• Calais, France

Pilgrimage in photos: Christ at the Borders in Calais

While on a tour of Calais, the pilgrimage stopped to say a prayer while touching one of the many walls put up throughout the city to keep migrating people out. Photo by Roger Farmer.
While on a tour of Calais, the pilgrimage stopped to say a prayer while touching one of the many walls put up throughout the city to keep migrating people out. Photo by Roger Farmer.

From April 7-16, seven people joined Mennonite Mission Network staff and international workers in Calais, France. Together, they witnessed the harsh realities faced by migrants attempting the final, perilous leg of their journey: crossing the English Channel from mainland Europe to the United Kingdom. These photos offer a glimpse of what they saw and experienced — though they capture only part of the story.

The full pilgrimage assembles in Paris, France. Back row (from left to right): Alex Mace, Marvin Schmucker, Roger Farmer, Joseph Givens, Miciah Givens, Rachel Givens. Front row: Kristin Larson-Jantzi, Elizabeth Eby, Lee Schmucker, Libbie Lapp, Elijah Givens, Mary Lou Farmer, Arloa Bontrager, Laura Rodriguez Reyes, Valeri McGarvey. Photo by Ben Woodward-Breckbill.
The pilgrimage stopped at the Paris Mennonite Center, a Mission Network partner, before heading out to Calais. Photo by Valeri McGarvey.
Peter Sensenig, Marvin Schmucker, and Elizabeth Eby work on repairing a garden shed at the Maria Skobtsova House in Calais. Photo provided.
The pilgrimage gathers after lunch at the Marisa Skobtsova House, preparing to discuss what comes next. Photo by Elizabeth Eby.
On their walking tour of Calais, the pilgrimage encountered the former site of “The Jungle.” The Jungle was, at its peak, a makeshift community housing nearly 10,000 people. In 2016, the city force people out, demolished the housing and other structures — including a mosque and an Orthodox church — and turned the former community into a “natural preservation area” that is, to this day, not open to the public. Photo by Elizabeth Eby.
The boulders in this photo are set out to make it harder for migrants and asylum seekers to set up tents and camp. The United Kingdom finances the placement of these boulders and other measures in order to both extend its borders into mainland Europe and to make Calais a less appealing crossing spot. Photo by Kristin Larson-Jantzi.
The pilgrimage took a tour of the Warehouse, which hosts a variety of different non-profit organizations working to support the needs of migrating people in Calais. The Warehouse is run by a group called Calais Appeal, and they host organizations like the Calais Food Collective, Project Play, La Capuche Mobilisée, Channel Info Project, The Woodyard, Refugee Women’s Center, and Utopia 56. Photo by Elizabeth Eby.
A wall of information inside the Warehouse. At the top right, photos of the Jungle can be seen before its demolition by riot police in October 2016. Photo by Roger Farmer.
At Secours Catholique, Elizabeth Eby and Kristin Larson-Jantzi passed out various necessary hygiene items. Photo by Arloa Bontrager.
Laura Rodriguez Reyes examines the Banksy painting on the Calais beach, said to represent the dangerous journey that migrating children take over the English Channel to the United Kingdom. Photo by Elizabeth Eby.
This paper rolled out on a street in Calais lists the name, age, nationality, and date of death for each person who has died crossing the English Channel in search of a better life for themselves and their family. Photo by Rachel Givens.
Libbie Lapp, Mary Lou and Roger Farmer look out over the English Channel as they cross from Calais, France to the United Kingdom. As they crossed, the pilgrims reflected on the fact that they were traveling in comfort while migrants are forced to risk their lives to cross on rubber rafts, intended for 30 people but often holding 60 to 70 people. Photo by Elizabeth Eby.
After worshipping at the Amott Road Baptist Church in London, the group traveled to Canterbury by train to meet with people from the Church of England in Canterbury, which provides support for migrants and asylum seekers being settled in the Kent region. Here, Rachel Target (center) of the church’s Social Justice Network gives the group a walking tour of Canterbury. Photo by Elizabeth Eby.
After a week of travel, listening, learning and serving, the group reconvened in Paris for one final night of reflection. Photo by Elizabeth Eby.

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