Dear friends and family,
Last month, I returned from a three-week mission trip to Mexico as another step in becoming a missionary with EFM. There I met and stayed with Pastor Omar Ramirez and his family, who have spent the last two years planting a Friends church in Zacatecas. I spent a lot of time shadowing Omar in his ministry and picking his brain about the state of evangelism in Mexico.
According to everyone I talked to, Mexico in general, and Zacatecas in particular, is very hard ground to plant an evangelical church. In many ways, the Mexican people feel, and are in fact, captive: to a corrupt government, to drug cartels, and to dark spiritual forces beyond human understanding. In such an environment, it is hardly surprising that people only nominally practice a superstitious, syncretic version of Roman Catholicism. Having a personal relationship with Jesus just seems like a lot of time and effort, which are better spent putting food on the table. Better to leave talking with God to the priest who’s paid to do it.
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However, Mexico Yearly Meeting is convinced that the seed of the gospel will fall on good soil, even among the briars and boulders, and has sent Omar ahead, along with other evangelists, to plant a Friends church in all 32 states of Mexico by the year 2032. Zacatecas’ growing congregation of 18 testifies that there still is “a great people to be gathered,” even from the “harassed and helpless” (Matt. 9:36, NIV). While I spoke with Ana and Cuquita and learned their stories, I wish I had more time to get to know the rest of the congregation at Zacatecas better.
At the Yearly Meeting sessions in Aguascalientes, I announced my intention to come to Mexico as an EFM missionary to assist with evangelism and discipleship. The eight churches present, assembled from across Mexico, received me very warmly and expressed their enthusiasm for God’s work in my life through serving in their country.
Immediately upon returning from the Yearly Meeting, I fell extremely sick from a high fever and cough, which spread to the Ramirez family and several others who were also staying at their house. Omar, his wife Ariana, and Ariana’s visiting family showed me enormous love and hospitality while I took several more days to recover. Though a harrowing experience, “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” If sickness cannot thwart his calling, neither should it thwart my obedience.
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After recovering, I arrived home in the United States and debriefed with EFM. They were pleased with the report they received about me from the Ramirez family and my report of the experience. Accordingly, I am proud to announce that EFM has invited me back to Mexico for a year starting this summer to continue my cultural and linguistic immersion as I prepare for full-time ministry!
Please pray for EFM and for me as we complete the application process and discern the specific details for this year-long internship. Pray also for the Ramirez family: Omar, Ariana, Junior, Fabiola, and Jimena, as they continue to love and serve the Lord with their whole life in Zacatecas. Finally, pray for Mexico, that its people would feel their worth as beloved children of a compassionate Father, calling, “O sinner, come home.”
In Christ,
Erik
English (United States) 
Spanish