This morning we had our first service on the new property! More pictures and video are coming, but I want to give a quick report with a few pictures.
Four years ago, there was no church in Jesús MarÃa. So more than anything, we thank “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us … to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:13-14)!
I don’t know what you think of when you think of a church plant, but you may find two things interesting.
First, there was no missionary leading the service. A missionary didn’t preach, or teach Sunday school, or lead the music. No missionary planned the songs or arranged for the food that appeared after the service. I happened to be playing keyboard, but I don’t do that every week.
Now sometimes we do those things, but our goal is to equip others. And, in fact, we can’t even say that we did that alone – apart from God who truly gives people the power, believers (many still young in the faith) have helped others to get involved.
Jesus builds His Church. We’re honoured to serve Him.
That being said, here’s the other amazing thing. There are many, many, many people who have been involved in this work. Even looking just at the land and the building, there have been people from many parts of the world who have helped.
Thank you to the many who have prayed for these people, and who have given and even come and helped with the construction!
But speaking just of people here in Mexico City, there have been so many people who have given sacrificially of their time and money to make this property and building a reality. I’m talking about people working late into the night, people praying, people washing cars to earn money, people selling food … looking around during the service, surely almost everyone we could see (except for new people) had helped to get us to where we are.
So the work is all the Lord’s – and yet He invites so many to be involved! A great community of people, leading others to worship and praise and celebrate!
It’s exciting that the church now has property that belongs to them – a place to make disciples.
But the neat things is, the church itself (or, I should say, ourselves), belongs to Christ – purchased with His blood – united forever to Him.
I’ll humbly admit – I’m not a meetings guy. I need a special gift of grace from God to make it past the one hour point.
Meetings, as you know, are a blessing and a curse. They’re a curse because we’re constantly in danger of being irrelevant in our meetings and simply having too many of them.
On the other hand, a meeting can be another word for spending time with people and communicating. And who could argue with that?
It seems like life has been filled with meetings lately, but that’s not all bad.
For example, there was that meeting where we sat around with Mexican and expat believers in Ixtapaluca, talking about how we could help more people in the community, and where we might be able to plant another church. Or two.
David Gómez shares
On Friday, we met with our team of missionaries from Mexico City and Puebla. We got to know our new arrival a bit (Jessica), and prayed for each other and people we know, asking God to work in His power in central Mexico.
On Sunday, we have a worship service. This Sunday we had some bonus times – we heard about the service at an orphanage in Puebla that some of our church were involved in. And we also heard from David Gómez, our missionary to Uruguay.
On Tuesday I was a pinch hitter at a meeting of leadership from our mission, from Mexico and the USA. (A “pinch hitter” because our team leader Chuck normally would have been there, but he was out of the country) We talked about how we could better communicate and share resources between teams and countries and organizations and churches, and how we could better care for missionaries to Mexico – and missionaries from Mexico.
Ideas, discussions – now hopefully we can put some feet on those ideas, feed them spinach, and get them bursting into the real world of “doing”!
But our success is only measured by what is done for the love of Christ in the power of His Spirit. May God continue to guide us as we learn how to share that love with the people of Mexico – and beyond.
In the city of Puebla there’s a English Christian school that’s related to the mission we work with. Although we have never sent our kids there, we’ve visited and we have friends there, both students and teachers.
I heard a rumour that they’re looking for teachers for next year. Check out this video for more information.
(Note: I think the email address at the end is out of date. For more information, and to contact the school, visit PCS: Join the Staff)
A team that came to visit us from Nebraska is now officially famous. They now appear in an article from the Fremont Tribune, an almost century-and-a-half old newspaper run by the fourth largest newspaper group in the United States.
How’s that for an introduction?
The team visited both Ixtapaluca and Puebla, and the article has a lot of information about their time here.
Here in Ixtapaluca, they were involved in a number of things, such as music, giving out wheelchairs, and construction.
Read the article for yourself, and see some pictures of our ministry here. Here’s an excerpt to get you started:
The group flew to Mexico City. They went to the neighborhood of Jesus Maria in Ixtapaluca, Mexico, where Barham helps run a community center and teaches English.
Team members helped assemble and distribute wheelchairs to people of various ages with different disabilities. The volunteers assembled three different sizes of chairs, adjusting them to fit the recipients. One older woman was so appreciative and deeply touched team members’ hearts.
“She gave us all a big hug and in Spanish she said, ‘God is your refuge. Don’t ever give up,'” Ruwe recalled.
Members also worked in a church now under construction, chiseling out 3- by 3-foot holes, each 3 feet deep, in a cement floor for footings that would support a second floor of a building. Members also spent time clearing weeds and picking up trash at the community center.
We’re looking forward to new adventures in 2014 – and new people to share them with!
Two new mid-term missionaries will be joining us in 2014. It’s about time I introduced them!
First, coming later this month is Jessica Nixon! Jessie comes from Texas, USA and is a part of Country Bible Church. She has many talents, including graphic design and photography, and hopes to be involved in many creative pursuits here in Ixtapaluca, such as teaching art classes. She’ll be with us for a year, Lord willing.
