Global Ministries

Lectionary Selection:  Exodus 16:2-15

Prayers for Mexico:  

Our God, heart of the sky - heart of the earth,
we who live in the birthplace of corn, who eat thin wafers called tortillas that fall not from the heavens but are a rich gift from mother earth, we ask your Spirit to transform our complaints into a joyous passion for abundant life.

As we complain about conflicts: shape our collective strength,  resistance in the face of corrupting forces, and capacity to find just solutions for all.

As we complain about the regulations and limitations due to the pandemic: mold our behavior with consideration for others.

As we complain if there aren't any tortillas or if there are only tortillas to eat: send us reminders to appreciate the food on our tables, care for our soil and native seeds,
respect for those who toil in the field, the hospital, or the market.

We recognize that complaining is the default response of an oppressed people,
             a people whose identity is trapped in the pain of victimhood.

Give us wisdom to find the grains of truth hidden in our complaints and strength to heed your call action:  claiming freedom, naming injustice, affirming dignity, and caring for all your creation.

Amen

Dr. Carlos Correa-Bernier, Executive Director of the Carlos Correa-Daniel F. Romero Center for Border Ministries and Strategies, also known as "Centro Romero," the particular experience of one of the single mothers they are assisting since the arrivals of massive caravans from Central America, two years ago, through the most recent COVID-19 health crisis in the San Diego-Tijuana border.  This is the story of "Berta," a name we deliberately use to cover her identity, for security reasons.

In February, the Churches of God in Mexico City held workshops related to the daily life of families.  

On March 8, 2020 – International Women’s Day – women and girls across Mexico took to the streets to march, protesting the rampant violence against women that is so prevalent across the country.

Lectionary Selection:  Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43

Prayers for Mexico:  

Thank you, God, Father, and Mother of creation, for allowing us to be participants of your kingdom of justice, mercy, and faithfulness to you.

Thank you for revealing the mysteries of your kingdom through your Gospel that reveals the good news of life and liberation.

Thank you for the communion and solidarity that unite us like wheat from the same sower, recognizing us as the same body, a sign of your presence in the world.

Thank you for your Gospel that reminds us that your kingdom of life and justice has arrived, that it is a reality in this world wounded by personal and social sin.

By reading your Gospel, we want to affirm our commitment to your work, as is it presented to us in the parables as a precious gift. We want to collaborate in your mission to promote and defend life, living like Jesus, passionate about life. We want to be like the grain of wheat, which must die to bear abundant fruit and be reborn to a new and full life. We want to become bread that is broken and shared as a sign of justice and mercy.

We pray that your kingdom will come to us, and the world can enjoy a time (Kairos) of blessing, health, and renewal. May your realm come! And with it, a time of conversion, a time of profound and radical changes so that peace and justice can be reborn. May your kingdom of life encourage us to follow the example of Jesus, who came to bring us full and abundant life, who opposed everything that denies presence, and who gave himself for the love of the world. Amen.

An experience with the Methodist Seminary of Mexico

The Methodist Seminary Gonzalo Báez Camargo in Mexico City is a member of the Theological Community of Mexico (CTdeM, Spanish Acronym).  Each year, The Methodist Seminary conducts ministerial training through their continuing education program.  Through these training events, the Seminary seeks to strengthen and expand the capacities of pastors in the disciplines of theology, biblical, and pastoral care.  These training events are held for one-week of duration.

As I look at different posts on social media, many people report a drastic reduction of activity on the streets of their cities and a strange quiet blanketing the areas where they live as a result of the stay at home directives in their countries.  The opposite seems to be true in San Cristóbal de las Casas, the city where I live in Chiapas, Southern Mexico. 

Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries was established in 1985 with the specific purpose of providing assistance to refugees (primarily coming from Central America) seeking asylum in the United States. The mission of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries is to teach the love of Jesus Christ by building a renewed sense of wholeness and dignity and by standing with those who are broken, especially among refugees and those who are disenfranchised and displaced.  The Good News of salvation is lived out by addressing spiritual and material needs, including emergency shelter and food, clothing, transportation, legal aid, advocacy, and job referral through a cooperative effort with other agencies and religious organizations.

With nations around the world confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reminded people that another respiratory illness—tuberculosis (TB)—remains the world's leading infectious disease killer and urged more action to prevent the disease.  In a statement marking World TB Day, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ph.D., said the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need to continue tackling longstanding health problems like TB, a lung disease that could leave millions worldwide at even higher risk for poor outcomes from the novel coronavirus.

en Español

Lectionary Selection:  John 17:1-11

Prayers for Mexico: 

God, source of love and protection who tenderly comforts and encourages us in the most difficult of hours, in this time of global anguish we turn to you, our Father and Mother, with the confidence that we are your daughters and sons. From Mexico, we join in prayer with sisters and brothers around the world, to glorify your name through our mission of service and dedication. We are sent as your son, Jesus, to manifest and sanctify your name, giving you glory in fulfilling your will. Thank you for the gifts you share with your community, and for the new and abundant life through Jesus Christ. United as one body in diversity, we take on the mission of witnessing to your presence in the world. May the world know you through our testimonies, and by knowing you, they may enjoy the life that comes from you (John 17:3).

Although Jesus' most famous prayer is probably The Lord's Prayer, in this chapter of the Gospel of John, we find one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible. After a long speech in which Jesus bids farewell to his own, we have the "Priestly Prayer." Jesus "raises his eyes to heaven" to address the Father as a beloved son. It is in the trust of this caring and loving relationship of Father and Son that Jesus can fulfill his mission and put his future and that of his community in God's hands. It is faith that can give us the confidence to collaborate in God's purpose for the world, and trust to be able to rest and have peace, for it is the Father who takes care of his own (John 17:11).

Through this prayer, Christian communities in Mexico continue to proclaim their faith in Jesus as the envoy of God, who now sends communities into the world to continue the mission. Although they are deprived of Jesus' physical presence, they will be encouraged by his Spirit to continue his living presence, to bear witness to the light that has come into the world to give us full and abundant life. The eternal life that comes from God (the only eternal one) consists of knowing God through his envoy, Jesus Christ (John 17:3). It is the community of believers who, with their works of compassion and solidarity, reveal the God of Jesus. The world will finally believe and live through the testimony of Jesus' disciples (John 17:21).

In times of anguish, pain, and death throughout the world, churches in Mexico have come together in prayer and action for the most vulnerable sectors of their communities. Inspired by the gospel of Jesus, we have witnessed the unity and mobilization of Christians in Mexico, to respond to the different needs that arise from the COVID19 pandemic. Once again, Jesus' prayer in John 17 takes meaning and is ever-present; it embodies the life and witness experiences of many churches in Mexico and around the world.