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Mexico Covenant Church Elects New President
CUERNAVACA, MEXICO (April 2, 2002) - Alfonso Perez Parra was elected as the
new national president of the Iglesia Evangelica Misionera del Pacto
Evangelical Mission Covenant Church (Iglesia Evangelica Misionera del
Pacto) of Mexico as more than 100 participants from 23 member churches
attended the organization's 8th annual meeting a week ago.
Perez, a medical doctor and pastor of the Jerusalem church in
Cuernevaca, will serve for the next two years. Mari Virasaba and
Guillermina Marcin were elected to the seven-member national Executive
Committee, marking the first time in the Mexico Covenant's history that
women have been elected to the committee.
Outgoing President Javier Martinez from the Tlalpan Church in Mexico
City presided over the business sessions each day. Vice President
Fernando Marcin preached at the opening evening worship service from the
11th chapter of John and the account of the raising of Lazarus from the
dead.
Guillermo Conde, pastor of the Lectores de la Biblia (Readers of the
Bible) in Oaxaca, preached on characteristics of the early church from
the second chapter of Acts during the evening service on the second
night of the event.
The Evangelical Mission Covenant Church of Mexico has been officially
organized for 10 years, according to missionary to Oaxaca Dennis Carlson
(shown in accompanying photo with leaders at Oaxaca).. However, ministry
has been evident for more than 50 years and inroads have been made in
many places on a variety of levels.
Miguel Ortega, editor of the Spanish counterpart to the Covenant Home
Altar - Hoy Con Dios (Today with God) - reported numerous cases
where the daily devotional is being used beyond Covenant circles, as
reflected in a letter from an individual in Cuba requesting a
subscription. Covenant/CIPE (Fellowship of Latin American Covenant
Churches) short-term missionary Damaris Adame reported that the Chilean
national school system would like to adopt the Covenant's 12-year
Spanish Sunday school curriculum for use in public schools to strengthen
the moral fiber of the nation.
Marisol Martinez and Elizabeth Ruiz, returning short-term missionaries
from Spain, witnessed about the challenges and joys of their work in
church planting with full-time missionaries Rob and Nancy Reed in the
far northwestern corner of that country. The Annual Meeting was also
encouraged with the news of Mexico playing host this summer to the
second annual Hispanic CBC (Covenant Bible College), after a very
successful initial course of study, discipleship and ministry at CBC's
campus in La Merced, Ecuador, last summer.
Educational options were available for participants during afternoon
sessions. Covenant missionary Tom Kelly reviewed portions of a new
curriculum for orienting newcomers to the Covenant. It is hoped that
Un Asunto de Familia (A Matter of Family), a program based on
Inquirers Class material, will be adaptable to different teaching
settings in an effort to strengthen the sense of family and Covenant
identity in the church.
"It is still young in its overall structure and organization," said
Carlson of the Mexican Covenant Church. "But if this annual meeting is
any indication, it is well positioned to move forward in growth,
fulfilling its calling both in expanding corners of Mexico and to the
nations beyond."
The Evangelical Mission Covenant Church of Mexico is one of two Covenant
church organizations serving Mexico. It serves primarily a central
district in the greater Mexico City area and a south district some 300
miles distant in the state of Oaxaca.
For more information about Covenant organizations in Mexico, call the
Department of World
Mission at 773-907-3316.
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