Thanksgiving Feast

As a sort of end-of-the-year party and uniting of our English Club and CUR groups, we decided to have a Thanksgiving Party complete with all the traditional foods. The English Club students came to learn about this American tradition and the CUR students came to have a good time and meet more of the English Club students. Including our ministry team (Peter, Ruth, Josh, Amy, and myself) we had 50 people at the feast! My personal observation was that it seemed to be a time when relationships that had been forming all semester solidified. The two groups of students mixed unbelievably well, and I think it's safe to say that it was a wonderful 1st Thanksgiving for all Mexican students present.

Amy and Josh cooked all of the food themselves in their oven that is only big enough to hold one dish at a time! Major props to them! We had salad, broccoli and chicken casserole (a hit), mashed potatos and gravy, stuffing (not a hit), sweet potatos, turkey, and cranberry sauce. Oh, and for dessert Amy made a million pecan pies which changed the students' lives (their first time having it). Just two of the comments I heard: "Exquisite" and "I'm speechless."

We played games to start the night, moved to a history lesson by Mr. Peter Dishman, then to reenactments of the first Thanksgiving (my favorite part--my group won!), and finally to dinner and fellowship. Here are some photos of the fun (oh, and as you will notice, Amy and some girls from the CUR made Indian and Pilgrim hats for everyone present):

New Church Members!

Meet the newest members (and in some cases believers) of Berith Presbyterian Church in Mexico City, México!

I hope that you will rejoice with me in the work that God is doing here in Mexico City through the CUR to promote, encourage, shape, and honor the local church. We are not Christians without a community and God is constantly increasing the reach of that very community!

(Janet, Sonia, Juan Carlos, Abigail, Liset, and Monserrat)

Making their public profession of faith.

Janet, Sonia, Abigail, and Monserrat's Baptism!

New members at the reception.

The new members with our CUR members who go to Berith.

So you might understand the glory of what God is doing here more, I am including a translation of the short biographies for each new member that appeared in Sunday's bulletin:

By Profession of Faith and Baptism

Sonia is a Psychology student at the UNAM's FES Zaragoza campus. Raised Catholic, she heard the gospel on a CUR retreat and gave her life to Christ soon after.

Abigail studies Medicine at the UNAM. She has heard the gospel from an early age and God has worked in her life through many different forms, including her family, the CUR, and her friends at Berith.

Monserrat is an International Relations student at the UNAM with a particular interest in Sweden. She came to know Christ one year ago through the ministry of the CUR at the UNAM.

Janet studies International Relations at the UNAM. She began to attend the CUR through their English Club events and later came to know Christ through their Bible Studies.

By Profession of Faith

Juan Carlos studies in the Psychology Faculty at the UNAM. He heard the gospel from his mother and through the church his mother attended. God has used the CUR to confirm his calling and further his edification.

Liset is originally from Puebla where she came to know the Lord through her brother and his church. She is currently in her 1st semester of Industrial Engineering at the Ecatepec Technological University and attends the CUR Bible Studies.

By Letter of Transfer or Testimony

Hendi is a Psychology student at the UNAM. The Lord revealed himself to her in a camp put on by Intervarsity. She currently serves leading a Intervarsity Bible Study in her faculty.

Ruth came to know the Lord at an early age. She received a masters in Christian Philosophy at John Calvin Seminary and a second masters in Christian Counseling at Covenant Theological Seminary in Saint Luis, Missouri. She is currently a missionary working with the CUR as a counselor.

Alejandra and Hedilberto met each other in Cordoba, Veracruz and have been married for one year. They currently work full-time with Campus Crusade for Christ on the campus of the UNAM.

Praise be to God!

The Faces of CUR UNAM

Our CUR(RUF) Group gathered for Peter's surprise birthday party

According to my count, it rained at least a little while (but usually a long while) every day for the first 52 days I was here. On this particular day, we were having a Bible study when it began to pour. Did we give up? No! We moved to shelter and used umbrellas to shield ourselves from the rain as Peter preached over the noise made by the rain. You can't tell from the picture, but there are probably 15-20 people huddled under the over-hang.

Myself and one of my good friends from our CUR group. He loves to help us gringos out, and, on this particular day, he took myself and fellow interns, Josh and Amy, into the city to see the Plaza of the Cultures.

The men of our team. Yeah, I know, we're intimidating.

