In November 2004, the Missions board at Strathmore Alliance began seriously considering the direction that we as a church should go and the
projects that we should become involved in. We set the following guidelines as criteria in making such decisions:
To bring the Gospel to unreached groups of people
To interact with the missionaries of the region and/or help the local people with hands-on building projects
To ensure that we are aligned with at least one of the four mandates of the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Canada
A project that came to our attention was referred to as the ‘Tarahumara Project’ in Mexico. It met all of the above criteria and is named
‘Caribbean Sun’ under the CandMA mandate.
The Tarahumara people are a secluded people, scattered through out an area in and around the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre range of the Rocky
Mountains, in the State of Chihuahua in Mexico. It is believed that there are close to 70,000 native Tarahumara Indians in this region, most
subsist on what they can grow, hunt and gather in their vicinity. They almost never come in contact with the outside world. Lack of food and
medicine can bring about mortality rates of 5-10% in drier years.
Matt. 28:18-20 is our churches mandate in spreading the gospel and to do so in tough areas like the Sierra Madre mountains, “messengers” are
essential.
The messengers who lead this project are:
Thomas Bencomo, pastor and missionary. Thomas ministers to four churches in the Juarez-Mexico/El Paso Texas area and heads up the project
by taking food and medicine to the people in this area.
Marie Bencomo, Thomas’s wife is a Bible Teacher at the Jaurez Alliance Bible College and she assists with purchasing decisions
Brenda Granados, Missionary to both the Tarahumara and the Pima Indians
The part that Strathmore Alliance Church plays in this mission has been in sending funds for Thomas and his group to buy supplies in the most
cost effective way possible and deliver them to the people to help them sustain their lives. By this action we believe we show Christ’s love
(Matt. 25:42-45) and open the door for evangelism (2 Tim. 4:5).
These deliveries are in a rocky, mountainous environment that most people will never venture into. Food is taken by truck and trailer 600 kms
south of the city of Juarez and then an additional 13 kms by mule into the Copper Canyon, vehicles cannot enter this remote area.
Our interaction and ongoing relationships with Thomas, Marie and Brenda has given us an understanding and appreciation of what missions work
involves, and has opened the door to people in our congregation to participate in building projects in a third world country.
Our church body believes in a Bible based ministry and that the outreach we are doing is in accordance with these scriptures:
2 Corinthians 10:15a 'to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you', this tells us the gospel is not to stay
only within the Christian community.
We believe Christ’s commandments in the Gospels were clear when He said,
'Make disciples of all nations' (Matt. 28:19)
'Preach the gospel to every creature' (Mark 16:15)
preach 'repentance and remission of sins' (Luke 24:47)
'go as the father sent me' (John 20:21)
'to the ends of the earth' (Acts 1:8)
To read more about the Tarahumara people, type 'Tarahumara Indians' in your internet search engine and to learn more about the area, type in
'Copper Canyon Mexico'.
