The Circle of Silence is made up of nine states in Mexico. It is an area where only 1% of people – or fewer – have heard the gospel, even though there are major universities and cities.
David and Maribel Easton and their two children, from Thornton Heath Evangelical Church, are planning to travel to the area as mission partners with SIM – an international, interdenominational evangelical Christian mission organisation. They prayerfully plan to plant churches that are faithful to God’s word. Here, they share their story with en.
en: How were you called to Mexico?
We have both studied at Cornhill in London where we were truly blessed as we deepened our understanding of how to handle and proclaim or teach the Bible faithfully.
We as a family are planning to travel as SIM missionaries 5,225 miles all the way from sunny old England to rainy old Mexico. There we plan to bring the gospel to people who have never heard that Jesus can be their Lord and Saviour who forgives sin and gives eternal life to all who are perishing. Why are we doing this? Paul the apostle says in Romans 10 that there is a need for the gospel to go to people who have never heard God’s word.
He says: ‘For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ’
Maribel and I are officially accepted by SIM – which used to be called Sudan Interior Mission, but changed its name to Serving In Mission when they expanded to different countries. SIM, we found, were very careful in the process, and supportive in our calling, as they took a whole year, with many interviews, to make sure we were called to Mexico.
Burden for Mexico
It was 2013 when God planted a seed of burden for Mexico in my heart. It was when we visited family and other churches that God revealed the great need for the gospel, and the need for Mexican people to have church plants that were faithful to the word and Bible training. The reasons for this were twofold: one, because of the prosperity gospel being rife in the churches, and, secondly, the thought that a believer can lose their salvation. So Mexican Christians then say if you can lose your salvation then I will just give up, because the Christian life is so difficult.
These two teachings are toxic, and are unbiblical. This burdened my heart even greater for the Christians in Mexico, but also for non-believers – that there is a hope who is Christ, who is sufficient for salvation, and [that] also nothing can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
There was a lot of praying from 2013 onwards that if the Lord was calling us to Mexico, then He would make it plain to me and to Maribel. In 2016 God planted an idea that consisted of us starting a conference called ‘Awakening Hearts’. This came into being where we had 20 or more young people and adults come and hear the word of God faithfully preached. We then ran two others, which also brought non-believers, believers, and those who had once professed faith in Christ. It was a time of blessing and again the Lord showed me the great need for faithful Bible teaching in Mexico. The Lord also spoke to me through two main passages – one was Romans 10:13-16, and the other Matthew 9:37-38 – which kept going round and round in my heart and mind.
But as time passed, I couldn’t see how we could go to Mexico, because I didn’t see any mission organisation that worked in Mexico at the time. It was when I met a guy called ‘D’ from when we were studying at Cornhill Bible college that he introduced us to SIM. And he told us the great need in the Circle of Silence. When Maribel heard about the Circle of Silence and the work that D was doing, her heart leaped, and for the first time the Lord showed her that we needed to go to serve Him in Mexico.
en: What is Mexico like?
Corruption from the police, kidnapping, drug and alcohol addiction, poverty – both physically and spiritually – are huge. Gun crime, prostitution and human trafficking are also big problems, especially in Mexico City. According to UNICEF in 2004, just over 14,000 children were on the streets, and there must be many more children now in 2022.
Mexico has a lot of children, and in fact there are more young people than there are old people, as [the] mortality rate is about 70 years old. It is very rare to see a very old person in their 80s. This is due to health issues, young people dying in freak accidents, killings, and not being able to afford health care – things we in the West take for granted.
In the northwest of Mexico, in a place called La Paz in Baja, California, there is a ranch called Rancho el Camino. There, a couple called ‘P’ and ‘E’ have taken on the challenge to have projects that help children and young people to get out of situations they are faced with. They do this by giving them education, helping with building projects to give people homes, [and running] basketball camps – but with the intention of sharing the gospel of salvation with the people there. P and E have a lot on their plate, and their prayer is that souls will be saved and that more workers will come, whether on short-term mission or long-term.
