Mission Yearbook: Shenandoah Presbytery mission teams build homes and deep relationships in Mexico

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Felipe, Angelica, Diego (10) and Angel (8) sit at the kitchen table in their new house.

For the past 25 years, except in 2020, mission teams from Shenandoah Presbytery in Virginia have faithfully served in Baja California, Mexico. Over time, we have built not only houses but also deep and lasting relationships with the families and communities we serve.

On a Monday morning some years ago, our Virginia team began the day greeting our family, Felipe, Angelica, Diego (10) and Angel (8). After a prayer, we worked side by side organizing lumber, building exterior walls and painting plywood siding. As we built the 440-square-foot house, Ana, one of our teammates born in Mexico, helped us build relationships through her gifts of interpretation and faithful connection.

Along the back of the property, team members and family members painted and spoke in different languages. While painting, Ana overheard Angelica teaching Bible stories to her sons. Using a paintbrush and a piece of lumber instead of a Bible or felt board, she illustrated the story of Noah’s ark for Diego and Angel. She encouraged them to build their house for God’s glory, just as Noah built his ark to fulfill God’s commands. On that mountaintop, Angelica passed down stories of faith to the next generation and taught us all an important lesson. Too often, we reserve God’s love story for morning devotions, Sunday worship or evening prayers. Angelica reminded us to live out God’s love story in the stories of our lives.

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At sunset in July 2022, the Shenandoah Presbytery Virginia Mission Team stand with our family in front of their new house in Vincent Guerrero, Mexico.

Around mid-morning, Diego asked his mom for something inside their house, a structure built with cardboard, plastic and wood. I glanced up from painting and saw Angelica open her front door not by turning a knob but by untwisting twine. As she had surely done many times before, she unwrapped the long black twine from a nail on a nearby wood frame. The door opened, and she disappeared inside. A few minutes later, she reappeared with the requested item. Later that morning, Angelica invited us in for a tour of her home. Clothes hung from nails along the walls, children’s shoes were scattered across the dirt floor, and a curtain created separation between the two bedrooms.

Every year, it takes my breath away to see how a pile of lumber on Monday becomes a furnished house by Thursday. Most of the Baja Mission Team would say their favorite moment is watching the family step inside their new furnished home for the very first time.

After a celebration dinner and a house dedication filled with prayers and song, Angelica and Felipe, along with their two sons, walked to the front door to receive the keys to their new home. Felipe let Angelica have the honor, and for the first time in her life, she opened her front door by turning a key instead of untwisting twine. She grasped the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Speechless, the family stepped inside, filled with awe and deep gratitude for the gift of a home and new friends.

We give thanks each year for the families we serve in Baja. They invite us into their lives and trust us with their stories, and for this, our lives are forever changed. Join us next year as we serve in Mexico, July 12–18, 2026. Learn more at shenpres.org/baja.

Rev. April H. Cranford; Westminster Presbyterian Church; Waynesboro, Virginia

Let us join in prayer for:

Carissa Herold, Marketing Associate, Presbyterian Women
Michael Hilliard, Sales & Event Coordinator, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

Gracious God, with each new sunrise witnessed in our backyard and in backyards far away, may love be the light that leads us. Help us serve you and love our neighbors well, not only in grand ways but in quiet, faithful acts that reveal your constant goodness and amazing grace through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Eradicating systemic poverty through education

Presbyterian pastor works with mission partners to launch new bilingual Christian school in Mexico

May 6, 2020

The Rev. Mark Snelling (right) with students at a Christian school in Dakar, Senegal. (Contributed photo)

The Rev. Dr. Mark Snelling, a lifelong Presbyterian and pastor in the Seattle Presbytery, wants to see impoverished children in Mexico break out of the cycle of poverty in a wholistic and sustainable way. He is confident this is possible through education, specifically Christian education.

Centro Cultural Tikvah, a new Spanish-English language immersion school is expected to open in August in Mazatlan, Mexico. This international school for hope, as it is called, is an outgrowth of Snelling’s work with mission partners in a dozen nutrition centers throughout Mazatlan’s poorest neighborhoods and his current work as executive director of a multi-denominational mission organization, GO on the Mission, a nonprofit he and other church and business leaders helped found in 2008. The organization works on holistic and sustainable development projects to help eradicate systemic poverty in Mexico and Senegal, West Africa.

