Population:
126.7 million
Evangelical population:
10%
People groups:
331
Unreached people groups:
44
Mexico
Nearly three times the size of Texas, Mexico is comprised of rugged mountains, coastal plains, and desert. Its western coast runs along the Ring of Fire in the Pacific, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters. On its eastern coast, Mexico shares the Yucatan Peninsula, which divides the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea, with the southern bordering countries of Guatemala and Belize.
Though Mexico has the 11th largest economy in the world, many Mexicans are underemployed, earn low wages, and have few opportunities to advance in their jobs. Despite this reality, thousands of migrants from Central America cross the border to find work in Mexico.
Mexico is a major drug-producing nation—it is the world’s third largest producer of opium—and drug-transit nation, as drugs are trafficked from South America into the United States.
Nearly 89% of the population identifies as Roman Catholic. Most practice a blend of Catholicism and animism. Christian Aid Mission assists indigenous ministries that are reaching the many tribal communities in Mexico that have no understanding of the gospel.
One such ministry works in Oaxaca State, the most ethnically diverse entity in the world. In one 36-square-mile area of the state, more than 200 languages and dialects are spoken. Half of the indigenous language-speaking people in Oaxaca do not speak Spanish. For centuries, Oaxaca has escaped all foreign influence, including the Spanish conquest, and is an exceptionally difficult mission field. Outsiders are treated with suspicion and even hostility.
The ministry helps train and place native missionaries in tribal communities as carpenters, bakers, literacy teachers, etc. Christian Aid Mission provided them with funding to open a carpentry shop so that missionaries could make connections with a tribal community by equipping poor villagers with an income-generating skill.
The native missionaries either know or learn the tribal languages to build relationships and share the gospel in villagers’ mother tongue. They then translate portions of Scripture from Spanish to the tribal language. The ministry has planted several churches among tribal groups and reports significant changes among these groups. In one of those groups, where women were frequently abused by their husbands, the ministry leader wrote, “The beating of women has dropped significantly. Best of all, the authorities are supporting our work.”
Another indigenous Mexican ministry is working to translate the Bible into the languages of 22 tribal groups. The leader of this ministry reports, “Through this type of ministry we have been able to see during the last 20 years that the ethnic peoples are redeemed for God, receive dignity, education, inclusion in different areas. It is wonderful to see the miracle of redemption in ethnic indigenous peoples and how they are dignified through the Word of God in their own languages.”
Sources: Joshua Project, CIA World Factbook, Etnopedia
How to Pray for Mexico
- Pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ would take root among ethnic tribal groups that have lived in darkness apart from the Savior for thousands of years.
- Pray for protection and provision for the native missionaries who are risking their safety and sacrificing their comfort to work among ethnic groups that are hostile toward outsiders.
- Pray for the new churches—the first ever churches—planted among ethnic groups, that they would grow and flourish and be grounded in the Word of God.
More stories from Mexico
Help Missionaries Build Relationships in Mexico
A native ministry trained its missionaries on practical ways to integrate with local communities and build relationships with the people. Now, those missionaries have begun to use that training to teach the people how to raise animals, vegetables, and micro crops. Missionaries are also teaching lessons on bread-making and textiles, as well as plumbing, electricity, carpentry, and blacksmithing.
People in Mexico Hear Gospel for the First Time
Two indigenous families in rural Mexico had no inkling of God’s existence until they heard audio recordings of the Gospel of Mark in their tribal language. “When listening to our audios in their language, something changed in them,” the leader of a native ministry said. “These families have changed their way of being and thinking.” The two families recently put their faith in Christ and have begun attending church services.
Equip Workers to Share the Gospel in Mexico
Through Bible studies, Sunday schools and other outreaches, native Christian workers are proclaiming the Good News. A 15-year-old girl at-risk from a troubled family came to a ministry’s orphanage and recently accepted Christ. “We have been able to share the gospel with her, and her life has been transformed,” the ministry leader said. Another girl, 13, has been attending a ministry church with her father for two years. “Her love for the Lord makes others strive to seek to meet and feed on the Word of God,” the leader said. Donations are sought for such gospel work. Pray the Lord would open more people’s hearts to their need for the Savior.
Help Provide Bibles and the Gospel in Mexico
Translators of the Bible into 26 indigenous languages also produce and distribute various materials to help build the kingdom. Workers at one ministry who translated all four Gospels into an indigenous language provided 1,000 copies to tribal people.
Help Send the Message of God’s Grace in Mexico
Many young people see working in poppy fields for drug cartels as their only way to make a living, but a 20-year-old man recently left that work after a relative discipled by a native ministry led him to Christ. Now Christian workers are discipling the young man, who is sharing the gospel with his parents and siblings and wants to bring the message of eternal life to other areas.
Open Gospel Opportunities in Mexico
To work among indigenous peoples who have resisted the gospel for centuries, native missionaries received training that includes practice periods among different tribes. In two areas they are also providing education to poor children, meeting a deep need as indigenous children have very limited access to schools.
