“Looking back at a time when nothing seemed to work to reactivate the ministry in Mexico City, God taught me to remain in His grace and wait only on Him.”—Fernando
God makes everything beautiful in His time. Only He can take a challenging area and ignite a passion resulting in the highest blitz results ever for the country of Mexico. It’s all about bringing the right people together to accomplish His purposes.
Mexico is a challenging country for Gospel ministry—just over 7% identify as Protestant evangelical Christians. For a population of over 128 million people, this leaves an estimate of only 8 million Christians. Secular movements and organizations have gained significant influence in recent years, particularly with young people. For The Gideons International, this has resulted in a high rejection rate of Testaments (60-70%) during distributions, primarily with university students (up to 90%).
However, God is moving, and there is hope. The Christian population increased from 5% in 2010 to 7.5% in 2020. Despite the rise of atheism and progressive culture, there is still an openness to the Gospel message.
Valuable Growth
Members praying over a Pastor in Mexico City
Mexico has hosted several international Scripture blitzes since 1978. In Mexico City, blitz coordinators often struggled to have enough manpower for distributions because of declining membership and inactive camps. Such challenges resulted in having only a handful of teams to cover a small portion of the city.
In 2018, the Gideon leadership in Mexico changed how they approached relationships in the area, focusing more on being intentional with pastors and ministry leaders. As these relationships grew stronger, pastors encouraged qualified men to participate in the ministry of The Gideons and encouraged other pastors to get their congregations involved with what God was doing. As a result, 25 new camps were opened between 2018 and 2022 in the Mexico City area, and the membership grew from 150 to 700 members. Today, more than 90% of the camps are active.
Momentum for the Future
Elia and KellyThe 2023 Mexico International Scripture Blitz extended this growth in many ways. The blitz team organized 35 distribution teams covering Mexico City and its entire metropolitan area. As a result, 180 Gideons and 70 Auxiliary representing 60 camps reached more than 600,000 people with a copy of God’s Word. This was an amazing move of God, considering the original goal was to impact 350,000 people.
Kelly, a university student, was one of these people. She received a Testament from Elia, a local Auxiliary. Elia noticed Kelly was moved to receive the Testament, which opened the opportunity for Elia to share with her. Elia learned that Kelly’s boyfriend had recently broken up with her. This situation and many family issues created a mess for Kelly. Elia felt led to share the Gospel with her, using the back pages of the Testament. After a long and meaningful conversation, Kelly gave her life to Jesus Christ. This is just one example of God using the Auxiliary to impact students strongly influenced by a secular culture.
Jose was waiting for his daughter outside a university, where he saw Gideons distributing Scriptures. He approached them and shared, “Thirty-five years ago, I received a Testament in college. The Lord used this Scripture to change my life. It was my first contact with the Gospel, and I gave my life to Jesus Christ as a result.” Today, he is a pastor and has led the congregation at Casa del Padre Church for a decade. He knows the work of Gideons always bears fruit because “they sow God’s eternal Word.”
Fernando was one Gideon who participated in the blitz. He says, “Looking back at a time when nothing seemed to work to reactivate the ministry in Mexico City, God taught me to remain in His grace and wait only on Him. I have seen clearly what Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV) teaches, ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'
“Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” 1 Chronicles 19:13 (ESV)
Another great result was also evident through this blitz—an increased passion in Gideons and Auxiliary to carry out the ministry of the Association with greater intensity. “It was amazing to see the passion with which Gideons and Auxiliary strove to reach more than 600,000 souls in Mexico City,” said Fernando. They drew encouragement from 1 Chronicles 19:13 (ESV): “Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” Members caught the vision of how important it is to participate in these blitzes with a focus on winning people for Christ. They were reminded of God’s love for the lost people of Mexico City and how only He makes “everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11a, ESV). This passion has created significant momentum for attracting more members to join what God is doing.
“It was amazing to see the passion with which Gideons and Auxiliary strove to reach more than 600,000 souls in Mexico City.” —Fernando
Praying for Mexico City
Exciting days are ahead for members in Mexico City. May we commit to pray that people would be open to hearing the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. As members continue to partner with new churches and do the work of this Association, pray they sense where the Holy Spirit is working and follow His lead. May He bless their efforts to add more members for the great work ahead of them.