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Name : Elias Chavez |
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Partner: Kevin Wynne, Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, Mexico City |
Conversion Experience
I was saved at the age of eight in San Miguel el Progreso, Guerrero. (My uncle, Honorio Flores Solano, who is an assistant pastor for Bro. Kevin Wynne, led me to Christ.) At age twelve, I visited my grandmother in Mexico City, and she invited me to attend Mount Zion Baptist Church, Bro Wynne’s church, with her for the first time.
Calling and Preparation
When I was seventeen, the Lord called me to full-time service. I prepared for the ministry and am a graduate of Mount Zion Baptist College. My wife, Alejandra, and I are praying for the city of Toluca, Mexico. More than one million people live there, and the majority of those souls have no knowledge of the Gospel.
The Field
As a family, we have begun working in some of the suburbs around Toluca. We are witnessing in Sánchez, Santa Ana, one such suburb. We are seeing lost people get saved and have started the Fundamental Baptist Church of Toluca.
Future Goals
- Establish a local, independent Baptist soulwinning church.
- Train workers for the ministry
- Establish a bus ministry
- Have youth activities
- Send new students to Bible college
Toluca, Mexico State, Mexico
Mexico consists of 31 states and one federal district. Spanish is the official language, but one million Mexicans speak other indigenous languages. The population is approximately 105 million and grows by 1.8 million yearly. Mexico’s climate varies from dry desert wasteland conditions in the north to rainy, tropical conditions in the southeast and a mild climate in the central plateau.
Mexico City , with approximately 20 million inhabitants, is home to nearly a quarter of the country’s population. It far exceeds any other area of the country in economic, cultural and political importance. Toluca lies about fifty miles due west of Mexico City. The eastern outskirts are an industrial area, but the colonial-era city center has attractive plazas.
The Roman Catholic Church has been deeply etched into all areas of Mexican life. Ninety percent of all Mexicans profess Roman Catholicism. It was present in Mexico from the first days of the Spanish Conquest. Throughout the country’s history, the Catholic Church has been the main unifying force of society. Many facets of Mexico’s Catholic Church come from native forms of worship as old gods were identified with saints and included in the Catholic religion. The most potent symbol of Mexican Catholicism is the Virgin of Guadalupe, a manifestation of the Virgin Mary who reportedly appeared on a hill near Mexico City in 1531.
Mexican people are searching for the truth and are open to the Gospel, but groups of American cults such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Seventh-Day Adventists have gained millions of converts in the spiritually dry hearts of the people.
Thousands are saved each year as Bible-believing preachers tell them of the love of Christ. Pilot American missionaries, with established works, are training nationals in the ministry of the Gospel. National missionaries are sent out by the hundreds each year to win souls in cities, towns, and villages.
Global Church Planters desires to financially help these national missionaries (we call them Pioneers) start thousands of churches in Mexico.
