ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptists learned of mission opportunities in upstate New York and in the state of Puebla, Mexico, during a Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) partnership missions luncheon Oct. 30.
Pastor Sergio Oropeza and his wife, Elizabeth, spoke on behalf of Baptists in the Puebla/Tlaxcala Baptist Convention. Oropeza is the president of the convention of 60 churches in central Mexico. They spoke of a plan to begin 100 new churches and have 10,000 baptisms in their region. Missouri Baptists are encouraged to travel to the Puebla area and also explore the neighboring states of Tlaxcala and Oaxaca.
“We have many needs with the youth of our regions,” Oropeza said. “We need youth ministries, sports evangelism, evangelistic crusades, medical teams and prayer walkers.”
Also featured was the Hudson Baptist Association in upstate New York. Sean Pierce, director of missions, challenged MBC partners to come to the region of the nation that fostered the First Great Awakening in the 1700s but is now the least churched part of the United States. Less than 2 percent of the people in the association are evangelical Christians.
Pierce told of baptizing a little boy recently who told him he thought Jesus Christ was a swear word and didn’t realize He was a real person. Pierce said the area is home to Albany, the state capital, and is about three hours north of New York City. He invites Missourians to come help plant and strengthen churches.
Rick Hedger, MBC team leader over partnership missions, said he welcomed Missourians to go on upcoming mission vision trips in early 2013. He said the cost for the Mexico trip in late May will be about $1,200 and the cost for New York trips (April 16-20 and 23-37) will be about $700. For more information contact Hedger at rhedger@mobaptist.org or 800-736-6227.