Making Disciples in the Land of the Maya
By Jeff Davis, director of EMU International
Marco and Jeff
“Amazing!” That was an expression that Marco Nuñez and I used as we spent the last thirteen days together – April 18 to May 1. We were describing the beauty and diversity of Mexico. We were describing how God has worked in Marco’s life, particularly in leading him to leave his ministry in Christian education as a teacher and school administrator and return from the USA to his birth country of Mexico as a missionary twenty-one years ago. Most of all we were referring to God’s provision for the needed resources to carry out the mission and His work in the lives of individuals, a work that only God could do.
Before I left for Mexico, I heard many people say, “A mission trip to Cancún? I want to go on that trip.” I must confess that I thought the same thing when I heard about Marco and his wife, Gwendolyn’s, ministry. I had visions of white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water. In my thirteen days in Mexico, I didn’t see the beaches and water of the Caribbean until day twelve. That was just fine with me because I saw something much better.
God is doing a truly “amazing” work across the Yucatán Peninsula and the nearby states through Marco and the many disciples that he has trained in what has been called “The Land of the Maya.” Marco estimates that in his 21 years in Mexico he has seen around 500 people saved, and he has baptized around 300. What is exciting to me is that many of these are not just converts, but true disciples.
The essence of following Jesus is the natural result that He will make us fishers of men. A disciple is not one who just comes to church, is baptized, and listens to the preaching. A disciple enters into life with other people and is one who makes other disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). I’m talking about building relationships for redemptive purposes. Marco and his church, the First Fundamental Baptist Church of Cancún (FFBCC), have made a deliberate effort to build relationships.
It is not easy in a society with a history that goes back to well before the time of Christ. There was a book in my bedroom at the Nuñezes’ house titled, “The Mayas, 3000 Years of Civilization.” The Maya settled in an area of nearly 250,000 square miles that includes the present-day states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, eastern Tabasco, and Chiapas, all states that Marco and I visited. Mayan religion, with its idols, traditions, and superstitions, is blended with the Catholic teachings brought by the Spanish conquerors to form a type of religious syncretism. The people have deep roots and are committed to their beliefs, although no two people seem to believe exactly alike. Believing that the Gospel is still the power of God for salvation, Marco and his people continue to sow the seed of the Word of God and allow God to give the increase.
When I left for Mexico on Wednesday, April 18, I had two 50-pound suitcases, plus a full carry-on, and my backpack, filled with books and tracts that Marco had requested. Marco picked me up at the airport after their Wednesday night service. As I settled in to rest for the night, I prayed to God asking Him to specifically bless this trip and use us to be an encouragement to the churches that we would visit. Looking back now, I believe God used us to encourage the people, but God also encouraged us.
Shortly after establishing his church, Marco began a Bible school in the church to train other nationals. Six graduates have been commissioned by FFBCC to begin churches in other parts of Mexico. Four of those pastors, who minister within a couple of hours’ drive from Cancún, joined us on Thursday for breakfast, a day of testimonies, and Bible training. Gwendolyn fixed two amazing meals for us. It was a blessing to hear the testimonies of these pastors. Each was won to Christ through a deliberate effort on Marco’s part to build a redemptive relationship. I shared my testimony and also walked them through Psalms 67 and 131. That evening I joined Marco, Gwendolyn, and several other people from their church in distributing tracts around the blocks surrounding one of the hospitals in Cancún. Most of the people were very grateful to receive a tract. Exceptions included some Jehovah’s Witnesses who had set up a booth on a nearby corner, and there was also another man who looked sternly at me and waved his finger as if to say, “no!”
On Friday, Marco and I set out on our 1,700-mile adventure. It took us two days to drive to the small village of Santa Martha, Chiapas. On the way we visited the city of Palenque and its famous Mayan ruins that date back to a civilization that flourished in the 7th Century. The Dramamine that I took worked for most of the several hours that it took to drive over the mountains in Chiapas near the Guatemalan border. We had to literally cross hundreds of topes (speed bumps), which made for slow travel and a queasy stomach.
Odalis, Dolores, & Ciro Alvarado
We arrived at the house/church of Ciro Alvarado on Saturday evening. He was one of the first pastors that Marco trained for the ministry. Ciro was born in this village. He went to Cancún to work construction as an adult. Marco used to take the workers cold water and talk to them during their breaks. Ciro was one who responded to the Gospel message. He eventually felt God’s call to preach. He brought his family to Cancún, and they all were saved. Marco led him through a three-year training program, and then Ciro wanted to return to his village to share the Gospel. God provided financially for him through Marco’s donors, and they helped build a house and a church where Ciro now serves with his wife Dolores and his children Jose Luis and Odalis. It was worth the cold showers I took to be able to spend three nights with them and see their ministry. I preached a Gospel message both in the morning and evening services. Ciro says that many of the people who come to his church are unsaved. They attend regularly and listen, but they won’t respond. He says, “We trust God to work in their hearts.” Ciro is well-respected in his village. (On that same day pastors Vicente and Pascual had a combined baptism service in another part of southern Mexico where seven were baptized.)
