Outside a one-story brick church in rural North Carolina, a marquee reads “En el amor de Dios, nadie es invisible.” Or, through God’s love, no one is invisible. Inside, almost one hundred migrants gather to worship together. Though many of them are undocumented and live in the shadows of this country, here, they are reminded that God sees each person intimately and accepts them unconditionally. Some have been in this country for decades; others for only days.

Iglesia Cristiana Sin Fronteras (Borderless Ministry) is made up largely by recently-arrived and undocumented Latinx migrants. As a pastor who began this ministry while I was still undocumented, I seek to better understand how our congregation is transforming (and being transformed in) the Nuevo South. By Nuevo South, I mean reimagining the US South as a multiracial region, shaped by the vibrant organizing and creative participation of migrants and other diasporas. Through interviews with church members, fellow Latinx ministers, and faith-based and community organizations in the state, I seek to understand how Latinx communities are turning to our faith to build more just futures and to collaborate across difference — transforming the South through our vision and our imagination. The interviews I conduct will inform the second part of my project — a short documentary created in collaboration with local filmmakers Victoria Bouloubasis and Alex Morelli (and editor César Martínez Barba).