A Call To Battle

The rugged but beautiful area of Copper Canyon Mexico


Each New Year I find myself reflecting back over the previous year of ministry. Doing so really seems to help in identifying the strengths of the ministry and at the same time often shines light on the areas of weakness. It also reminds me to give thanks to God for all that He’s done in our lives. Thanks for the good times and even the tough times knowing that God uses both to bring us into a deeper knowledge if Him. I also like to use this time of reflection to reaffirm our commitment to giving God 100% in all that we do.

We established the Una Esperanza ministry center in 2004 and we often compared it to a newborn baby with great potential but like any baby, we knew that this baby would require some nurturing before it could walk on its own. By January of 2007 this baby was well on its way towards this goal. We had a new church, an eager new staff, and the ministry center was most often teaming with children of all ages from toddlers to teens. The ministry center was healthy and growing.

In July of 2007, Mariquita, a six-year-old Tarahumara Indian girl and regular at Una Esperanza was abducted from Kilometer 33 and taken to a remote ranch in the Copper Canyon area of Mexico. Mariquita is just like our very own daughter so when we heard the news, we organized a rescue team and set out to find her. We knew that in doing so we would probably be starting a war between the Tarahumara and us because they do not like outsiders getting involved in any of their affairs. We were successful in the rescue but a war with the Tarahumara did indeed follow. It’s taken months to finally bring peace to the situation and while things are calm for now, our relationships with the Tarahumara have been strained to say the least.

Most of the Tarahumara of Copper Canyon live in primitive conditions often living in caves or mud homes.

The enemy has held the Tarahumara captive for generations and our goal has been to break the stronghold that Satan has on these people and bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Before the rescue, many of the Tarahumara (children and adults) attended our church and regularly hung out at the ministry center. Most of the children and several of the adults even made commitments to Christ. Ever since the rescue, many of the Tarahumara children and most of the Tarahumara adults have been absent from the daily programs at Una Esperanza. We believe that by venturing into the remote mountains of Copper Canyon to rescue Mariquita, we awoke a demonic giant that has held the Tarahumara captive for hundreds of years and he is not willing to give them up without a fight.


Dina with her new Tarahumara friends in Creel, Mexico


We know that Gods LOVE for the Tarahumara is greater than this demonic giant and that Gods desire is for the Tarahumara of Kilometer 33 and the Tarahumara of Copper Canyon to come to Him. This year we hope to establish our second Una Esperanza ministry center, Una Esperanza-Creel in the heart of Tarahumara Indian country in the Copper Canyon area. We also know that by doing this we will be venturing into another area of darkness held captive by the enemy and we fully anticipate another battle on our hands. We also know that God will go before us and through His strength, we will be victorious!

Please join us in prayer that God would restore the relationships with the Tarahumara Indians of Kilometer 33 and that He would go before us to prepare the way for the Una Esperanza-Creel ministry center.