Landfill to Refuge: Ciudad de Dios
Photos by: Christina Bumann
Let Known | January 2026
We arrived in Tijuana, Mexico early in the morning. The air was cool and dusty while the buzz of traffic, vendors, and voices rose with the sun burning off the morning fog. But just beyond the crowded streets, tucked into a once-forgotten valley, stands a place called Ciudad de Dios – The City of God.
It is a place built for people who have lost almost everything.
I traveled to Ciudad de Dios with Open Road Global and my church, Light Church, to volunteer for the day, play soccer with the kids, and witness firsthand what faith, partnership, and perseverance can create in the context of one of the world’s most contested borders. What I found was not just a shelter, but a community. A community built around a church and shaped by resilience, hope, and love. The pastor – Pastor Gustavo Banda Aceves.
Pastor Gustavo - photo by: Gabriel Richardson
Pastor Gustavo’s Calling - No Master Plan
“When God first told me to build this church, I was confused,” he told me. “This was not a beautiful place. It was forgotten. A deserted valley. The only inhabitants were hundreds of pigs, and it stank because it was a landfill.”
He questioned why anyone would come to such a place.
“I said, ‘God, who would want to come here?’ And the Lord answered me, ‘Did you forget where I was born?’”
Born in a manger. Among animals. Surrounded by stench. Jesus was born unto us.
“So I built the church,” he said. “And I kept building – piece by piece – exactly as He told me.”
What began as a small church grew into a refuge. In 2016, Pastor Gustavo opened his doors to Haitian migrants stranded in Tijuana after changes in U.S. immigration policy. Over time, this ministry expanded to serve people from across Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond. By 2022, Ciudad de Dios had grown into one of the largest faith-based migrant shelters in northern Mexico, envisioned as a multi-purpose sanctuary providing housing, food, education, and spiritual care (Zeta Tijuana, 2022; Infobae, 2022).
Today, Ciudad de Dios is supported by churches, nonprofits, and volunteers from around the world. Organizations such as Open Road Global, Light Church, and Love Does partner with Pastor Gustavo’s ministry to help meet both immediate and long-term needs. Open Road Global, for example, supports sustainable food systems and community development at the site, including hydroponic gardens that help provide daily meals (Open Road Global, 2024).
Pastor Gustavo makes it clear that no one organization or individual carries Ciudad de Dios alone.
“Ciudad de Dios is not my city,” he said. “It is God’s city. I am just trying to be obedient every day.”
“This work is impossible alone. God always sends the right people at the right time.”
He describes the community as a living body.
“As the Bible says, we are one body. Every part matters. People from all over the world having different backgrounds, different stories, they all come together to help the hurting parts of the body of Christ.”
Ana’s Story: When a Shelter Becomes Home
Ana - Photo by: Gabriel Richardson
In one of the residential areas, I met Ana, a mother from El Salvador, who arrived with her husband and two young sons on February 3, 2025. Like thousands of families, Ana fled violence and instability in search of safety.
“Ciudad de Dios has helped me a lot,” she told me. “It provides us with a place to live where there is always food, electricity, and water. There are opportunities for personal growth, learning about God, and education for my children, which is fundamental from a young age.”
She paused, then added:
“I am very grateful and blessed by God to be in a place that, even if we are just passing through, becomes a home for each family.”
Ana described her family simply:
“We are a little family from El Salvador – dad, mom, and two little boys.”
In a world where migrant families are often reduced to statistics, Ana’s words remind us that every number represents a home, a story, and a future still being written.
Ana’s two boys - Photo by: Gabriel Richardson
Why Places Like This Matter
According to Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission, migration through northern border cities like Tijuana has intensified in recent years due to political instability, economic collapse, and violence across the region (CNDH, 2023).
As U.S. and Mexican immigration policies continue to shift, many families are forced to wait months or years in uncertain conditions.
In that gap, shelters like Ciudad de Dios become lifelines.
They offer:
Safety
Stability
Education
Spiritual care
Dignity
Not as handouts, but as acts of solidarity.
For Pastor Gustavo, the mission goes beyond logistics. Ciudad de Dios is more than a shelter.
“This is a place where families can find safety,” he said. “But more than that, where they can find hope by finding Jesus. We live in a troubled world full of violence and pain. The only place we can find true peace is with God.”
His vision is not limited to migrants.
“I want to bring God to everyone: the poor, the homeless, the forgotten – because I know the only one who can truly help them is God.”
At Let Known, we believe stories are sacred. They connect donors to people. Partners to purpose. Compassion to action.
Ciudad de Dios is not just a project. It is proof of what happens when stewardship meets collaboration and when faith is paired with practical love. It is a reminder that transformation begins in landfills, margins, and forgotten valleys where someone chooses to say yes.
Let Known aims to tell these stories of faithfulness.
Visiting Ciudad de Dios, I was deeply moved by the work God has done through Pastor Gustavo’s obedience. What began as a simple “yes” has grown into a living ecosystem of restoration. Today, women like Ana are learning vocational skills such as creating handmade jewelry that provides dignity, income, and a sense of purpose for their families. Their work now reaches beyond the border, carried into communities like Encinitas through partners such as Open Road Global and the Redemptive Market. Children who once lived in uncertainty now attend school, learning and playing in classrooms built through the support of Love Does. Joy and hope now fill this valley.
Because Pastor Gustavo answered God’s call, and because people around the world have chosen to stand with him, Ciudad de Dios is a reminder that when churches, nonprofits, creatives, and donors each bring what they have and trust God with the outcome, light overcomes the darkness.
You can:
· Pray for families like Ana’s
· Support organizations serving on the border
· Share these stories
· Partner with Let Known
Together, we can help ensure that “passing through” never means “forgotten,” and that even from landfills and forgotten valleys, God continues to bring beauty from ashes.
Sources: Zeta Tijuana (2022); Infobae (2022); Open Road Global (2024); Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (2023); Light Church Missions.
