Our partner church, the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, has organized a missionary order called the Society of St. John the Evangelist.

The Saint John Society is ready to begin building a new retreat and rehabilitation center in central Chiapas, the Chiapas Missionary Community. The land has been purchased and will be large enough to provide for both a spiritual renewal center and a facility for alcohol recovery, a serious problem among indigenous men in southern Mexico. The work with alcoholics will be led by Rev. Fredy Gomez, a Presbyterian pastor and native of the area. He has worked many years with Alcoholics Anonymous. In addition, the Chiapas Missionary Community will have space for battered women, a temporary homeless shelter, and a home for unwed mothers-to-be.

Local churches will help with clearing land, planting trees and corn, and laying foundations for the first buildings. The reason retreat centers are important is that they offer a ministry service to the local churches. In Mexico, many congregations do not have a full-time pastor. The retreat centers offer a place for teaching Bible, Christian education, spiritual renewal, music ministry, vocational training, and other needs. The Chiapas Missionary Community will serve several different language groups: Tzeltal, Ch’ol, Tzotzil, and Spanish.

The center for spiritual renewal will be based on community principles found in the Rule of St. Benedict. This Rule has been an effective guide for Christian communal life for over 1,500 years. Churches or individuals who contribute to this ministry also have the opportunity to visit this work and to send short-term construction and ministry teams. This is a long term effort that welcomes U.S. congregations as mission partners. Don Wehmeyer devotes his time to developing programs for this center as well as leading operations and ministry teams.