Mexico Partnership — November 2022 Update
In October 2021, a team from The Outreach Foundation journeyed to Mexico City to meet and form a partnership with the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico (INPM). The Presbyterian church is alive and thriving south of the border with 6,000 churches and over three million members. The focus of our partnership with the INPM is to support church plants where there is scant evangelical presence in this predominantly (79%) Catholic country. Executive Director Mark Mueller and I recently returned to México to visit these church plants, accompanied by the INPM leadership team.
Our first stop was in the picturesque colonial city of Oaxaca de Juárez, the capital of the southwestern state of Oaxaca. On Sunday morning, we had the privilege of worshiping at an urban church plant in the heart of the city focused on reaching the next generation for Christ. The name of the church is Hospital de la Fe (Hospital of Faith). Pastor Eliel Osorio and his wife Jessica selected that name because they stand on the belief that we are all broken and in need of the healing touch of Jesus.
Pastor Eliel and Jessica started Hospital de la Fe in March 2020 — right at the start of the COVID pandemic. Undaunted, their first service was live streamed from their backyard with six people attending in person — Pastor Eliel’s family and two neighbors. Since that humble beginning, Pastor Eliel and Jessica have persevered and grown Hospital de la Fe into a thriving congregation of over 100. Worship is expertly led by professional musicians from Argentina and Mexico. The congregation is reaching out to those in the city via prayer walks and regular distributions of food to the poor. They just started a youth ministry.
After a 10-hour drive through the mountainous terrain of Oaxaca and the humid tropical lowlands of the southern state of Chiapas, we arrived in Tapachula. Tapachula is a mere 15 miles from the border with Guatemala and is home to over 30,000 immigrants from South and Central America as well as Cuba and Haiti. We were privileged to visit la Iglesia Jesus Cristo El Salvador, Oriente (Jesus Christ the Savior, East Church), a vibrant church planted by Pastor Neri Rivera and his wife, Karina. From the start, Pastor Neri’s congregation has had a heart for the refugee population in their area. They give sacrificially to provide for a wide variety of refugee needs including food, medical care costs, rent and utility subsidies, and help with asylum documentation.
Pastor Neri and his family directly live out the vision of the church by hosting a revolving number of families in their home (anywhere from five to nine people at a time) as well as serving meals to an additional 20 people on a daily basis.
We were also blessed to visit Centro Shalom (Peace Center), a men’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation center targeted toward the immigrant/refugee population. Men at the center receive treatment and counseling to help them recover from their addictions as well as spiritual mentoring. As Centro Shalom’s campus is situated on several acres of farmland outside of Tapachula, residents work the land raising pigs, chickens, and tropical fruit to help defray the cost of the center. During our visit, we were blessed to talk with the men receiving care and especially enjoyed meeting Alejandro, who overcame drug addiction and is now the on-site supervisor of Centro Shalom. Going forward, The Outreach Foundation will be supporting this ministry of the Presbyterian church.
Doug Nielson, Outreach Board of Trustees
Jessica Osorio, Rev. Eliel’s wife, designs and makes beautiful jewelry that she sells to help support the INPM. Take a look at her lovely jewelry HERE.
Read more about the Mexico Partnership HERE.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts to support the mission and ministry of the Mexico Partnership. All gifts of any size are welcomed to help the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.