A Partnership in Mexico

By Charlie Ness

The Promised Land Church is in the northwest suburbs of Mexico City. It was founded by Pastor Aurelio Gomez, a Catholic priest who came to faith in Christ. God blessed his ministry with miracles and healings.

Bob and Bonnie Stevenson were members at Upper Skippack Mennonite Church when I was pastor there, and in 1988 were sent to Mexico City by the Franconia Conference to begin new churches. Over 10 years they started several. Pastor Aurelio invited Bob to join the ministry of the Promised Land in the late 1990s.

Through a revival, thousands came to faith in Christ resulting in many new churches being started in the towns surrounding Mexico City. As the church grew they realized the need for a confession of faith to guide them. When Pastor Aurelio read Anabaptist history, he felt like he was a modern-day Menno Simons. Both had been Catholic priests. Both were expelled from the Catholic church and both started a Christian movement. He also realized that he agreed with the Anabaptist teachings, so they adopted an Anabaptist Confession of Faith.

To fill the need for leaders and to disciple new believers, the church has a school including college and seminary. Currently, there are over 60 churches with about 14,000 persons attending. They have sent missionaries to the United States, Spain, Italy, and Thailand. Upon Pastor Aurelio’s death, Bob became the pastor.

I have traveled many times to Mexico to teach in the school of ministry, preach in tent meetings, and to lead construction teams.

My desire is to have Towamencin develop a relationship with at least one of the Mexican churches to partner in construction and Kingdom ministry. While we may assist them with finances and some labor, we can benefit from their strong passion for evangelism and prayer.