Workshop explores immigrant solidarity

PARNELL — Iowa Mennonite Action and West Union Mennonite Church Missions and Service Commission will host a workshop led by Anton Flores-Maisonet Saturday, Feb. 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The workshop at West Union Mennonite Church, 3253 305th St, invites participants to explore Exodus 1—3 through the lens of vocation, courage and faithful resistance, said the church in a press release.

Because Anton’s calling is deeply rooted in immigrant solidarity, that experience shapes the workshop, while participants are shown how ordinary acts of compassion and justice can unsettle systems of oppression, the press release says.

Participants will reflect on what it means to be midwives of justice in their time and place — birthing hope, sustaining vocation and living courageously in challenging times.

A lunch of soup and sandwiches will be served from noon to 1 p.m. An offering will be taken for the lunch and for Casa Alterna.

Contact iowamennoniteaction@gmail.com with questions.

RSVP by Friday, Feb. 13 at https://forms.gle/UnZ7ifZzVcAzgwKz9.

Anton Flores-Maisonet is a social worker, spiritual director, author and faith-rooted activist whose life and ministry are shaped by radical hospitality and faithful resistance, according to the press release.

Twenty years ago, he left a tenure-track college position to launch an intentional community called Alterna, living beside immigrant neighbors and organizing vigils, visitations and solidarity at detention centers.

In 2017, he and his wife, Charlotte, founded Casa Alterna, a hospitality house in a Latino immigrant neighborhood. In 2019, they relocated to Atlanta, and since the pandemic, Casa Alterna has welcomed hundreds of immigrants from more than 50 countries, offering short- and long-term housing, community support, and spaces for healing, safety, and new beginnings.

Casa Alterna also launched Compas at the Gates of ICE, a ministry of accompaniment with asylum-seekers outside Atlanta’s ICE field office, the press release said. Launched after the 2024 elections in preparation for the immigration policies promised by the incoming administration, Compas provides community defense information and legal referrals.

The ministry ensures that no one faces an ICE check-in alone and works to prevent anyone from being detained during ICE check-ins.