{"id":214062,"date":"2019-03-06T07:36:03","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T15:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=214062"},"modified":"2025-05-08T20:01:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T03:01:39","slug":"presbyterian-church-maps-the-perilous-journey-of-northern-triangle-migrants","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/presbyterian-church-maps-the-perilous-journey-of-northern-triangle-migrants","title":{"rendered":"Presbyterian Church USA Maps the Human Dimensions of the Migrant Crisis"},"author":671,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[461441],"tags":[324392,324402,324382,276982],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478762],"esri_blog_department":[478192],"class_list":["post-214062","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-equity-social-justice","tag-border","tag-church","tag-immigration","tag-storytelling","esri-blog-category-humanitarian-response","esri_blog_department-gis-for-good"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"The Presbyterian Church set out on a mission to document the forces pushing Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans to leave their home countries","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Key takeaways\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The Presbyterian Church USA documented the origin of families to the US border, using Story Maps to capture attention, spur exploration, and relate the human condition.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Viewers of the Story Map gain an understanding of the conditions that led people to leave their homes and of the many dangers of the perilous journey.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The Presbyterian Church turned to storytelling to relay details others aren\u2019t discussing and to advocate on behalf of migrants.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<em>\u201cI don\u2019t want to bury my daughters.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s the voice of a mother, one of many, explaining why she felt compelled to journey to the US border. As the number of families like hers fleeing Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador spiked from 2014 to 2016, the Presbyterian Church USA set out to document the refugees\u2019 journey. The church started at the origin, a region known as the Northern Triangle that has a complex legacy of colonization, displaced indigenous people, political unrest, and conflict. This outreach culminated in a documentary film, <a href=\"http:\/\/genesisofexodusfilm.com\/\"><em>The Genesis of the Exodus<\/em><\/a>, which the church has used to educate its members.\r\n\r\nThe Presbyterian Church has a long history of advocating for social justice for migrants, beginning in 1893 when it opposed the Chinese Exclusion Act. \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re called by a church with a history of challenging the morality within systems,\u201d said Teresa Waggener, Immigration Lawyer at the Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA). \u201cWe do our best to convey the truth about people who are being spoken about by our government, its leaders, and the media.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":214272,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Broken Society<\/strong>\r\n\r\n<em>The Genesis of the Exodus<\/em> film crew journeyed to the Northern Triangle in 2015, after a national state of emergency was declared and families began to be moved to detention centers.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe story of the movement of people starts when they arrive at our border and centers on whether they have a right to enter,\u201d Waggener said. \u201cWe wanted to push the story back into the communities of origin to discuss what was happening to them there.\u201d\r\n\r\nDuring the filming, the crew scheduled a morning appointment with a family who had been threatened by local gangs. When they didn\u2019t turn up, a rumor circulated that they had been murdered in the night. Given this level of violence, most people interviewed for the film appear with disguised faces and voices.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a symptom of a very broken and fearful society, which is exactly what these people are escaping from,\u201d said Vicente Guna, manager of technologies of the Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA).\r\n\r\nMigrants face many forms of violence along the journey\u2014robberies, rape, kidnapping\u2014as well as thirst and hunger, according to Guna.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey set out with an awareness of the hardships, knowing they will likely fail to enter the US on their first try,\u201d he said. \u201cYet they try again and again, searching for hope for their families.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe quest is about much more than economic need, according to Amanda Craft, manager of Advocacy for Immigration Issues at the Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA). \u201cIt\u2019s a real sense of insecurity and fear that spurs whole families to make the dangerous and precarious journey.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"youtube","youtube_video_url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pwYcYkzC9rA"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Adding Geographic Context<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAfter filming, Guna and his team used a geographic information system (GIS) to augment interviews and footage of the route by adding maps and creating a <a href=\"http:\/\/storymap.genesisofexodusfilm.com\/index.html\">Story Map<\/a>.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe had no idea we could put viewers in the shoes of somebody taking this journey until Vicente showed us the Story Map,\u201d Craft said. \u201cIt impacts people in a way that a news story or a speech by a politician can\u2019t.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Story Map is just one way the Presbyterian Church USA uses GIS to explore issues, prioritize outreach, and educate members.\r\n\r\nAs Guna explains it, \u201cthere are two branches to GIS use\u2014internal data management and analysis, and external engagement. On the internal side, I look at changes across our geographic distribution. On the public side, I turn data into stories to inform our members about what we are doing.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":214172,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Providing Aid<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhile the story map opens a window into Northern Triangle migration, explaining the journey, and allowing people to explore it interactively, members of the Presbyterian Church lend a hand where they can. The churches in Guatemala and El Salvador welcome those who have been deported back. The US churches along the US\/Mexican border send members to bus stations and airports to greet those that have been released from Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They help those on their way to asylum hearings.\r\n\r\nRecently, the church has seen an increase in volunteer numbers and activities.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn the spring of 2018, we started to hear about the separation of parents from children,\u201d Craft said. \u201cThat got attention, and more people wanted to get involved. We can\u2019t address all of the precursors that led to this problem, but as Christians we can help show people the situation and why our brothers and sisters need our help.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe church works with members on appropriate ways of welcoming and meeting the needs of vulnerable travelers. <em>The Genesis of Exodus<\/em> film is at the center of these discussions, along with a <a href=\"http:\/\/oga.pcusa.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/oga\/pdf\/genesis_of_exodus_reflection_guide.pdf\">reflection guide<\/a>, designed to engage and educate members.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Presbyterian Church creates a community of support, including for those that face concerns about immigration status,\u201d Waggener said. \u201cIt takes a lot of energy, time, and attention to understand their situation and to gather around and support them. The ability to create a community of care is really powerful.\u201d\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nLearn how you can harness the power of maps to <a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/en\/\">tell your story<\/a>."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Presbyterian Church USA Maps the Human Dimensions of the Migrant Crisis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Presbyterian Church documented the breakdown of civil society in Central America and used a Story Map to educate members about the perilous journey.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/presbyterian-church-maps-the-perilous-journey-of-northern-triangle-migrants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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