As a second-year novice, Travis Stoops spent his long experiment working with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Washington, DC, Nogales, AZ and Nogales, Mexico.
As
part of my Novitiate Long Experiment with Jesuit Refugee Service, I spent
two months working with the Kino Border Initiative. The Kino Border Initiative
is a bi-national organization focusing on border issues and immigrant needs
in both Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico. Humanitarian outreach, education
about immigration issues, research, and advocacy are all components of
the project.
The main focus of the humanitarian outreach is a dining facility for deported immigrants in Nogales, Mexico. I worked here helping to serve a simple meal to the 200-400 immigrants that visit the center each day. The faces of real men and women were now expanding for me an issue I had previously known only through newspapers and television reports. The immediacy with which the issue of immigration was now present and the equal response of the Church to accompany her children stirred in me a spirit of service. I sensed that God was extending an invitation to be present and to minister to the needs of immigrants. It excited me to work in a new apostolate that was focused on such an important issue.
As time passed, I sensed that the Holy Spirit was purifying my initial
experience of the work, as the monotony of the tasks became more apparent.
Arrive, help prepare the meal, serve the meal, clean up from the meal,
and plan for the next meal: this is how I spent each day at the dining
facility. In addition, my experience of the consistent neediness of the
immigrants tested my initial spirit of generosity. On one particular day
an immigrant stopped me to show me a matchbook that said “smile.” I
looked at the matchbook and then at his face which showed the biggest,
warmest, most encouraging smile as he helped me gather more dishes to wash.
I went back to the kitchen to wash those dishes with joy. That moment
helped me understand why I was here. I realized that God had created a
special place that allowed me to serve these immigrants just as God created
a special place for them in needing our help. I had lost sight of the
joy of serving, the understanding of serving people loved by God. One
of my brothers brought me back to this reality, and I give him thanks. 
Following that moment, I continued to hear this question in my prayer: why are you here? I heard this question in reference to my work with immigrants on the border, as well as my Jesuit vocation and the culmination of my time in the novitiate.
This question remains a key question in my prayers, and for the moment, I am able to answer that I have been given the strength to take one more step forward in order to hear the question again. I hope to continue to hear this question, to take steps forward, and to work on the frontiers of Jesuit ministries.