As you well know, since 2019 the Order of Friars Minor entrusted the creation of two Networks: the Migrant Network of the Americas (RMA) and the Franciscan Network of the Mediterranean (RFMed), to respond to the ongoing reality of human mobility. In July of this year 2025, we visited the project “La 72” and collected the testimonies of a religious sister and a layperson, both committed to welcoming and supporting people on the move within the RMA. We now share these testimonies with you, as a reminder that we do not walk alone and that working together as a network is always essential.
I am Sister Karen López Sadoval, of the Franciscan Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. In 2024, I was asked to come and work at “La 72.” On August 8th, I arrived in Tenosique, Tabasco (Mexico), to collaborate with “La 72 – Home/Shelter for Migrants.” In our congregation, we have what are called obediences, and through obedience I was assigned to collaborate at the “La 72” shelter.
I used to dedicate myself to education, working with young people and adolescents, and this has meant a 365-degree change, because it involves working directly with people in mobility. This was not a reality I was familiar with. However, I can say that it has given me—and continues to give me—so much for my life. Each story, each life I encounter and come to know invites me to reconsider the why and the purpose of my existence, and even more so the mission I have as a consecrated woman: to support others, sometimes simply by listening to them.
I can affirm that this experience has given me, and continues to give me, something profoundly significant. It has greatly strengthened my life of community, prayer, and mission alongside these people, who often need support at all levels, asking for nothing more than presence and companionship. To see how much can be done starting from small things is to witness the building of the Kingdom of God.
