Posted: 11/19/04
| Texas volunteers lead an outreach activity for children along the Texas/Mexico border. More than 70 mission teams served more than 18,500 people in Texas colonias during the past year through BGCT River Ministry. |
Texas Baptist mission trips to Mexico
increase 25 percent with 620 groups
By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
Texas Baptist mission trips to Mexico through the Baptist General Convention of Texas River Ministry shot up more than 25 percent in the past year, including an increase in churches looking to serve in the nation's interior.
In the last 12 months, 620 mission groups served in Mexico, up from 489 teams in the previous 12-month period. River Ministry saw an increase in most categories, including church starts, evangelistic projects, construction efforts and the number of border churches served.
The rise is occurring across the nation. More than 70 groups served in El Paso and Juarez during 2004. More teams are planning trips to penetrate the interior of Mexico.
 |
| A Texas Baptist volunteer provides dental care for a young man along the Texas/Mexico border. Many Texas Baptists give free medical care through clinics facilitated by BGCT River Ministry. |
The increase is the result of Texas Baptists becoming more aware of mission possibilities in Mexico, due in part to the partnership between the BGCT and the National Baptist Convention of Mexico, said Dexton Shores, director of BGCT River Ministry.
Geography makes Mexico the closest and easiest place for Texans to have an international mission experience, Shores noted.
The spiritual needs also call to Christians, he added. Though the majority of the country is nominally Roman Catholic, few people in many areas act upon a faith that includes Jesus.
“As close as Mexico is to the United States, it is still one of the least evangelized countries,” he said.
The portions of Mexico beyond the Texas border are among the nation's most unchurched, Shores said. Congregations are seeing this and are beginning to serve there more often. Hispanic churches are more quickly moving this way as they are familiar with the cultures of natives in these regions.
“They're seeing the need to spread the blessing to unreached areas,” Shores said.
Texas churches are not simply looking to serve for a week either, he added. They want to develop relationships with congregations and often are inviting their Mexican counterparts to serve in their ministries.
“We're going to partner with viable churches and viable conventions … and lend them a hand with a humble spirit,” he said.
We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.
Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.