MeXED Oaxaca 2014

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Jose Curiel of YWAM Guadalajara speaking at MeXED Guadalajara 2013

We will gather with other Christian education and discipleship ministries from all across Mexico and the United States in Oaxaca this next week (23-25 September 2014). This will be the third annual conference of MeXED which stands for “Christian education and Discipleship in Mexico.” Please, pray for this important event to serve God’s transformation and renewal of Mexico. We will post reports from the conference soon.

Children Detained at US/Mexico border and Biblical Principles…is there a connection?

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The third week in June, for us at AMO México, was spent in Mérida facilitating a new Master’s level course at San Pablo Theological Seminary. Twenty-four students – consisting of experienced pastors and seminary students – heard teaching centered around the book As the Family Goes, So Goes the Nation – Principles and Practices for Building Healthy Families, written by Dr. Elizabeth Youmans (author of AMO® Program), Dr. Jill Thrift (co-laborer with Youmans), and Scott Allen of Disciple Nations Alliance. The purpose of the 5 day course was to give pastors and other church leaders insights into biblical principles surrounding the importance of family and practical ways to help parents nurture and strengthen their families using principles learned from God’s Word.

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Pastors and students gaining access to new tools to help parents and teachers throughout México to disciple their children.

Merida class

Francelia Chavez McReynolds (interpretor) and Dr. Jill Thrift, teaching biblical principles that benefit families.

(Side note: With encouraging responses, we at  AMO® Mexico have used the Spanish version of “The Family  book” to help the parents in our programs. While the children are in their AMO® class, their parents are taught many of the same principles learned in AMO to help them better see God’s vision and purpose for family. Themes include: God’s Purpose for the Family in Discipling Nations, The Christian View of the Child, The Home as a Vital Learning Center, and Loving and Serving Others.)

 

The course at San Pablo was one of four courses offered by the seminary during June to promote biblical principles in everyday decision-making. The other courses were taught by Jose Antonio Alvarez (of Semilla),  Luis Sena (of Disciple Nations Alliance), and Jose Gonzalez (of Semilla and author of Machismo and Matriarchy). The teaching was very well received by the students. Many expressed the great need for parents and pastors in Mexico to be better equipped in the education and discipleship of their children. This course offering was the result of the collaborative work between the seminary’s leadership and Walk With Mexico ™ ministry, a volunteer movement that assists endeavors which promote biblical principles through Christian education and discipleship in México and beyond.

 

As the United States struggles with the challenge of properly dealing with tens of thousands of undocumented youth and children coming from Central America, Mexico and other Latin American nations, we must not lose sight of the root causes of why they are leaving home. God speaks through the Bible, and application of His Word creates foundations for  peace and prosperity. Biblical illiteracy in Latin America has always been dominant.

 

As a nation with a rich heritage of biblical principles, which guided the thinking of a majority of its founders, the United States has always been a beacon of hope and opportunity. In Latin America the Spanish founders were not influenced by the 16th-century Reformation and so, biblical principles did not become a significant part of the fabric of those nations (ask us for Jose Gonzalez’ book Machismo and Matriarchy: Toxic Roots that Blight the Latin American Culture). Only in our lifetime has it become acceptable for the majority of people in Latin America to actually possess and read the Bible for themselves.

 

Broken families and poverty are the historical legacy of a lack of biblical knowledge and Godly vision. During the class at San Pablo taught by Dr. Thrift, a pastor from Yucatan shared testimony illustrating this. He explained how the practice of men leaving their homes to seek work in the US has destroyed the fabric of families in his community. He said its not uncommon for the men stop communicating with family and stop sending funds. The pastor elaborated that even when the money from a migrant husband/father continues to arrive, the mother is forced to assume a role of matriarchy – which God did not intend. Children suffer from the lack of their father’s blessing, instruction, and leadership.

 

Today, AMO® México and Chrysalis International ministries partner with local churches in Mexico, and elsewhere, to aim at the roots of this crisis by helping churches throughout Latin America that teach God’s Word as the foundation for building healthy families and restoring their nations to the fullness of their potential in God’s plan.

Partners in Oaxaca

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Yesterday, in Oaxaca, we shared with pastors and church leaders, at their regional meeting, about the AMO® Program and how we train parents and teachers to teach from biblical principles. About 120 leaders were in attendance.

The meeting was held at a church located in a Zapotec community where the indigenous language, customs, and traditional dress are part of everyday life. Interesting side-notes…the Bible is translated into Zapotec and it is estimated that over a half million indigenous people in México, mostly in Oaxaca, speak the various versions of Zapotec language.

Efforts in Oaxaca last February (with former ministry Proyecto Amistad) resulted in great success with 50 people in attendance for the five-day training. As a result, we were invited back to conduct a second training. Our participation in this regional meeting was to introduce our work and to invite the group to the second training event planned for Oaxaca, July 21-25. We ask for your prayers for that.

In addition to the regional meeting, we were able to spend an evening with Pastor Josias and wife, Elizabeth, before returning to Mexico City. Josias and Elizabeth have been pioneering the use of AMO® in Oaxaca since they were trained in 2012. We were blessed to hear of their challenges and successes and also to pray with them. We also made plans to visit their congregation in July.

We invite you to add Oaxaca to your prayer list. Education in that state is among the nations worst and, it seems, God is imparting a vision among church leaders and parents there of how they can help serve children with God’s Word and vision for life to help overcome the disadvantages and challenges they face.

Praise band of young girls from Zapotec community

Praise band of Zapotec girls lead us in songs for the regional meeting of church leaders in Oaxaca

Presenting AMO® at a regional meeting of church leaders in Oaxaca

Introducing our work at the regional meeting

Preparing Parents in México with Biblical Principles for Education

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The last two weeks have been full. We trained parents, teachers, and church leaders in Biblical Principles for Christian Education and the AMO® Program. The first week we gave a training in downtown Mexico City at Principe de Paz Church. Then, the second week, we traveled to the troubled state of Michaocán. It was the first time we trained in that state. Both weeks were full of blessing and we expect much fruit. More and more children are being served as additional teachers are trained.

Our next training is planned for Oaxaca, another state where children face big challenges in accessing quality education. We will be visiting with church leaders there this month (May) to prepare a training for July. This will be the second time we’ve trained in Oaxaca in 2014. We invite your prayers and support. Write Chris McReynolds at mexico@amoprogram.com.

Please, visit http://www.amoprogram.com for more details on the program that we use to help families prepare themselves with Biblical principles that heal broken lives and transform the future of our families, communities, and nations.