Tag Archive for: Mexico

For nearly four decades, Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (CCPC) in Denver, Colorado has carried a simple conviction: friendship in Christ is meant to be lived across borders. This spring break, that conviction is taking shape once again as a multigenerational team prepares to travel to Juárez, Mexico, to serve alongside their longtime partners at Iglesia Maranatha Presbyteriano.

The team departs Saturday, beginning a week of ministry in the Felipe Ángeles neighborhood. Their days will be full—hosting Vacation Bible School for neighborhood children, helping with work projects around the church, and spending time with families who have become dear friends over the years. Laughter, prayer, meals, and shared stories will fill the spaces between the work.

This trip carries special meaning. The last large group from CCPC visited in October of 2022. In the years since, the church chose a different rhythm of care because of the health struggles of Pastor Jorge. Rather than sending large teams, smaller groups traveled between 2023 and 2025 simply to visit, encourage, pray, and stand alongside him and the congregation during seasons of illness and adversity. Those quiet visits deepened a relationship already rooted in 38 years of shared faith.

Now, the church is returning and for the first time during spring break team instead of the usual fall trip. It will be the 29th family mission visit in the partnership’s long history—a reminder that faithful relationships are built one trip, one prayer, and one act of service at a time.

This year, the team will also carry with them soccer gear and equipment. In a neighborhood where soccer is a common language, these simple tools will help Iglesia Maranatha continue its ministry with children and families.

Because sometimes a soccer ball can open a door—
and a long friendship can keep it open. ⚽

Remember, when you support Soccer Chaplains United, a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals or organizations, and cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

Last October, partner church Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (CCPC) made their way to Juárez, Mexico for the 28th time in a nearly 34-year history. Every year, CCPC goes down seeking to make an impact in a neighborhood just a stone’s throw away from the boarder, with the University of Texas – El Paso’s college buildings in plain sight.

La Iglesia Maranatha and Pastor Jorge Mata has been serving in the Felipe Ángeles neighborhood for those many, many years. One of the annual traditions for the family mission trip of CCPC is to play a “friendly” soccer (fútbol) match prior to the week’s worth of work on a Sunday in a local park. This trip was no different as team members, Jared and Mea Kelso, write about their experience:

Lots of kids are kicking around soccer balls in Juarez, Mexico, thanks to the generosity of Soccer Chaplains United! This fall, Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (CCPC) returned to Juarez, Mexico to visit Iglesia Maranatha. CCPC has a 20+ year relationship with Iglesia Maranatha. Iglesia Maranath serves the inner-city community of Juarez, and it has been faithfully led by Pastor Jorge for 40 years. The mission trip included leading a VBS program during the afternoon for local school children and repainting the church during the mornings, as well as encouraging and catching up with old friends.

On our first Sunday, we attended Church and held a picnic at one of the local parks. All of the Church members were there, and almost everyone played in a pick-up soccer game! Soccer Chaplains United’s donation of gear allowed us to hand out new jerseys to the church members that were put to good use in a vigorous match in the park. It was so much fun to watch our groups begin to bond as they played for over an hour!

While we didn’t have a chance to hand out jerseys to the kids, we were able to donate the jerseys to Iglesia Maranatha. Part of their outreach to the city includes a thrift shop that Ms. Marta, Pastor Jorge’s wife, runs alongside her dental clinic. Donating these jerseys gives the Church an opportunity to sell high-quality clothes and put more money towards their facility fees and encourage Pastor Jorge and his family. The jerseys also allow the customer a chance to own something that’s uniquely theirs!

Thank you Soccer Chaplains United for your continued support of Cherry Creek Pres’ ministry, and the chance to donate this gear to Iglesia Maranatha!

Jared and Mea Kelso, team members for Juárez mission trip 2022

Remember, when you support Soccer Chaplains United, a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals or organizations, and cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

In just a few days a small team from Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (CCPC) will look to make their way to Juárez, Mexico for what the 28th time in a nearly 34-year history. Save for a period of a few years when the church deemed it unsafe to travel to Juárez with the drug cartel violence and in 2020 with the boarder closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the church has sought to go down each year and make an impact in the neighborhood just a stone’s throw from the boarder fence.

La Iglesia Maranatha and Pastor Jorge Mata have been firmly planted in the Felipe Ángeles neighborhood and community for those many, many years and it’s through this relationship that the Gospel is shared and people are encouraged in their faith. The mission trip sees several church families combine to lead VBS (vacation bible school) for the children in the neighborhood and to work on several construction projects on the church grounds and in the surrounding neighborhood. The church, within sight of the UTEP (University of Texas – El Paso) campus across the boarder, lives in a shadow of poverty, but the neighborhood is slowly being transformed with jobs and homes being built and people being elevated socially and spiritually by the work of Pastor Jorge and the church.

A team member wrote to request the gear for this year’s trip:

Dear Rev. Kenney, Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church has been blessed with the opportunity to send another mission team to Juarez, Mexico this year to support La Iglesia Maranatha and Pastor Jorge.  Our team of eighteen students and adults is looking for donations of any surplus soccer gear to benefit the local kids.  As in the past, we will be serving around 80 children through our Vacation Bible School program, in addition to working on several projects in the community.  Soccer Chaplains United’s generous donations in the past have made a positive impact and assisted teams to better show generosity and the love of Christ to these kids. We are so grateful for your continued partnership with our church. Thank you.

2022 Juarez Mission Team

In addition to the local work that La Iglesia Maranatha does, Pastor Jorge and the church members have also undertaken several trips into the poorer, and more rural parts of Mexico. Taking donations and other items, the church has traveled long distances to share the Gospel and encouragement with the poorest of the poor in some of the small villages deep within Mexico.

Remember, when you support Soccer Chaplains United, a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals or organizations, and cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!