Snelling grew up as a “missionary kid” in a small town in Alaska where his parents had been called to plant a church for the indigenous Tlingit people. This experience taught him the importance of cross-cultural ministry. In his years as a pastor, he served in mission outreach to a long-ignored people group deep in the mountains of Southern Mexico.

Snelling’s favorite quote is “Why worry when you can pray?”

The new school will start small, with kindergarten and primary year one classes only; then it will add a grade level each year until it serves students through grade 12, just like the Christian schools have been built in Senegal. The students will represent a blend of economic backgrounds studying in small classes of 15–20 students per class. The curriculum will encourage oral and written fluency in Spanish and English, critical thinking skills and developing a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In Senegal, Snelling said, 95% to 100% of Christian school students pass their advancement exams, compared to less than 50% of their counterparts in public schools. “People are lining up to get their kids into these schools,” he said — not only in Senegal, but in many places across Africa. “You care for kids and you’ve got the hearts of the parents,” Snelling said.

In Mexico, two lead teachers, yet to be hired, will have the opportunity to create and build upon the school’s organizational design: one for the kindergarten program (K1–K3) and one for the primary program (grades 1–5). Middle and high school programs will be added in the years to come. The school will provide top-quality bilingual education, computer training and entrepreneurial financial management skills training.

Similar to the Christian schools in Senegal, the school in Mexico will have a balance of tuition-paying students and scholarship students. Classes will initially and temporarily be held in a church, but the plan is to build a separate building for the school.

Many of the children do not currently attend school, particularly the children Snelling works with in the nutrition centers. And, those who do attend public schools seem to be struggling in passing their advancement exams.

“As the basic needs of the people are met,” Snelling said, “doors are open to help meet emotional and spiritual needs as well,” Snelling said. “Every effort matters.”

For more information about Centro Cultural Tikvah, an international school for hope, email Snelling at msnelling@comcast.net.

Tammy Warren, Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Luke Choi, Office of the General Assembly
Mickie Choi, Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program

Let us pray:

Gracious and wonderful God, we thank you for the magnificent world you created. We thank you that you have made us a people who seek relationships with others and with you. Keep us ever mindful of your presence among us. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘The Word of God can reach us through the migrant’

A faith leader and a human rights defender address border ministry conference

February 16, 2020

A portion of the ornate sanctuary at La Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Church in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. (Photo by Mike Ferguson)

A “narrative of hate and rejection” is spreading across Mexico in response to the caravans of migrants from Central America and elsewhere, a Mexican lawyer and human rights defender told the 150 or so people attending the “Responding to an Exodus: Gospel Hospitality and Empire” celebration of 35 years of work and service by Presbyterian Border Region Outreach. One of the five ministries, Frontera de Cristo, hosted the fall conference.

Perla del Angel, who works closely with CAME (the Exodus Migrant Attention Shelter) in Agua Prieta, spoke in the ornate sanctuary of La Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Church adjacent to the shelter. She said that in late 2018, in the early days of the new administration of Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the common attitude displayed by the government was, “Let’s receive them as they continue their journey.”

“But the perspective of the community has changed,” she said. “We started discriminating against people who aren’t Mexicans, and that strengthens the narrative of the government.”

“Mexico is doing the work of the United States, and it’s doing it very well, unfortunately,” she said. “We are going backward as a nation.”

CAME houses migrants from places including Venezuela, Cuba, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. “They say this house is the only safe place where they’ve been,” she said. “If we don’t do our work, we are complicit in what’s going on.”

Last summer, Mexican National Guard troops tried to enter the shelter to learn the names of the people inside, she said. But shelter leaders denied them entry. “Nobody has let them come in, and we will continue firm in that,” she said. “We are in a peaceful struggle — the struggle to defend human rights for the dignity of people. We are in a struggle without weapons. Our weapons are the rights of people and the love of the community.”

Migrant detention centers in Mexico “have doubled and tripled their capacity,” she said, and the few organizations with access to the facilities “have reported how inhumane they are.”

“I hope you go back with a small commitment,” she told the crowd, “to see people as human beings, to see in each person someone worthy to be heard and respected. We all need to do our part.”

The Rev. Ramon Garcia Sanchez, who’s on the board of directors for Frontera de Cristo, one of five border ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has since 2010 been the pastor of the Voz del Desierto (Voice of the Desert) Presbyterian Church in Hermosillo, Sonora.

“The law and the prophets teach us we have a historic responsibility to right this history,” he said. “It’s a great and historic responsibility — not just what we can see, but to create space in this world for the Kingdom that’s coming.”

