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Mexico City barrios tug at these missionaries' hearts |
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MEXICO CITY (BP)--Israel leans back against a cast-iron gate on the streets of Mexico City's Tepito barrio. With arms crossed in front of his chest and head bowed in prayer, he shifts his weight, then wipes a tear from his eye.
Mauricio Rojas knows the feeling. He was once in Israel's shoes.
The drug addictions that enslave Israel once trapped Mauricio. Standing at Israel's side, Mauricio gives the young man his address and tells him to stop by whenever he wants.
"Christ can do anything," Mauricio says. "He got me out of the trash, and He can do the same for you."
In Mexico City, a city of 28 million, Israel is one of countless young people battling drugs in a barrio with rampant drug trafficking, prostitution and a thriving black market. The presence of evil-spirit worship and animistic cults makes the darkness of barrios such as Tepito seem oppressive.
While other missionaries concentrate on areas outside the city proper, William and Orpha Ortega are the only International Mission Board missionaries among an estimated 9 million people living in Mexico City's inner city. The task before them and believers like Mauricio is great.
With five inner-city missionary opportunities available in Mexico City alone, Todd Beel, a regional strategy associate for the IMB, estimates 20 job requests have yet to be filled in urban centers across the country.
"We have to go where the people are," Todd says. "We have entire hidden cities within cities that are yet to have a serious Gospel witness."
For the Ortegas, the spiritual darkness of Tepito can be overwhelming, but it's also the primary reason they chose to serve here.
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