Baja Presbyterian Missions Inc., an endorsed project of the Presbytery of San Diego, is your church’s bridge to working with your brothers and sisters in Christ south of the border.

Future Vision: Five New Baja California Missions

At its regular biannual meeting in April, the Presbytery of the Northwest Border (Presbiterio Fronterizo Noroccidental) of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico voted to proceed with plans to start five new missions in Baja California.

The sites include Tijuana and Ensenada where Mexican Presbyterian churches already exist, plus Rosarito (south of Tijuana), San Quintin (about 150 miles south of Ensenada), and Cabo San Lucas (at the southern tip of Baja California).

In most cases, funds to purchase land or buildings and to remodel or construct new sanctuaries or fellowship halls will come from the Roland and Kay Taylor Memorial Trust Funds invested with the Presbyterian Foundation. Details of the payment schedules will be worked out with each current property owner. BPM oversees the spending of interest payments from the Taylor funds.

The exception is the new site in San Quintin, the Mount of Olives Church, which is fully operational, having been started by a Korean Presbyterian businessman.

“Our board applauds the Presbiterio’s vision for growth over the long term,” said BPM President Bob Battenfield. “We encourage the Mexican Presbytery to take note of the path of progress in Baja—where new investment is being made to build new hotels and restaurants that will attract a labor force, many of whom are from Chiapas and Oaxaca where Presbyterian missionaries were most active decades ago with the result that many of the people who come to the border seeking work from those southern Mexico states already are Presbyterians.”

The new mission in Tijuana will be an outgrowth of an effort by Pueblos Hermanos’ co-director Rev. Enrique Romero to start cell groups in neighborhoods. Funding for the home Bible Study groups is provided by La Jolla Presbyterian Church. Also pastor of Monte Sinai Mission, he receives a salary supplement from the Taylor Fund.

Urgent Need: Offerings to Help Cover Salaries for Mexican Pastors

As we pass the mid-year point, donations from churches and individuals to our general operating budget are “in the red”—running about $7,000 short of break-even, according to BPM Treasurer Jack Shelver

“These are hard economic times and we are feeling the pinch as are other nonprofits,” he said.

Shelver called upon donors and potential donors in the Presbytery of San Diego and throughout Southern California to consider increasing or initiating contributions to Baja Presbyterian Missions at this time and in the next calendar or fiscal year.

“Baja Missions is an effective use of your mission giving dollar,” he emphasized.

Currently BPM supports eight pastors, five in Tijuana, two in Mexicali, and one in Ensenada. Funds pass through BPM to support two more pastors.

When our new website is complete, you'll be able to donate online to Baja Presbyterian Missions. Until then, we gratefully accept contributions sent by postal mail.

Baja Presbyterian Missions Inc.
9189 Grossmont Blvd.
La Mesa, CA 91941–4141

Our California 501(c)(3) tax exempt identification is 6098996.

Sheila Mura: New Presbyterian Women Representative Joins BPM Board

A former Spanish teacher, Doris Scoville of Faith Presbyterian Church has ably served BPM as representative of Presbyterian Women for more than 10 years.

The new rep is Sheila Mura of Northminster Presbyterian Church, who is also a Spanish speaker. Thank you, Doris! Welcome, Sheila!

Fruit of the Vine: April 2010 Day Trip Photos Viewable Online

If you joined our one-day April mission trip to Baja, you'll want to refresh your memory of how much fun you had. If you missed Fruit of the Vine, view the photos, then join our registration emailing list so you won't miss Bread of Life, our 2011 day trip!

Christmas 2010: Order Our Easy-on-You Mission Fair Kits Now

For many years now, Baja Presbyterian Missions has offered a wonderful outreach to the Mexican families in the congregations we support in Baja. It is our Christmas Gift Program.

By early November, participating U.S. churches are assigned a Mexican church and receive lists of its children by name, age and gender. Members of the U.S. churches purchase age-appropriate gifts for the children, then wrap and label each gift with the name and age of the recipient child and his or her church. The week before Christmas the presents are collected, bagged and delivered to Chula Vista Presbyterian Church, where the Mexican pastors come to pick them up to transport them across the border.

More U.S. churches are needed to meet the growth of the Mexican congregations. Last year’s participants included the following churches:

• Chula Vista Presbyterian Church
• Community Presbyterian Church Westmorland
• First Presbyterian Church El Cajon
• Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church
• Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church
• La Jolla Presbyterian Church

Use the button below to request your Baja Presbyterian Missions Christmas 2010 mission fair kit now. We’ve designed them to be really easy on you. You provide the table, we provide everything else!

“Bread of Life”: Baja Day Trip Scheduled for Saturday, April 9, 2011

Following up on our Fruit of the Vine Baja Day Trip of this past April, Baja Presbyterian Missions will offer a day trip on the theme Bread of Life (or Pan de Vida in Spanish) tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 9, 2011.

“The Bread of Life tour will start with a visit to one or more bakeries in Tecate,” said BPM Secretary Colleen Carr. “The town is known for its great bakeries. We’ll get a behind-the-counter look at how these delicious, traditional breads and pastries are prepared and baked,” she said.

Tentative plans for the Bread of Life Baja Day Trip are to meet at Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church in El Cajon, visit the bakery and Bethel Church in Tecate, have lunch at a church in Tijuana, and visit an additional Tijuana church before returning to El Cajon.

More information will be confirmed and published in our Winter 2011 edition of this newsletter, at the BPM website, and at EventBrite.

Use the button below to ask us to confirm that your email address is on the Bread of Life day trip emailing list.