“As a Mexican, it pains me to hear this testimony about how we have been unwelcoming,” he said. “We as a church have not been quick to respond. We didn’t expect so many, but here we are. We are grateful for pastors and friends who are doing something.”

The Christian response to policies that restrict immigrant rights can take two forms, he said.

“We can pay attention and we can care,” he said, “and we can voice our opinions around the policies our government should have.”

“Cláudio (Carvalhaes, who spoke during another workshop) reminds us that God reveals God’s self in darkness and suffering. This takes us out of our comfort zone, and many of us aren’t doing enough. That fills us with sadness and shame.”

“This is a time for reflection and analysis,” he told participants. “It’s time to put on the table goals we can achieve so that we can leave our mark on us and the generations to come. I invite you not to see just the present, but to think about envisioning a better future for everyone. That’s why Jesus came — to transform our reality.

“The Word of God can reach us through the migrant, the person who is suffering. May we all live this transformation — because I think we need it.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Angie Stevens, Office of the General Assembly
Cameron Stevens, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

God of all nations, it is our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise. Open our hearts to the movement of your Spirit through all the landscapes of our lives. Guide us to be your hands and feet as we faithfully serve a world of need. Amen.

Eradicating systemic poverty through education

Presbyterian pastor works with mission partners to launch new bilingual Christian school in Mexico

by Tammy Warren | Presbyterian News Service

The Rev. Dr. Mark Snelling (right) with students at a Christian school in Dakar, Senegal. (Contributed photo)

LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Dr. Mark Snelling, a lifelong Presbyterian and pastor in the Seattle Presbytery, wants to see impoverished children in Mexico break out of the cycle of poverty in a wholistic and sustainable way. He is confident this is possible through education, specifically Christian education.

Centro Cultural Tikvah, a new Spanish-English language immersion school is expected to open in August in Mazatlan, Mexico. This international school for hope, as it is called, is an outgrowth of Snelling’s work with mission partners in a dozen nutrition centers throughout Mazatlan’s poorest neighborhoods and his current work as executive director of a multi-denominational mission organization, GO on the Mission, a nonprofit he and other church and business leaders helped found in 2008. The organization works on holistic and sustainable development projects to help eradicate systemic poverty in Mexico and Senegal, West Africa.

Snelling grew up as a “missionary kid” in a small town in Alaska where his parents had been called to plant a church for the indigenous Tlingit people. This experience taught him the importance of cross-cultural ministry. In his years as a pastor, he served in mission outreach to a long-ignored people group deep in the mountains of Southern Mexico.

Snelling’s favorite quote is “Why worry when you can pray?”

The new school will start small, with kindergarten and primary year one classes only; then it will add a grade level each year until it serves students through grade 12, just like the Christian schools have been built in Senegal. The students will represent a blend of economic backgrounds studying in small classes of 15-20 students per class. The curriculum will encourage oral and written fluency in Spanish and English, critical thinking skills and developing a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In Senegal, Snelling said, 95 to 100% of Christian school students pass their advancement exams, compared to less than 50 percent of their counterparts in public schools. “People are lining up to get their kids into these schools,” he said — not only in Senegal, but in many places across Africa. “You care for kids and you’ve got the hearts of the parents,” Snelling said.

In Mexico, two lead teachers, yet to be hired, will have the opportunity to create and build upon the school’s organizational design: one for the kindergarten program (K1-K3) and one for the primary program (grades 1-5). Middle and high school programs will be added in the years to come. The school will provide top-quality bilingual education, computer training and entrepreneurial financial management skills training.

Camp de Futbol, a soccer camp for students served by nutrition centers in Mazatlan, Mexico, has brought 1,000 to 1,500 students together each summer for the past decade. (Contributed photo)

Similar to the Christian schools in Senegal, the school in Mexico will have a balance of tuition-paying students and scholarship students. Classes will initially and temporarily be held in a church, but the plan is to build a separate building for the school.

Many of the children do not currently attend school, particularly the children Snelling works with in the nutrition centers. And, those who do attend public schools seem to be struggling in passing their advancement exams.

“As the basic needs of the people are met,” Snelling said, “doors are open to help meet emotional and spiritual needs as well,” Snelling said. “Every effort matters.”

For more information about Centro Cultural Tikvah, an international school for hope, email Snelling at msnelling@comcast.net.