After spending weeks in ICE detention facilities in Salisbury, Baltimore and Louisiana, Fuentes Espinal has returned home. Months after his release, he is back to continuing his ministry in Easton and finding new ways to serve others — including those still behind bars.
Between balancing his calling as a pastor with working in construction, Fuentes Espinal is staying in touch with many of the people he met while detained.
"Every day, I receive about six to ten calls from people who are there asking for prayer and also for financial support," he said.
He says the outpouring of support he personally received from his congregation and the wider community, including donations to a GoFundMe account, has allowed him to pay kindness forward.
"We've helped other people with funds," he said. "We've helped other people who can't afford to pay their bond. We've also been helping families whose husbands were captured and who were left without money in their homes."
Fuentes Espinal's church in Easton, Iglesia del Nazareno Jesús Te Ama.
The ministry Fuentes Espinal started inside the detention center is still active today. After having that experience, he says coming home to his congregation was an emotional experience.
"Knowing that we've been in ministry for 14 years, preaching the word here in this place, filled my heart with joy," he said. "Knowing that God didn't allow me to be sent back to my country, but kept me here to continue preaching his word. So, for me, this place is very special."
Fuentes Espinal says his greatest hope is to stay in the Unites States legally, and to one day visit his family in Honduras for the first time in 25 years. For now, he will contiue visiting churches across Delmarva to share his testimony and encourage families facing similar situations.
"The only desire in our hearts is to give the best to our families," Fuentes Espinal said. "We are not criminals. We are not bad people. We are people who have emigrated from our nations out of necessity."
Fuentes Espinal is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge next year.