Mission Field – Mexico City

 

Main Street Baptist:   Short Term Missions

 

Mission Field – Mexico City

To Help Dennis and His Daughter email dennis@administrationpros.com

The Need

• If Mexico City had 330 missionaries they would each need to reach 100,000 people to evangelize the city
• The growth rate nearly 2,000 people daily.
• There are 800,000 college students in Mexico City without one separated Gospel witness, (300,000 alone in the world’s largest university – UNAM).
• One half of the population is under the age of 20. Children under 15 make up 63% of population.
• There are millions of children, with 200,000 being born yearly in Mexico City.
• Over one million children are orphans.
• There are areas of 2-3 million people without one Gospel preaching missionary.

The Size

• 10% of Latin America’s population
• More people than all the countries in Central America
• Only 3 countries, Brazil, Argentina, and Columbia have more people than Mexico City in Latin America.
• Air pollution is very bad, so the city bans one fifth of its cars each day of the workweek, which is determined by its license plate number.
• The Largest taxi fleet in the world is found in Mexico City.  The city boasts a fleet of over 60,000 taxis.
• Mexico City covers 571 square miles. The metro area covers  900 sq miles.
• Compared to North America
• 7.5% of North America’s population
• More people than Canada
• Over twice the size of New York City
• More people than each of the following areas of the United States:
• Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
• West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey
• Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

The History

Almost 700 years ago, on an island in the water of Lake Texcoco, the Aztecas founded Tenochtitlan.  Tenochtitlán was built in 1325 by the Aztecs. It was destroyed by the Spanish when they conquered Mexico. Hernando Cortez first entered the Valley of Mexico in 1519. With fewer than 200 soldiers and a few horses, he conquered the Aztecs. In 1521 the Spanish destroyed the city of Tenochtitlán.

This ancient wonder later became the largest capital city the world has ever known.  The city’s secular past melds three distinct cultures; the prehispanic, the colonial and the modern.  These unique personalities have came together in the anthology we know today as Mexico City.  Prehispanic influences can still be found in the faces of its people and the buildings and monuments built by their ancestors.  In contrast, Historic Downtown illustrates Mexico’s Colonial period, with ornate religious buildings and architecturally masterful civic plazas that remain among the most beautiful in the world.  With towering skyscrapers, sophisticated shopping malls and world-class hotels, modern day Mexico City is at the forefront on the XXI Century.  This brilliant combination of history, tradition and modernization makes Mexico City one of the world’s most fascinating destinations.

The Facts

• Elevation: 7,400 feet/ 2256 meters
• Average Annual Rainfall: 25.7 inches/ 65 centimeters
• Average January Temperature: 68 degrees
• Average July Temperature: 77 degrees
• Major Industries: construction and the production of chemicals, plastics, cement, and yarns and textiles.
• Mexico City is situated on the southern end of the Anahuac Plateau.

Can Your Penny Make A Difference

The Penny Campaign

Many people consider the penny an insignificant amount with no buying power. In 1992, Samaritan unleashed the power of the penny with its first Penny Campaign. This effort for increasing awareness of hunger and homelessness in our backyard while raising money for Samaritan has become a community event.

The annual Penny Campaign is Samaritan’s major fundraiser. Beginning October 1st and continuing through November, schools, churches, families, individuals, civic organizations and corporations across the Triad, all join in saving their pennies and spare change for the Samaritan Soup Kitchen and Inn.

The Penny Campaign collection day is held the first Saturday in December. All unrolled collected coins are dropped off at the Thruway Center in Winston-Salem. It’s a fun filled day with WXII’s Cameron Kent and the Samaritan team.

Jar stickers, posters and other marketing materials will be available July 2009. Contact Anne Rudert at development@triadbiz.rr.com or by calling 336.748.1962 ext. 2

Penny Trivia Did you know…No one-cent coins were minted in 1815 due to a copper shortage caused by the War of 1812 with Great Britain. * It only takes 154 pennies to feed one person a meal at the Samaritan Soup Kitchen. The one-cent coin was made legal tender by the Coinage Act of 1864. * To feed 450 people one lunch it would take 69,300 pennies, which would weigh 382 lbs. In 1909, Abraham Lincoln was the first historical figure to grace a U.S. coin when he was portrayed on the one-cent coin to commemorate his 100th birthday. The Lincoln penny was also the first U.S. cent to include the words “In God We Trust.” * To reach our goal of $100,000, we need to collect 210 miles worth of pennies. This would take us from Winston-Salem to Myrtle Beach, SC

All Most Done: Religious Service Center for the Prison Lexington, NC

http://www.dpchapelforchange.com/

The new Davidson Prison Ministries Chapel will be located onsite at the Davidson Corrections Center.  This new 2,400 SF worship center will allow for a dedicated house of worship, counsel, and education for both inmates and staff.

The new facility will contain an open assembly hall, 2 bathrooms, a small break-room, the chaplain’s office and a conference room with a media closet.  The assembly hall will be able to seat about 150 people.

LEXINGTON, N.C. — An effort is under way to build a religious services building at a minimum security prison in Lexington. Supporters said The New Life Center at the Davidson Correctional Center could help inmates headed for release to avoid returning to lives of crime.

One of the few bright spots for many of the 258 men incarcerated at Davidson Correctional Center is the work of the Davidson Prison Ministry, which said it lacks space to adequately serve them.

“Of their worship services and it is quite a chore holding their educational services in the limited amount of space that we do have available,” said Rev. Tim Martin, the prison’s chaplain.

Martin provides pastoral counseling with little privacy in a small cubicle and in the prison’s lunch area, and only 25 inmates at a time can take in his Sunday church service in a trailer. He said the planned 2,300 square foot New Life Center would change that.

“It will provide a meeting space for worship services here on the unit as well as educational space for teachers from Davidson County Community College to come out and teach courses,” Martin said.
The North Carolina Department of Correction approved plans for the building in January. The ministry has raised a little over a third of the $300,000 in construction costs, but it’s not been easy.

“That’s been a real challenge because a lot of people don’t see the prison as a very lovable situation,” said Newell Davis, the ministry’s president.

Former county commissioner Max Walser heads up the steering committee for the project. He believed the religious services building would not only benefit inmates, but also the community.

“I think the citizens of this county knowing that these men are going to be moving out amongst them in this community in the next five years, they need to be supportive of this project because it will enable all of us to have a better community, one that’s freer of crime,” Walser said.

The prison’s superintendent said The New Life Center would fit hand in glove with the prison’s mission.

“When they go back home, they need to be better than they were when they came in because it helps break that cycle,” said Michael Davis. “It helps them demonstrate to their families that this wasn’t just wasted time for them.”

Newell Davis said donations for construction of The New Life Center should be sent to Davidson Prison Ministry, P.O. Box 2131, Lexington, NC 27293.