By Jenny Gentry, OMS Mexico Missionary
Over the past three years, OMS has often shared about our focused work in the Circle of Silence, an eight-state region surrounding Mexico City with the nation’ s fewest evangelical Christians. Several factors contribute to this reality.
One people group living in this circle has never experienced defeat by anyone— not by the Spanish conquistadors, the Aztecs, or the government. Therefore, they resist the Gospel message that calls us to surrender our lives to Christ. The fervor for independence from Spain was birthed in this region and stirred into a blaze by Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, whose soldiers carried banners with the Virgin of Guadalupe into battle.
Once they achieved victory, people say that the Virgin received the people’ s loyalty and praise, cementing her role in Mexican culture.
Later, as the government sought to separate church and state, the people in the Circle of Silence fought against this. This resistance continues today, creating a deep conflict when they are presented with the Gospel that calls for Christ— not the church nor the Virgin of Guadalupe— to be the center of life and culture. These factors make ministry in this region incredibly difficult, placing immense physical, emotional, and spiritual strain on local pastors. For this reason, they also call this area the“ Cemetery of Pastors.”
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