Numbers

Here are this year's official UNAM numbers:

33,256 Professors
20,747 Graduate Students
156,434 Undergraduate Students (including 35,505 1st year students)
1,641 Technical Degree Students
106,913 High School Students

Total UNAM population: 286,484


Believe it.

Jared, what exactly is it that you do?

As an introduction to this ministry blog, I thought it would be good to lay out what I am doing here in Mexico City. I think it will provide clarity to both those who are supporting me with prayers and finances as well as inform those who are discovering that I exist for the first time.

"Hey gringo, who are you?"

I am a missionary sent by the Presbyterian Church in America to preach the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone here at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).


Our work here is the only currently-functioning partnership between the PCA's missions-sending agency, Mission to the World (MTW), and our denominations college outreach, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF).


"In laymen's terms, what does this MTW/RUF thing mean? Give it to me straight."


As a ministry of the church (as opposed to a para-church organization), we believe in being sent and supported directly by our denomination and it's participating church bodies. We hold to the PCA's doctrine of beliefs as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is simply a statement of our views of and interpretation of scripture. Mission to the World is involved in the sending and supporting of missionaries of our denomination.

Because we are a University Ministry of the PCA church, we affiliate ourselves with Reformed University Fellowship. RUF is about the practical application of the Christian faith to college students' lives. Our purpose is to "reach and equip students to serve Jesus Christ and His church." Our Philosophy of Ministry, which we believe to be biblically informed and pastorally sensitive, includes 4 Goals:

GROWTH IN GRACE
RUF aims to help students understand and use the means of grace which God has provided for Christian growth. This includes studying the Bible, developing a prayer life, understanding worship, and depending on the Holy Spirit in order for us to die to sin and grow in righteousness.

EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS
RUF must proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the university community with the hope of reaching the world. We take seriously Christ's command to go and make disciples. So we are witnessing to the truth about God and man in the world of academic, relativistic thought, and we are depending upon the Holy Spirit to draw students to trust in Christ as Savior and serve him as King.

FELLOWSHIP AND SERVICE
Because Christians are united to Christ, they are also united to other believers. As Christians learn to participate by using their gifts and strengths, the body of Christ is built up. It also means reaching out as a loving, believing community to the university community -- demonstrating what it means to be a Christian.

BIBLICAL WORLD AND LIFE VIEW
Christianity is a way of seeing all of life. We believe that God is at work in the world, upholding his creation and ruling over all his creatures. His revealed truth is the integrating principle for all knowledge. This provides the Christian with a frame of reference for thinking and life-style.

"So, when you say you 'preach,' do you mean that you stake out a place on campus and unleash a hell-fire-and-brimstone message and that you proselytize people?"


Here at RUF, or as we call it in Mexico--CUR (Comunidad Universitaria Reformada), we believe in organic, relational ministry. Our philosophy of outreach is made up of three kinds of meetings: 1-on-1's, small groups, and large groups. The "preaching" that we do happens in every level of ministry. By that I mean that our goal is to connect the truth and good news of the gospel with students' lives in all three of these group settings. However, our only traditional preaching happens at our large group meetings which are structured similar to a worship service with worship through song and the preaching of the word.

As for proselytizing, your definition of the word determines if we do it or not. If by proselytizing you mean that we walk around with tracks and regularly confront random people with regard to their eternal state, no, we do not do that. If by proselytizing you mean that we desire to convert people to our faith because we hold to be true the claims of Jesus as the only way, truth, and life, then, yes, we proselytize. We sincerely believe that your life will be better if you are a Christian. That is not to say that we believe you will receive great prosperity here on earth, but rather that we believe the benefits of Christ as your only hope in life and death will free you to truly enjoy and worship God.


"Your there for 2 years, right? What's up with that?"

As an intern with RUF, my work will be split into two categories: service and study.

On the service side of things, I will be participating in our on-campus Bible Studies (2 times a week), working as a leader in our conversational English Club meetings (2 times a week), meeting 1-on-1 with many fringe students (those who have an interest in what we are doing or in Jesus) throughout the week, supporting Peter Dishman, the campus minister, in day-to-day ministry tasks, as well as striving to form a working body of theology-based hymns and praise choruses for our future large group meetings.

On the study side of things, I will be building a comprehensive understanding of Biblical, systematic, and practical theology. This will involve the study and summary of every book of the Bible, weekly meetings for review and quiz with Peter, and the reading of over 40 books on how to practically apply the gospel to others' lives (as well as my own).