Another issue, especially in the Baja, is Mexican people called ‘Ninis’. These are Mexicans who are so poor they cannot afford education and so they then can’t find work and they need work for their children to be educated. This is a horrible cycle and so they want to help these Mexicans by providing a means to be able to get educated to then be able to get into work. If the people cannot get money to provide for themselves and their family, then they are easy targets by the drug cartels to become workers of the drug industry.
en: What about the religious picture in the country?
Mexico [has] many indigenous groups who are often mistreated by other Mexicans, and their religion is more into the spiritual ancestors and worship spirits of various kinds.
God is at work through His Spirit
Maribel’s home church do mission work amongst these people to share the hope of Jesus, but often when someone comes to Christ there is persecution in the tribes when someone converts and turns away from the spiritual pagan worship and this could result in many killings… This is found in Chiapas and Zacatecas. The blessing is that the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of the indigenous Mexicans. But the cost is huge, not just amongst the indigenous Mexicans but also amongst Christian missionaries also, who face a lot of difficulties and have been murdered in the past, which is a very sad situation. But God is faithful and doing amazing work amongst the indigenous tribes in Mexico.
Another group that is being reached with the gospel is called ‘Tarahumaras’. They are Mexicans who often do a lot of running in sandals or even bare feet and walk for mile upon mile to get anywhere as they do not have cars, and they live in Chihuahua, which is in the north of Mexico. A missionary friend called Michael is there; please pray for him as he reaches these people. Fortunately, he says there is peace amongst the Tarahumaras.
As we have seen over the last five years or more the rise in LGBT+ has turned our culture upside down. We have seen same-sex marriages being allowed to happen in law, a general acceptance of the lifestyle, and even teachers and other professionals taken to court for standing for their faith against the acceptance of same-sex practice or transgender ideology. In Mexico the political party in power are liberal and have brought in laws, like you cannot say anything against the lifestyle or even try to convert someone’s sexuality, otherwise you face a potential prison sentence. In regard to drug use, marijuana is legal in all forms and is freely available. I remember going to the beach and was offered a tub of weed cream – and I don’t mean the garden variety. I kindly declined.
Although Mexico is a very Catholic country, politics is very hot and a big part of Mexican culture. Abortion and ultra-feminism have started to become more popular. This is coming from the younger generation who have been exposed to politics in the West and popular world views.
Part of the reason for the ultra-feminism is because of the abuse that women have faced from ‘macho’ men, and women are fed up with being treated very poorly, so the push back has been huge. That is why there have been not just abused women, but men who have gone off with other women, leaving a trail of children behind for the women to have to cope with.
Caring for body and soul
Unlike the UK, Mexico has no social help in finance or support through other means. Churches, though, across Mexico have been trying to help with the social needs of families with many marriage conferences, and projects that try to feed children and even try to support emotionally.
Maribel’s mother Mely is one such woman who is exemplary through the love of Christ shown to women and children. Something that we participated in when we went to the north of Mexico in Durango was one of seven areas where there was a children’s group run on a Saturday, where children were fed and watered, given an opportunity to learn about Jesus, and given prizes to learn their memory verses with some singing. This meant the children felt loved and cared for.
This was evident as we pulled up and saw crowds of children gathering around the van and shouting ‘teacher, teacher’ to my mother-in-law, with excitement in their voices and smiles on their faces. Please do continue to pray for this ministry to run and that Maribel’s mum and the church at Centro Christiano will flourish as they share the love of Christ with these children.
Another ministry Maribel’s mother is involved with is having a weekly Bible study with ladies of which most are single and are broken. But these are only a few of the many issues in Mexico.
en: Tell us about Mexico more generally
Mexico is a very large country which covers an area of 1.964 million km2 which makes the UK look like an ant and elephant in comparison. But is it all sunshine with not a cloud in the sky?