In June we’ll be welcoming Emily Tiel, from Alberta, Canada. Emily will be doing an internship through Millar College of the Bible . As part of her internship, she is currently studying language and culture at Rio Grande Bible Institute.
Emily is an experienced traveller with a passion for the Bible and a wide variety of ministries.
The graphic below shows 7 reasons why we need to pray for Mexico – and why Mexico needs to be reached. These are more statistical items that you may or may not see in the news.
As I compiled the list, I was reminded again of how complex these issues are. Please read below the graphic for more information about each point. (These are not listed in order of importance)
1) Broken Families
Dysfunctional families, men with “other families”, family violence, divorce, and abuse. Nearly 1/2 of all women in Mexico have experienced violent treatment from a partner.
The last stat there comes from the US Department of State 2012 Human Rights Report. It’s difficult to overestimate how widespread these problems are and how devastating they are to the community.
2) Corruption
Mexico is considered one of the two most corrupt countries in Latin America. In July 2013, an estimated 71% of Mexicans felt that corruption had grown worse in the past year. People are particularly concerned about corruption among police and political parties.
This is another issue that affects practically every area of life in Mexico. These stats from Transparency International.
3) Drug War
Although not just about drugs, the war between police, soldiers and drug cartels makes Mexico one of the world’s hot spots. Several hundred were killed each month in the fighting in 2013 according to recent stats, making this war easily comparable with ongoing armed conflicts elsewhere world, including Iraq and Syria. Over the past 5 years Mexico has also been one of the 10 most dangerous countries for journalists.
This is one of the most complex issues, and probably brings about more misunderstanding than any other.
The war between police, soldiers, and cartels is one of the most serious in the world. However, reliable statistics are very hard to come by. Which deaths, disappearances, and kidnappings are related to the war, and which are not?
In spite of the seriousness of the conflict, murder rates in Mexico are actually quite low compared to many other countries. You’re going to be safer in Mexico (assuming you’re not selling drugs!) than in many places in the USA or Canada. In fact, you’re more likely to die in a plane crash on the way than be murdered in Mexico.
If you remove killings related to the conflict, Mexico actually becomes ever safer. The state we live in is also one of the safest.
So for those directly involved, or caught in the crossfire (usually in particularly dangerous areas), the conflict is very serious and must have the world’s attention. But in general, Mexico remains much much safer than countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
Also, remember that this is not just a “drug” war, but involves illegal trade in other things, including human beings (see below).
You’ll see articles saying that the situation in Mexico has been overblown (true – we don’t suffer the collapse of infrastructure that many countries such have suffered, the violence is in certain areas not in others, the overall murder rate is low), and articles saying that we’re ignoring a serious problem (also true – again, this is one of the more serious ongoing armed conflicts in the world. Hundreds dead every month right here in North America is horrific.) Both are true. Is Mexico safe to visit? If you come to the right areas, yes. Should we pray for Mexico? You bet.
Economic challenges were felt in most countries in 2013, and Mexico was no exception. In 2013, the government aggressively raised taxes and fees in many areas that will be felt by every citizen. The minimum wage in Mexico is less than 11% what it is in the rest of North America.
It’s not my intention to get into a lot of politics here, but there’s no doubt that taxes and fees have been raised all over the place in 2012 and 2013. This one has impacted us and will continue to, with drastic increases to fees we need to pay as foreigners for paperwork (ie visas), and a raise in fees that will impact every Mexican (food, transportation, etc). People who are struggling already are being hit hard.
The information about taxation has been all over the news (although the reporting does not seem to me to be balanced). For minimum wage information I used this chart by Lisa Mahapatra.
5) Kidnappings
Kidnappings in Mexico were probably the highest in 2013 in recorded history, and Mexico is #1 in the world. It is estimated that a kidnapping happens in Mexico every 5 minutes.
Again, particularly in areas hardest hit by the drug war. For statistics, see the Justice in Mexico Project.
6) Religious Persecution
Religious persecution has been on the rise in the past few years. Families have experienced violence, loss of livelihood, loss of access to water, electricity and their homes, imprisonment, and fines. In some cases children have been turned away from school because of religious belief.
This is another one that has been going on for years, but seems to be increasing. Although there is less violence in our area, thankfully, you still pay a price if you choose to follow the Lord Jesus.
Estimates usually range from tens of thousands to half a million victims of slavery in Mexico. Forced labour and prostitution are common, among both adults and children. Many slaves are used for sex tourism or are shipped north.
Estimates vary wildly on this one for two reasons, I think. First, because it’s a secret underground problem that you don’t see. But second because there are different ways to define “slavery” and “human trafficking”. That’s why you hear terms such as “slave-like conditions”.
But it’s not only a problem that probably impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands in Mexico, it’s also a growing problem. Slaves being kept in Mexico or sold in other countries is a way for organized crime to diversify. And as one reporter noted, you can only sell cocaine once.
