Viewers of US news programs have been inundated with coverage of the surge in drug violence in Mexico City and other areas of Mexico.  We asked the missionaries in Mexico to give their perspective on what is going on, particularly how God is at work in the midst of the situation. 

 

The following is a couple of paragraphs on the reality in Mexicali from missionary Rick Barnes.  Together with Mercy, his wife, the Barnes have been in Baja North since 2002.   Their ministry area includes Mexicali, Tijuana, Ensenada, Tecate and San Luis.

 

 

I am often struck with the media portrayal of happenings in Mexico. The scenes of the Federales in a firefight with the Narcotraficantes in Juarez do make for interesting television. It does not, however, paint a realistic picture of the challenges faced in Mexicali. In fact, in the latest State Department warning about travel to Mexico (of which we received a copy this morning), Mexicali was specifically excluded from the warning.

 

The ongoing story of difficulty for the area around Mexicali is the recovery from the Easter Sunday earthquake. The 7.2 quake that cost only two lives has disrupted many more. With the Mexicali Valley being reclaimed desert used for agricultural purposes, the area is completely dependent on a water system that was badly damaged and is still in the process of repair. Where there are no crops, there is no harvest. Where there is no harvest, there is no pay for the thousands of agricultural workers who are available to pick vegetables in the hot weather, if only there is work. It doesn’t make for as riveting television (or mission promotion either), I must admit, but it is the reality faced by many of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Mexicali and the surrounding environs.