Now our faith invites us to see migration, immigration, and borders through the lens of faith," said Ruth, a missionary in northern Mexico and director and founder o

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