Santa Teresa, Mexico

The January Trip

As the new year arrived, we jumped right back into ministry. For the past four years, we have been starting January missions trips within the first couple days of the new year. It is a simple way for us to offer God the first-fruits of what He has given us - there is no better way to start off the new year than by serving Him!

For 2022, our team traveled for 10 hours by bus to return to Santa Teresa - a very small, remote town in the mountains of Nayarit, Mexico for 10 days. Santa Teresa is home to an ethnic group of about five thousand indigenous people who call themselves “Cora People.” 

It had been two years since we last visited Santa Teresa so we were very excited to follow up on the work we had previously started. Our team of 50 volunteers was from seven states in Mexico and five states in the US. This team had 17 first timers who had never had any missions experience, so everyday was an opportunity to learn new things and grow. On this trip, we not only wanted to encourage the local church and do outreach in the village but we wanted to pour into the team and equip them to share the gospel on their own. God did so much in each team member’s spiritual growth! Each morning consisted of worship, small group devotions, and workshops on how to do missions. After learning about how to do missions, we went out and did it through house-to-house visits and talking to people we met on the street. 

In addition to Santa Teresa, we also reached seven neighboring villages by splitting into smaller teams. In total, about 450 people were reached through house visits where we brought food, gifts, and the gospel. Thanks to everyone who donated, 700 people received clothing donations and about 200 children received toys!

VBS!

For three days we hosted a VBS for 350 kids. We were very encouraged to see that many of them remembered the songs we had taught them on our trip two years ago! They were so thrilled to have us back and we were excited to see that so many of them were growing in Christ since they had been saved. We broke the kids into six different age groups where we taught Bible lessons, made crafts, and played games. Many parents watched and interacted with us as we taught and discussed the lessons with them. It was wonderful to see parents interested in what we were teaching their children and for them to have ideas and examples on how to teach their kids the Bible in engaging ways.

Humanitarian Aid

Mid-trip, we offered our humanitarian aid program to the community by hosting a clinic at the local Chrsitian church. Our medical staff served about 100 patients, the dental team saw about 50 dental patients needing fillings and extractions, our chiropractor team took care of about 170 patients with musculoskeletal issues, and our hair cutting team cut and braided 200 heads of hair! It is amazing to look at these numbers and know that each one represents not just a person with physical needs, but a soul in need of the saving work of Christ. To know that each one not only heard the gospel and learned about the church, but received prayer from our prayer team is something we are so grateful to God for!

The Local Church

The church in Santa Teresa is very important to us so we made it a point to spend some quality time with them. We gave workshops on what a healthy church should look like and also split into small groups where moms, dads, young adults, and kids each learned about how to grow in their relationships with God. Many of the church members welcomed us to their homes where we shared a meal with them and encouraged them to keep pressing forward. After the workshops and spending time with the church members, we were encouraged to see how much they had grown and how excited they were to continue the work there. Please be in prayer for this church - it is under new leadership and since many people gave their lives to Christ during this trip to Santa Teresa, it has a lot of work in discipleship ahead!

Testimonies From Team Members

John 6:35

“God puts the right people at the right place at the right time! For each house visit, we tried to bring bags of groceries with us to give to the families we met. As we were asking God where He wanted us to go, we unknowingly arrived at a house that desperately needed groceries. The family was eating the last they had in their pantry - a small portion of beans and tortillas. This miracle of food showing up on their doorstep made them very receptive to the gospel and we were so honored to be a part in sending them much-needed support in a time they needed it most. Not only did they get their physical needs met, they were introduced to Jesus - the Bread of Life.”

God is On Time

As our team walked down the main street of Santa Teresa picking up trash on the road, we smiled and greeted a woman who invited us to her porch to rest. She was a Christian and a widow who made donuts to support herself so we were honored that she offered some to us. After asking if she had any prayer requests, she told us about her son who was in prison. One of the team members immediately started explaining to her that he had previously been incarcerated in the same prison and was able to share his testimony of how God saved him while he was in prison. We were amazed at how God provided an opportunity for him to meet her and were excited to give her a Bible since she didn’t have one. 

Acts 16:31

My house visit team visited the same house four times and God made it very clear why. On the first visit, three members of the household gave their lives to Christ. We followed up with them the next day for a second visit and it was then that we noticed the mother was always in bed. After questioning them about this, we learned that she was severely anemic, barely had the energy to sit up in bed, and hadn’t even raised her hands above her head in months. That evening they had us back for dinner and invited all of their extended family to come and meet us. 19 family members sat and asked us questions about the gospel and every member of the house, young and old, expressed that they wanted to be saved without us even asking if they wanted to be! Our fourth and final visit greatly encouraged us because we noticed the mom who had been bedridden out in the yard walking. We almost didn’t recognize her! Before we told everyone goodbye, we gave them a Bible and showed them how to use it and encouraged them to read God’s word as a family. Acts 16:31 really came to life for us because the entire household came to faith, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Our God Heals

“When we were doing house to house visits and delivering groceries, the Holy Spirit led us to a house where a six year old boy was in a wheelchair. When we asked about him, his parents had shared that he had never walked. My team began sharing Bible stories of how Jesus healed paralyzed people and how God is a God of the impossible. After asking him if he believed that God could heal, he confessed that he did so we prayed that God would heal him. After the prayer, we helped him stand up off of the wheelchair and try to take steps, and though it was extremely difficult for him, he took his first steps with help - his family began cheering for him! They were so open to the gospel and six members were saved! We told his family to keep praying and to keep helping him practice walking. Five days later we went back to his house to check on him, we prayed again and practiced walking. He was able to walk with minimal assistance. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and we were amazed to see Him do miracles in this boy and his family!