Road to Monterrey perilous, promising for BUA graduates

MONTERREY, Mexico—Motorists entering Monterrey drive past mountainsides painted with massive "Z's," a territorial claim by the infamous Zetas drug cartel and a mute testimony to the constant threat of violence and lawlessness in the region. The 49 mutilated bodies dumped on a highway near Monterrey in mid-May marked the latest example in a string of killings that have gripped northern Mexico in recent months.

But Nancy Kuk and her husband, Francisco, have chosen to invest their lives in her hometown.

Francisco and Nancy Kuk walk with their young son, Marcos, in Monterrey, Mexico, a violent city to which they believe God has called them. (BUA Photo)

The Kuks moved from San Antonio to Monterrey last May as pioneering missionaries in a Baptist University of the Américas program to partner Texas Baptist churches with the San Antonio school's graduates.

The month before they arrived, headlines described how, in two days, 30 people had been killed in shootouts in the city. So, the Kuks' move puzzled some people, especially since they were new parents.

"Many of our friends and relatives were very concerned, but we dare to believe that wherever we go, God will be right by our side" Nancy Kuk said. "Making the decision was difficult, but the fact that I had my family there gave us some comfort. If we had to start from zero in a place that we no longer knew, it would have been harder. The burden seemed much easier to bear with the help and support of our family."

The young couple "talked about the possibility of coming back to Mexico for over a year, and we weighed all the pros and cons," she noted. "We took into consideration what we would be giving up—not for us but for our son. However, we also looked at what we would be gaining and realized, since Marcos would still be a baby, it was not going to affect him as much as it would if we waited for him to be older."

After more than a decade living away from Mexico, trying to get settled in was more difficult than they expected.

"Nancy's dad let us stay in his house for six months, but we had to buy all our furniture and didn't even have a fan to help us with the intensely hot weather," Kuk said. "It has been a challenge financially."

Even so, he secured a job teaching civics, ethics and Spanish to middle-school students, and she was hired as a fifth grade teacher.

"Thanks to our degrees from BUA and our English fluency we were able to find work," she said.

"It has been almost a year since we came back to Mexico, and every day we get more settled in. Every day we fight a new battle. Every day we look back. And every day we thank God, because not only are we doing OK, but God has also given us jobs, placed caring people in our path and everyday he is teaching us to fall back in love with our country. Who knows? Maybe Mexico is yet another steppingstone for something even greater God has in store for us."

The Kuks realize the danger in northern Mexico as violence increases. "We are cautious not to be out past a certain hour, but the drug cartels are now beginning to come out and commit their atrocities in broad daylight," he said. "Nancy's brother, sister and father have been mugged and her brother robbed twice—once at knifepoint and once at gunpoint. We have had a few close encounters too, but God is our protector. … There is much to be done and very few people doing it."

They work with Pastor Jesús Mario González at Iglesia Bautista Betábara. "Pastor Mario suggested we take things slowly and let the church get to know and trust us," Kuk explained. "We have to learn how this church does ministry, and then we can begin to put our dreams and training into action—witnessing, teaching and discipling believers and—hopefully—eventually starting a Baptist Bible Institute through BUA."

As undergraduates at BUA, the Kuks served churches in Castroville, Elmendorf and San Antonio. In 2008, the couple began a three-year internship at Northeast Baptist Church in San Antonio as youth and language ministers.

"Because of them, our congregation now has a greater openness to the Hispanic language and culture, and now a direct connection to God's work in Mexico. We continue to stay in contact with them. We watch and pray with eagerness as we wait to see what God will do through them in Monterrey," Pastor Chad Chaddick said.

The Kuks' decision to return to Mexico made them the initial answer to BUA's dream to match BUA graduates with Baptist churches and mission agencies in the United States, equipping them to return to their home countries and strengthen churches there. Northeast Baptist and Woodland Baptist in San Antonio were the first congregations to partner with BUA in its mission program.

"It has been a slow beginning and at times we have come very close to losing our patience," Kuk acknowledged. "But we are learning to wait on God."