25 Jul Mt. Pleasant’s Partnership in Mexico

Bobby Culler, youth pastor, Mount Pleasant Church (Chambersburg, Pa.)

On July 8, 2016, a team of 16 people from Mt. Pleasant Church began what they hope to be a multi-year partnership with River of Life UB church in the beautiful city of Queretaro, Mexico. We were accompanied by Denis Casco, bishop of Mexico Conference, and his wife, Reina.

With the help of Bishop Casco, contacts were made, friendships were formed, and ministry began. We believe we accomplished all of the three-fold purpose of this partnership:

1. To help the River of Life church have positive and sustainable impact in the lives of the people in their community.
2. To encourage, train, and equip the leaders of this church and the surrounding United Brethren churches
3. To build lifelong relationships with the people of this church and community.

We hosted a week of vacation Bible school and throughout the week we saw a drastic increase in attendance. But more than that, we saw lives change and we saw people come to church who had never been there before. We heard community people say that they’ve never seen anything like this before—a church full and alive with excitement for Christ.

We also hosted two leader training sessions, both of which were attended by 15-16 people from two different United Brethren churches. We’re excited about equipping these leaders to be more effective in the ministry that they provide.

We also spent some time in a city park playing bubbles and kicking soccer balls with children. We shared with them the story of the Gospel colors, gave them the ball, and encouraged them to share that story with their friends and family.

We are grateful for what God has started and for the people that we had the chance to talk with and minister to. Based on how difficult it was to say goodbye, I believe that we established some strong friendships with these precious people.

We’re thankful for the opportunity God has given us to begin this partnership, and we encourage other UB churches in the United States to consider doing the same thing. There are over 40 United Brethren churches and preaching points in Mexico. All of them are eager to partner with other, more established and healthy United Brethren churches.

Although we just returned, all of us are anxious to go back and to continue the good work that the Lord has begun. And with God’s help and involvement, great things will be done for the Kingdom worldwide.