TEHUECAN, Puebla, Mexico – Even the best plans are no match for the variables that pop up during a mission trip. But for First Baptist, Puxico, and their experience with partnership missions in Puebla, Mexico, sometimes God’s plans are better.
The 13-member team from Missouri arrived in Tehuecan expecting to work with a local pastor the church had partnered with before, only to find that he had left the local convention and the Puxico team high and dry.
“When God shuts one door He often opens another,” said Puxico pastor Justin Miller, “and God opened a door for us to work with Emmanuel Baptist in Tehuecan to partner together in street evangelism, T4T (Training for Trainers) training, and a medical clinic in San Juan Atzingo [a village in the mountains of Puebla].”
During the first half of playing it by ear in Mexico, the team saw 22 people accept Christ as they shared the gospel in story form. They trained more than 30 leaders from six churches and later watched as they turned around and began sharing the gospel on their own.
“As wonderful as this was it was only the tip of the iceberg,” Miller said.
Toward the end of the week, First Baptist and Emmanuel partnered in hosting a medical clinic. Through the clinic, more than 300 people in San Juan Atzingo received medical attention, were matched with eye glasses and dental treatment.
“The best part was through this clinic we were able to share the gospel and watch as God opened 239 people’s hearts to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus,” Miller said. “The majority had never heard of the gift of God’s grace through faith. From what I understand talking to Adrian our contact there, the next need is for a new church.”
First Baptist has partnered with Puebla for about 18 months now, and this was their third trip to Tehuecan. Miller said the church is planning on returning to put on a soccer clinic at the invitation of a local university in October, and will return next March for another medical clinic.
Miller said the impact of God at work has been felt back home in Puxico as well.
“It’s changed lives here,” he said. “People are coming back with a passion to continue sharing the gospel and a deeper appreciation of Christ and His glory. Our church has doubled in size and I think part of it is people coming back from mission trips and realizing they can do this on their home mission fields as well.”