Leandro Garza Mora Seminary, Monterrey

Located in the northern part of Mexico in the city of Monterrey, the seminary provides Biblical, theological and pastoral training to men and women who feel called by God to serve Christ, the Church, and their community. On weekends the students work with area churches. The seminary has been in existence for almost 15 years. Funds from this ECO will be used to provide scholarships, help with faculty salaries and develop the library.

Lacandon People (PFF)

There are only 700 Lacandon people, who live in five villages in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico supports Dario Lopez as a missionary to this group of people. Dario is from the Tzelal people. The PC(USA) is participating in the training and sending of Dario to this work.

Mexico Frontier Mission Development (PFF)

This fund assists the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico gain a vision to help complete the evangelization of unreached people groups in Mexico and begin the process of sending missionaries to other parts of Latin America and the world.

Evangelism Along the Border

Since 1984 the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico and the PC(USA) have jointly sponsored new church development along the 2000-mile border between Mexico and the United States . Twenty-nine churches have been organized, ranging from completely established congregations engaged in fresh outreach mission to their cities to very new gatherings of the faithful in previously unchurched neighborhoods.

Frontera de Cristo

The Frontera de Cristo ministry is located in Agua Prieta, Sonora (pop. 100,000) and Douglas, Arizona (pop. 13,000). On Sundays and weekday evenings the building is a center for worship, fellowship, Bible study and prayer groups, health and family ministry classes, and a medical clinic. The youth group has over 25 active participants.

Laredos Unidos

Laredo, Texas, (pop. 100,000) and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, (pop. 750,000). This mission program started in 1988 as the sixth site of the Presbyterian Border Ministry. The first steps taken to begin the ministry were to focus on evangelism. The result was the construction of two small sanctuaries in two different colonies (neighborhoods): Monte Sion at Union del Recuerdo and Peniel at Las Torres. In late 1989 the addition of a social outreach dimension began. Today Laredos Unidos includes not only two multi-purpose centers but also two emerging and vibrant congregations.

The 2,000-mile U.S./Mexico border offers opportunities for the PC(USA) and the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico to witness to their unity in Christ. Gifts to this ECO assist the churches as in partnership they plant new churches, construct buildings and employ funds for pastoral salaries. They provide preventive health programs like pre/postnatal care and inoculations, childhood nutrition, hygiene education, and potable water programs. Efforts also focus on community and economic development, literacy, mission and vocational education.

Project Amistad

Project Amistad focuses its missions in Piedras Negras, Mexico, located across from Eagle Pass, Texas, and Acuna, Mexico, located across from Del Rio, Texas. It includes not only a large community center, called Amistad Presbyterian Center, but also two Presbyterian congregations. Project Amistad ministers in its community through a holistic combination of evangelism and new church development, health, education and mission teams.

Pueblos Hermanos New Church Development

San Diego, California, (pop.1.5 million) and Tijuana, Mexico, (pop. 2 million). Pueblos Hermanos, started in 1984, now supports mission work of six congregations of the Northwest Border Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Mexico. Pueblos Hermanos works closely with the Korean Presbyterian Church, which has founded three Presbyterian worship centers in Tijuana.

Puentes de Cristo

Puentes de Cristo focuses its mission endeavors in the Reynosa, Mexico, area across from McAllen, Texas. Puentes' mission work encompasses four main areas: new church development, preventative health, self-development of people and mission participation (mission teams). Puentes is a joint ministry between Mission Presbytery in Texas and Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas Presbyteries in Mexico.

Susie Frerichs serves in the mountains of central-east Mexico, working with the Presbytery of the Huastecas, a presbytery of rural, indigenous churches of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico (INPM). She facilitates partnerships between U.S. and Mexican congregations and assists INPM congregations in evangelistic, educational, and community development programs, as well as in ministry with children, youth and Presbyterian Women’s groups.

Chris McReynolds is a U.S. coordinator of Proyecto Amistad, which recently relocated to the Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, border. There the PC(USA) and National Mexican Presbyterian Church collaborate in ministries of evangelism, new church development, community health and development, and mission education. “I have learned that God has much work for the church to do in Mexico and the United States,” writes Chris. “Christians from different cultures have much to offer and receive from one another beyond material things. It is my privilege to encourage the development of church partnerships and relationships, where, as we humble ourselves and remain in Christ, we get to take part in his work.”

Bill Richter is coordinator for Puentes de Cristo in Reynosa, Mexico, and McAllen, Texas. It is one of six sites where U.S. and Mexican Presbyterians collaborate in ministries of evangelism, new church development, community health and development, and mission education along our common border. “If you’ve spent any time along the U.S.-Mexico border,” writes Bill, “then you know how tense it has become. I feel that tension as God’s call to me to be present there and to help other people understand the causes of that tension. My experience as a YAV in Guatemala got me interested in working with short-term mission groups. I came to see their potential for transforming people and I wanted to be part of that.”

Bill Soldwisch, an ordained PC(USA) minister, is co-director of the Pueblos Hermanos Presbyterian Border Ministry in Tijuana–San Diego. This is one of six U.S.-Mexican Presbyterian collaborative ministries of evangelism, new church development, community health and development and mission education along the Mexico-U.S. border.

David and Susan Thomas began work as PC(USA) regional liaisons for Mexico on January 1, 2007. Previously they served with Compañeros en Misión, one of the six missions of the Presbyterian Border Ministry. Working with five churches in the state of Sonora, immediately south of Arizona, Compañeros en Misión is involved in evangelism and the development of self-sustaining churches and facilitates cross-cultural learning experiences. David and Susan coordinate short-term mission trips for visiting church groups from the United States.

Elizabeth Toland — Companeros en Mision U.S. Coordinator, Presbyterian Border Ministry          

Elizabeth works to enhance the opportunity for PC(USA) members and congregations to participate in the joint mission of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico and the PC(USA) and to strengthen mission education and relationships within the two churches.

Don Wehmeyer, an ordained PC(USA) minister, is director of the School of Continuing Education at San Pablo Theological Seminary in Merida, a school of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. He teaches theology courses, leads workshops in many of Mexico’s rural areas, and publishes a magazine for pastors for the Synod of the Yucatán Peninsula. Martha ministers from the home as a volunteer medical doctor.