Vicente (far right) & Pascual (blue shirt) at the combined baptism
Marco, Jose Luis, & Jeff in Bécal
On Tuesday, we set out before 6 a.m. to travel fourteen hours to Bécal, Campeche, Mexico. Our journey took us back across the mountains of Chiapas, across a small part of the state of Tabasco, to the state of Campeche. There, in a city known for its Panama hats, Jose Luis Uc serves alongside his wife Martha and their three daughters. He is another one who went to Cancún for work years ago. A lady in the Cancún church invited the Uc daughters to attend the church, but Jose Luis and Martha wouldn’t attend. One day they were having a terrible argument when one of the daughters, through tears, begged them to go to church. Jose Luis promised that they would. The next week was the first time he had ever entered a Christian church. He loved the music and the sense of community. They went back that night and were saved. They studied the Bible for a whole year with Marco before God called Jose Luis to preach. He studied for the ministry for three additional years and then returned to his hometown of Bécal, where God provided a house and church through Marco’s generous donors. It was a privilege to preach a Gospel message to a full church at the Wednesday night service.
Marco at a meal with Deysi and Vicente
On Thursday, we drove about two hours to the town of Valladolid, Yucatán, a city of about 100,000 people, plus an additional 20,000 college students. This is the home of one of our newer missionary pastors, Vicente Puc. He also had gone to Cancún for work. Someone invited his wife Deysi to Marco’s church, and she started attending regularly. She would invite her husband, but he wouldn’t go. He said, “Sundays are my day off.” Eventually, after an argument with her, he promised that he would attend. He said, “I wasn’t looking for God, but God directed in my life, and I was saved.” His wife and daughter were also saved, but his extended family remains staunch Catholics. After three of years training with Marco, Vicente returned to his hometown and started a church. This is another house and church that God provided through Marco’s donors. Most of the people in attendance the evening of our service were believers, so I challenged them to be the “light of the world.”
Jeff with Pascual & Leydi in Chemax
Friday, we drove to Chemax, about thirty minutes away. We had a group of people from the Valladolid church that joined us at the church and home of Pascual Balam. He and his wife, Leydi, are of Mayan descent. Earlier in the afternoon, following lunch with Pascual, I had him show me a Mayan Bible and videoed him reading John 3:16 in Mayan. Many of the people in his town, including his parents, mainly speak a Mayan dialect. We had another good group of people who attended the service, including many from Pascual’s family. I preached on the Prodigal Son. Pascual was also a construction worker who Marco saw saved in Cancún, was later trained for the ministry, and returned to his hometown. His church and house were also provided by gifts from Marco’s donors. The donations paid for the land and building materials, but the Bible school students, most of whom were trained in construction, built the houses and churches – without blueprints!
On Sunday, we were at FFBCC. This is the mother church to all the others we visited. Marco asked me to re-preach the message on the Prodigal Son. We had a big crowd at the church. Toño, Ciro’s son, who also trained with Marco for the ministry, is the youth pastor at the church and leads the music. I witnessed something unique in the service. The congregation quoted several verses of Scripture together. They also took time to review the chapter content of the Gospel of Matthew. This kind of thing took place in each of the churches. Marco’s disciples are making disciples.
Sunday evening, we traveled about an hour away to Playa del Carmen, where Tomas Noh ministers. He grew up in a Catholic home, and his parents drank a lot, though he never did. He said, “I was the type of person that trusted in my own wisdom.” One Christmas when his family was away, he decided to go to Marco’s church. He was saved through the ministry of FFBCC. He told me, “My life was completely changed.” He was discipled by Marco for three years. For the past six years, he and his wife, Kleyni, have been working in a church plant where, again, God provided the facilities through Marco’s donors. I preached on Joshua 3-4 about the faith that it took to cross the Jordan.
Tomas & Kleyni with daughter, Katherine
Amazing! I don’t know how else to describe this trip. We saw some amazing sites. We visited some amazing churches and visited with some amazing people. We saw God’s amazing grace and His amazing provision. Marco is an amazing missionary that God is using to do an amazing work of building disciples in the land of the Maya — disciples who make disciples. †
To see an online album of photos from my trip visit http://emuinternational.org/jeffmexico