One of our churches in Mexico

Mexico: New and Thriving

Gary Dilley
Director of Global Ministries

My trip to Mexico also came in August, 2002, when I accompanied Denis Casco, Director of Latin American Ministries, to their annual convention.

In their convention, they march the pastors up front and have them, individually, lay out what they are doing and not doing, and how their year is going. That was very interesting to see. It's a degree of peer accountability that is quite different from what we're used to in the States.

I was impressed by the extent to which these people were really studying their local culture to determine, "What do we need to do to get the message out and develop our witness in our communities?" They demonstrated some great thinking when it comes to vision and leadership. I heard them discuss strategies involving children's ministries, sports ministries, music ministries, and other things which they wanted to use as ways to establish a beachhead in their community.

I was impressed by how well they had thought things through, and how they were organizing to produce the most fruit. I was also encouraged by how churches located close to each other were developing partnerships with each other.

I was also impressed by our leaders and pastors in that convention, especially by their questions and discussions. These were individuals who had obviously thought a lot about the things they were wrestling with. And while there was some disagreement among them, I saw a lot of camaraderie, the ability to say, "I know we can't deal with all these things right now, but we'll come back to them. Even though we disagree, we are United Brethren and we will work through these things together."

The UBs of Mexico are working on their own missions effort. We tend to be naive in how we look at Mexico, thinking that Mexicans will reach out to their fellow Mexicans. The fact is, Mexico, like many other countries, consists of a large number of ethnic groups. At the convention, we had delegates from some churches who needed some translation help, because they didn't know regular Mexican Spanish very well. In Mexico, we have already extended into some ethnic enclaves.

They are also trying to work in the southern area known as Chiapas, where there has been a lot of violence and rebel activity. Our churches are making plans to develop a beachhead in Chiapas. I was pleased to see that.

In ways, I was reminded of Honduras. As a pastor, I was involved in helping to build a church in Yoro, a village in Honduras. Their current church was about the size of a garage, and we were helping them get a little bit bigger building. But even while this building was under construction, they took us six miles up the road to Chalmeca, where they were already starting a new church. They wanted us to catch their vision for this place, where there is no other Protestant witness. At Chalmeca, their preaching point is under an unbelievably big tree. The day will come when a small building will stand in this pasture, and they'll move on from there.

In the States, we tend to become engulfed in running our programs and building projects. But in places like Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Haiti, they're already looking to see where God wants them to go next. Seeing this initiative, this response to the need for the Gospel, has made me very humble.

This is what I saw in Mexico regarding Chiapas--these people are thinking about where they need to go next, and doing it much more effectively than we do in the States. I applaud them.

They are more into the Nike slogan--Just Do It. And as a result, they are taking the initiative to make it happen. It doesn't mean that they don't think through the contextual issues, such as how to connect with unique communities and people groups. But the thing that's a little bit different at times is, they just do it.