Extremes of geography
Mexico has almost every eco system in one country. There is sun, with beautiful blue skies, with temperatures as high as 40°C, and low temperatures, depending on the area, of minus six centigrade or even lower. There are stunning beaches with palm trees, rainforests with giant pine and oak trees that are huge in size, with various animals and insects – both friendly and deadly – which are not for the faint-hearted. There is snow on the tops of the mountains in the north and desert areas, with huge canyons like Copper Canyon, which is four times larger than the Grand Canyon in the USA. A lot of westerns were shot in the state, Durango, where Maribel is from.
But when it rains, it rains cats and dogs which you do not want to get caught up in. In the state of Jalisco, many people’s homes were flooded, and even a few crocodiles sailed down the flooded streets that are hilly to the seaside in Puerto Vallarta. Mexico’s landscapes are vast and impressive but so is Mexico’s history.
en: So, what about the country’s history and language?
If you travel to Oaxaca in the south, you will soon find a place called Monte Alban. Here the mountain is 6,400 feet above sea level. And on top of this mountain, we find the ancient ruins of the Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs. These Mexican groups worshipped in the most brutal way with their games that consisted of solid rubber balls that would often break bones and which the two teams kicked through a hoop high up on a wall, and if they lost, the losers (according to our tour guide) were sacrificed to the gods to restore honour and bring prosperity.
The main language of Mexico is of course Spanish, although it has a different dialect, but this was a result of Hernán Cortés who came over to Mexico in 1519 with his men. Spanish is not the only language that is spoken in Mexico – indeed there are 68 different languages spoken by many tribes in Mexico.
Food – a doorway for the gospel
But although the ancient civilisation was brutal, they were very intelligent, as they cultivated many foods, mainly corn and beans, until the Spanish came over and brought animals. If you are food lovers you can pass by a chocolate shop like something from Willy Wonka, and if you know the history of chocolate, it originated from Mexico and was brought over to Europe and other countries by the Spanish Catholics.
You can get tacos, elotes, chocolate, burritos, churros, and even pizza, and the list could go on. If you are interested in the food, you can type into YouTube ‘Mark Wiens Mexico’ for more visual information. But why am I mentioning food? Because I believe it is a doorway into the heart of a Mexican where the gospel can be brought. Also I mention food because Coca Cola is the main drink that is consumed; a Mexican family will drink three litres a day. This means there is a real problem with type 2 diabetes, and people have other health issues as a result.
Family oriented
Mexican people are warm, kind and generous, and Mexican culture is very family-orientated. Mexicans do not tend to have small families, but are generally rather large and look after each other especially the older generation. But times are changing and with LGBT+, abortion, and ultra-feminism coming up in society in prominence, less and less couples are having children or able to have children.
en: Tell us more about the Circle of Silence
In the whole of Latin America only one in ten pastors have had any formal Bible teaching, and this may not even be faithful Bible teaching, so the need is big. The Circle of Silence is in the central part of Mexico (and Mexico is North America, not south or central, due to the fact Texas and California used to belong to Mexico). The Circle of Silence is a key area as there are major universities and cities where Mexicans come and study, and then go back to surrounding areas in Mexico. If then we can bring the gospel to people, then they can be saved and go back to their homes, and our prayer is that they will bring the gospel to other areas of Mexico where people are unreached. We believe that nobody should live and die without hearing the gospel of Jesus.
We don’t just want them to be saved, though, we want them to be faithful Bible handlers, so that they can withstand any error that they will face. So our plan is to plant churches that are faithful to God’s word, train people in-house or at a Bible college like Predica Vida or Cornhill online, identify their gifts and send them to establish churches. We also would like to run conferences, and Maribel has a real heart for street children and ladies’ ministry. We believe it’s vital that men and women, boys and girls, hear the gospel and are trained to handle the word properly for the Kingdom of God. Networking is vital in the Christian life – who you know will help to ease ministry pressures, and also will benefit us and others we train.
We also want to point Mexicans to the wider world of mission, so having connection with Africa, UK or other areas of the world like Barcelona will serve the Great Commission to reach the world with the word of God. Our work will be a challenge, but we believe the Lord is leading us to Mexico. We need firstly financial partners to go, secondly, prayer, and thirdly, in the future, even other believers who have a heart for the gospel.
